Duchess Kate steps out in ice blue for Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards

Duchess Kate steps out in ice blue for Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards

As you know, Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, made her first public appearances since announcing her second pregnancy, yesterday October 21. Kate’s first appearance was taking part in the Singapore State Visit, welcoming the President and his wife. Kate’s second appearance was at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards at the Natural History Museum where she joined Sir David Attenborough to present the winners with their awards, after meeting the finalists and viewing all the artwork. Kate was met and shown around by Sir Michael Dixon, director of the Natural History Museum.

NHM WPY Kate attends awards
[Sir Michael Dixon, Kate, Sir David Attenborough – via @NHM_WPY]

The 2014 awards marked the 50th year of the competition, which provides a global showcase of the best nature photography. The prestigious competition is co-owned by the Natural History Museum and BBC Worldwide and is shown in a major exhibition at the NHM. This year’s grand title winners were Michael Nichols from the USA (whose photo is absolutely gorgeous) in the adult category, and Carlos Perez Naval from Spain in the youth category. Go here to see their beautiful work and to check out the other winners and finalist’s work.

Side note: A new appearance has been added to Kate’s schedule.  Tomorrow, October 23, Kate will attend an Autumn Gala Evening in support of Action on Addiction at the L’Anima Restaurant in London.

NHM WPY Kate presents award[Kate presenting Carlos Perez Naval with his award – via @NHM_WPY]

Kate wore a brand new custom ice blue Jenny Packham gown with a giant slit (like up to the waist, giant) with a second modesty skirt, to keep from flashing her bits to everyone, that came to a good number of inches above her knee. It features a deep-ish v-neck and three-quarter sleeves. I’m not sure how I feel about the dress. I like the color, but I wish there hadn’t been a slit. Because of the way the dress is designed, when Kate walked it gave off a “mullet dress” vibe and I hate that look. The dress would have looked more ethereal and pretty had the slit been to the knee and no underskirt.

A photo posted by Jenny Packham (@jennypackham) on

 

Kate accessorized with a new modified Alexander McQueen clutch. She wore LK Bennett pink sandals with a bow that she previously wore in 2011 at the ARK dinner. After Kate’s boring jewelry game earlier in the day, she brought out a new earrings and necklace set by Monica Vinader – the Riva Diamond Cluster Drop earrings and Riva Diamond Cluster Bib necklace. The earrings are available on the designer’s site and cost $1,245; the necklace was a Harrods exclusive, but I cannot find it on their site so no idea how much that cost. Many thanks to Chic_Happens_ for finding a link to the necklace, on the designer’s site the piece cost $3,340.  Because of the nature of the pieces, you can barely see them from afar, especially since Kate’s mountain of hair was covering everything (and kept falling in her face, forcing her to touch it and put it behind her ears).

RIVA DIAMOND CLUSTER DROP EARRINGS[via monicavinader.com]

 RIVA DIAMOND CLUSTER BIB

[via monicavinader.com]

Here’s a video of Kate’s appearance. LOL so hard at Carlos Perez Naval not giving any shits about having his picture taken with Kate.

 

More pictures:

NHM WPY Kate presents award 2[Kate presenting Michael Nichols with his award – via @NHM_WPY]

NHM WPY Kate chats to photographers[Kate, with Sir Michael Dixon, chatting to finalists – via Clarence House Twitter]

Some delicious-looking cupcakes. Do you think Kate ate one?
NHM WPY cupcakes[via @NHM_WPY]

I wish the dress had stayed like this, this is gorgeous:

 

That “mullet” effect I was talking about:

 

Shoutout to Rebecca Deacon!!


103 thoughts on “Duchess Kate steps out in ice blue for Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards

  1. The one good thing: it’s a great color with her complexion.

    BUT that dress looks awful. It is a mullet dress. People have been dinged for that kind of look on Project Runway. And the shoes with it are a huge no.

    (Would we see Mary, Maxima, or Letizia in this? Hell no. Nor would we see Beatrice, Eugenie or Zara in this.)

      1. That would be Cristobal Balenciaga, one of the finest couturiers of the 20th century. I have only seen him and Oscar de la Renta pull of this type of dress with flair and elegance.
        An example of what Balenciaga did with this particular dress shape: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/472807660852692239/

        Kate’s Packham dress is definitely not a mullet dress, but a badly designed and fitted mismatch of differet skirt lengths.

        1. There is no comparison- Balenciaga is exquisite. I can’t even call that a mullet dress because the word does not deserve to be tacked on to the elegant look.

          This, as we both note, is not, pretty at all. Mullet is probably the wrong term while mismatch is the more accurate. (Blech, that added modesty skirt just looks uglier on repeated viewing.)

  2. I have predicted that she will have an onslaught of duties now that her “HG” has subsided. The dress is all wrong. She could have worn a shift or something simple. Diana would wear short, yet tasteful dresses to these type of functions. This proves that she learned nothing in her 10 years in waiting. She fiddles with her hair, fails at small talk and looks tawdry. I was really rooting for her.

    1. “I was really rooting for her.” I think this hits the nail on the head for why (some) people are so upset with Kate. I, for one, had high hopes for her and have been so disappointed. That’s where the criticism comes from for me, not “hate” or “envy”, but rather disappointment.

      1. I don’t know if I was ever ‘rooting’ for her but certainly had thought that perhaps her downtime with the horrid, terrible, debilitating hg that she didn’t have ever might have been a time for reflecting on her ‘image’….the slit up that dress is awful but waity insists on showing some body part…the outfit she wore earlier in the day had flash potential but when it blew up guess it wasn’t flashy enough for kate….maybe it frustrated her inner exhibitionist and she fed said inner exhibitionist with this ridiculous get up. I think she may be rebelling in a way…I have to work? Really? I have to get all dressed up in expensive clothes and jewelry? I have to ‘get out of the house’ which was her way of greeting the president of Singapore…how totally ‘it’s all about me’ can she get. I DO agree that the dress looks nice when it is covering all of her…..the shoes….I am absolutely not sophisticated enough to appreciate bows on high heels….for someone supposedly so damned sick she sure looks healthy….and being able to wear high heels right after getting off her death bed (but don’t forget…she can have a bout of hg anytime, people)….hmmm…..
        Wasn’t she ever so brave and courageous to make appearances…knowing that at any time she could be overcome with hg and no royal toilet around to puke in….the bejeweled ones fit for princess puke/duchess dumping….oh how dedicated to her ‘job’ !!

        1. Those shoes are ridiculous for someone trying to convince a skeptical public she was suffering from a debilitating health condition. So many of her handlers must really, really hate her, because they seem to be totally phoning it in when it comes to dealing with her public image. Like, phoning it in more than even she does, which is saying something.

      2. I was stupid, and wanted to believe her at the time of the engagement announcement, when she claimed she was going to work hard. Ha Ha Ha!

    2. The more I look at this dress the more I dislike it it is too plain. It looks as if it were a short dress until a courtier said it needed some modesty and they tacked a layer around the waist. Also, if she is going to wear a statement necklace, show it off! Sorry for the rant.

      1. I know, someone needs to teach her how to properly style a statement necklace. She did the same thing when the Queen lent her the good jewels, too.

        1. It’s not worth it for Kate to wear statement pieces since her hair obscures them anyway. She has a one-track mind and her own agenda, I feel, regarding her hair and dress style and I don’t think anything is going to change that. I agree with how inappropriate that dress looks; someone on another site opined that she might be trying to compete with Amal Clooney. But Kate is a royal and not a celebrity, but it’s not going through her head that there is a vast difference in dress, behavior and comportment. I also dislike those 3/4 length sleeves; they look too casual on formal wear. The color was pretty, but a jewel tone would have looked great with her coloring.

  3. I couldn’t watch the rest of the video, Kate walking up the steps in the beginning with that clutch stuck to her uterus sickened me.

    The color of the dress was divine, but not the styling as well as the shoes.

    Oh goodie, we have to see her at another gala on Oct 23. More clutch/uterus pressing…

    1. She always does the “clutch glued to stomach” thing, even when she’s not pregnant. I feel like she has no idea what to do with her hands, so she just glues them to her stomach (like she can’t just let them swing or something). She even does it when not holding a clutch.

  4. Kate looked beautiful! Her hair was perfect and her make-up was ok (to much eyeliner). I agree that the color of the dress is beautiful, but I don’t like the design. I agree with KMR that the dress looked best when the slit was hidden/closed. Loved her jewelry, shoes and clutch!
    I am just happy to see that she and the baby are well enough for her to return to her Royal Duties!
    I doubt she went anywhere near those cupcakes!

    1. The necklace is beautiful but it won’t show up well in photographs from a distance because it doesn’t show up on film. The necklace disappears into her skin. A proper stylist would’ve been able to steer Kate to a different necklace that would work in photographs taken from a distance.

  5. Mmmm…cupcakes! Pity she’s borderline anorexic, I bet her inner fat girl was just waiting to pounce on those.

    I liked the dress when I first saw it, but by the third look, I thought it was a boring style. It’s her typical form-fitting A-line (?) shaped outfit. It’s like she sent out one template to all the designers she uses and they do the best they can with it, i.e. not much. I don’t think the dress would’ve looked better with no slit – it would’ve still been boring as hell. There are ways to dress conservatively and in a fashion-forward manner. That’s the point of having a good designer. They know how to make the two work. She just strikes me as someone who lives their life in their comfort zone. She never wants to step out of it, even for a minute. Sucks to be her.

  6. Okay, I’m ready to take the flak…I think she looks stunning. Except for too much make-up and hair in her face/hiding the necklace. I like the dress. Yes, I think it would look better without the slit, but I think the slit is her attempt to be “edgy”. Seth has informed me (on the previous blog post) that the slit makes it inappropriate for a state dinner, and I didn’t know that. I even like her shoes! She never does anything out of the oh-so-drab ordinary, so I guess that’s why I like this entire outfit. I can’t believe I’m in the position of defending Kate!

    1. This isn’t a state dinner so I don’t think the same rules apply. She is still representing a country but she still has more leeway here.

    2. Kate wasn’t at a State Dinner, she was a the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards at the Natural History Museum.

      There are many people who love this look; I thought I was going to be the acceptation when I said I didn’t like it.

        1. I think I’d have liked the more traditional style of a closed gown with a discreet slit showing some leg. The photo of her standing with the gown closed is really lovely.

  7. I just cannot stomach this woman. She is so boring. I hated the dress and the shoes with the bow.
    Also, for goodness sake, Cu that hair! She needs a hair stylist and a fashion stylist. She’s so vanilla, it is sickening.
    I, for one, don’t buy the story about a problematic pregnancy. I think Kate was just shamed by the upper Royals for those nasty displays of her royal fanny and hid from public view for a bit.

    What, by the way, was she trying to prove with that slit in the dress?

    Diana always looked stunning. Diana worked and worked to help many worthy causes. Kate just dresses up, smiles and wins rave reviews from a generation of people who don’t know squat about good taste, good manners and a way into the people’s hearts.

      1. Heh. Plain cream has a lovely richness of fat to it. Zap it with a mixer and add a touch of sugar, it’s a whipped wonder.

        As for Kate, she’s just that carton of organic skim milk.

  8. As many have pointed out, those aren’t the thighs of someone who has been prone on the couch and who lost 15 pounds in a month. She’s clearly been working out and is gaining weight just fine. HG, what HG?

    1. Yeah, those are the thighs of someone who has had their butt glued to the elliptical bike. She was probably getting antsy, being confined to the indoors for appearances’ sake, and channeled all that frustration and pent-up energy into back-to-back-to-back personal trainer sessions.

      1. I’ve just looked on the Daily Mail website to see Kate wearing a dress that appears to be see through on the lower half of the skirt. Please say it isn’t so as that would mean she is flashing more than she flashed when deplaning in New Zealand! Does she not have someone to advise her re clothing selections!?

        1. Wow, Cathy, I just saw the black see-through dress you mentioned. Yikes!
          Shades of the little see-through number she modeled on the college runway when William first realized how “hot” she was.
          Very daring for the wife of the future King. Also, very daring for the poor, sick pregnant woman, everyone wants the public to adore.
          Ugh!

          1. I viewed that dress and though it was just a bit too much, especially for a member of the royal family. Even Fergie, at her worst, never lashed o much! And I’ve never met a pregnant woman who has wanted to flash so much skin. There is something not right here. The dress she wore in that runway at St Andrews is classic Kate exposing herself. Anything for attention?

  9. I know I’m in the minority but I love her hair down as long as it’s styled like it is in the photos above. The problem is she doesn’t wear it up with statement necklaces or on windy occasions. If she would add in a bit of variety I think more people would like the way her hair looks down.

    Her makeup is definitely for the pictures. Strong eye makeup is a hallmark of getting ready for photos. Seriously though she needs to hire a makeup artist for her 10 official public appearances each year and learn some better tricks. If I was in the public eye that much and had the money then I would get some help.

    I bet the slit wasn’t originally that high on the dress. It looks like it originally had a long slit, thus the underskirt, but still was sewn together to a lower point. Even if some designer was crazy enough to design the slit that way (who would do that?) then she could have had it sewn together until a lower point so that there was no mullet effect.

    She has such boring style and I know why – she doesn’t know how to put an outfit together. I don’t either most of the time so I stick to boring stuff usually. That’s what she’s doing. She has no eye for the form of her clothes or shoes, she wears the wrong colors, and because she is tall and thin she gets away with it. She should take some classes on color theory and fashion design. At least if she is going to shop all the time she can have the decency to know what to shop for.

      1. That’s wonderful that she had that confidence. Now she should have the confidence to choose some wonderful advisers that can help her develop her image.

      2. Ah yes, Kate was confident (arrogant?) enough to do her own makeup on her wedding day. But I read an article written by someone who was at the wedding. She said that everyone was talking about Kate’s makeup and no one was talking about the dress.

  10. I really hated this dress. The color was lovely, but other than that it was pretty awkward. Boring and lazy but trying to be edgy. It seemed like something a design student would sketch when they were high, convinced it was this great concept … until they sobered up. And her sorority girl hair should have been pulled back in a half updo to dress up the look, given how relatively plain and blah the dress was.

  11. You are my fave royal reporter. Other people would have started with a “kate wore this much jewelry” or “kate looks hot” and ignore about the event. Thanks so much for including the event.

  12. She went trashy again tonight. Cut out panels, cloth so sheer we can see her bra. And black. Why doesn’t she get the BRF protocol memo that all-black is a no-no unless you’re at a funeral?

    1. Oh my god, when I saw that dress–in a small photo taken from afar–I thought those were giant cut-outs, Kim Kardashian-style.

      1. …I truly could not believe what I was seeing with this latest dress…Oh dear me..from afar it resembled a spiders web..or do I mean something from a spiderman film set…then it began to take shape as something faintly bondage style…crikey what an absolute mess…………

  13. I am convinced that Designers are deliberately presenting Kate with dresses that are susceptible to flying up in the air at the slightest wind gust and when photographed, her undergarments are revealed! All this so that they can get media attention! Right it has to be the Designers!!! Because there is no way that Kate would continue to make the same mistakes over and over again!

    1. I never thought about it that way! Those photos of her experiencing malfunctions DO receive an added level of exposure and memorability. Just wanted to comment to say I think that’s a really perceptive call, AMG.

    2. Lady AMG,

      Why would the designers do that? And so if they intended are as you suggested, should the Duchess not have asked for the garment to be weighted each time a garment is presented to her?

      I would. Seriously, I wear a lot of floaty skirts with no weights. Never had a problem especially getting out my SUV with the wind going strong. If I were coming off a jet with the engines purring or a helicopter with the propellors going still, I would grab a hold on to my skirts. I’d rather not look graceful than have my bare bottom exposed to the whole world. Just my two cents, Lady AMG. :)))

      1. These designers are desperate for attention. If Kate requested weights of straight skirts, they would give them to her. This problem pre-exists her duchess days.

        I think the answers is very simple. Kate likes this silhouette and doesn’t see what the big deal is if her skirts fly up. Designers desperate to have her wear their fashions, give her exactly what she wants.

        The same thing with her flyaway hair and heavy eyeliner.

      1. Nope. No sarcasm. Just look at how much attention Kate garners for each designer who’s clothes she wears. They’re not going to want to push Kate so far out of her comfort zone that she goes with another designer. Same thing with her hair.

        There are people out there who are very resistant to changing their look. It is a security blanket with them or they honestly don’t see what the big deal is if their skirts fly up. I suspect Kate falls into that category. I think that simple answer is a much more likely reason that Kate resists change even though it is painfully obvious she needs to change. Other posters have more elaborate theories.

  14. @ KMR ~ Did you see the Queen sent out an official tweet on Twitter?! One of the first tweets back was from someone telling her to abdicate. I mean, there were a lot of trolls. I actually think it was a really bad move on her PR handlers’ part. The Queen of England doesn’t need to be on Twitter, and it’s not like ANYONE believes she typed that tweet out herself. But I wanted to know — what are your thoughts?!

    1. Just the Palace trying to be relevant. One of the York sisters has a Twitter feed already.

      I don’t know if it needed. I think William and Kate getting off their backsides and Kate sorting out her clothing, hair and speaking skills sorted. William looking like he actually likes Kate and enjoys serving the public would help the royals too.

      Without Twitter, the Queen already had respect.

      1. Okay. I am stepping away from my iPad. I can’t type tonight and this site doesn’t have an edit button. I hope you guys understood what I was trying to say.

  15. So, I know that to Palace has all media under their thumbs. I never see anything bad printed about Kate. It is like she can do no wrong. They all praise her and act like she is perfect. Even when she wears really inappropriate stuff or hardly does any ‘work’. I was just wondering if people in the UK really all love Kate as much as the media/magazines make it seem? I just curious…

    1. The less-than-glowing comments on the Daily Mail (at least most of the time–sometimes, the astroturfers come out and leave all the gushing remarks) and the green arrows for them make me think that Kate isn’t as popular as they’d like us to believe.

    2. Check out the recent survey. I can’t remember who published it. It made all of the papers. Most people didn’t have feelings about Kate one way or another. Very few admire her.

  16. if she worked her arse off like the rest of the RF members, nobody would care about her fashion choices ( which are always a miss anyway), but for a woman who has been around the RF for 13 years to behave like a 20 year old newly married, being coddled by everyone around you is inacceptable, even her own kid george is just too much work for this lazy woman, when was she seen out and about with george, ya, shes a vampire, she drains everyone and anything around her!!!

    1. We don’t know one way or another.

      I remember how genuinely happy she looked on the hospital steps with him. She may just not be able to handle him all the time. She is so juvenile herself.

      1. I recall how genuinely happy he looked playing with (and being kissed and hugged) by his nanny. The pictures of the baby and Kate Middleton together do not show that level of genuine emotion and comfort imo.

    1. Well, not necessarily. She may just trot him out when it seems like W&K’s popularity is on the decline and see him very little otherwise. It’s possible that she’s a fantastic mother, but motherhood is a lot of work, and given that Kate seems to shy away from any kind of work except working out, I’m skeptical.

      1. William has so much hatred of the press it doesn’t surprise me that we only see George a few times a year. No wonder William doesn’t like unauthorized photos from Tanna.

  17. CrazyAMG i am not picking on you! The baby is hidden because some people believe Prince George is not their biological son? billyboy & katiekins do not want people to question why the child has brown eyes & the parents do not have brown eyes in their chromosones. Brown eyes are a dominant genetic not recessive genetic. You have a right to your opinion! I am not trying to bully you! Thank you! Halia

    1. You could have brown eyed child if it is in your familiy’s history. Mr. Middleton has brown eyes for example. You don’t need to have a brown eyed parent.

      1. That’s not true. If you had a brown gene in your body than your eyes would be brown, not blue, since brown is dominate. A person with brown eyes can have one brown gene and one blue gene and therefore pass on blue eyed genes, but a person with blue eyes can only have blue genes. The only way for a person to have blue eyes is to have gotten that gene from both parents. Therefore if you have blue eyes, there is no way your child could have brown eyes because neither parent carries the gene for brown, only blue. It does not matter if someone somewhere in the family has brown eyes. All that matter is the gene in each parent. My husband and eye both have blue eyes so our child can only have blue eyes since that is the only code we have to pass on. Does that make sense?

          1. Here is some reading for you. The situation is more complicated than the Punnet Squares we did in high school biology. Just type into Google can a blue eyed and green eyed parent have a brown eyed child and the articles all say yes. You can carry a brown eyed gene even if you don’t have brown eyes yourself. All you need is someone in your genetic history, say your dad, who has brown eyes.

            http://genetics.thetech.org/how-blue-eyed-parents-can-have-brown-eyed-children

          2. While it is possible there is a VERY SMALL chance of two blue eyed parents, especially with both having recessive eye colored parents their own selves, producing a brown eyed child, something like 1%.

            And really did you miss the boat where both Princess Diana, Prince Charles, Carole Middleton, and Michael Middleton ALL possess recessive eye colorings??? So what dominant eye coloring would William and Kate possess exactly and how did they come by them?

    2. I respectfully disagree Halia. I don’t consider taking their baby on tour, releasing a few professional photos and taking him to polo, and allowing the nanny to take him out publicly, would be the moves of a couple truly interested in hiding their child.
      I do think William wants to control the press and extra concerned about privacy, and as such he plays the Diana card and sues over ridiculous incidences sometimes.
      If they were using surrogate eggs, the first thing they would have done is choose a genetic make up of simple things like blue eyes. If it were really fake Im sure they would have covered the basics.

    1. I love how they keep trying to say she is still recovering from HG, yet these stories talk about her going out and about in town. That’s why I a sick of the media. They never paint her in an accurate light. Kate can do no wrong.

  18. Stephane i respect your opinion & i am not trying change anyone mind! I do not have it in for KW! To me they bring out the baby to get good p.r.for themselves. I do not know if the child is their son biologically or not. The little guy’s stunning brown makes me suspicious! I am not trying to start rumors to destroy anyones character nor am i paranoid! I am not trying to put down an innocent child and i sincerely feel very sorry for Prince George, because he deserves better parents than those two! The things that triggers my anger is when stupid came to Alberta, Canada lazy katiekins wore a yellow, flimsey dress & no underwear in front of children! I know for fact that it is against the law in Canada for adults to expose themselves to children! The pathetic excuse for woman skipped the paraolympics by lying that she needed to prepare for the Asian Tour, meanwhile she exposes herself & the lie in France! I could go on & on about this female failure………………………….

  19. I’m not feeling the cut of the dress at the bottom. Just had to show some leg? Her legs don’t look as toned as usual, why the need to show them off. Would have looked much nicer without any cuts or slits.

  20. Stephanie i apologize for misspelling your name & for coming on very strong! CrazyAMG i apologize for coming on very strong! No offence intended! Halia

    1. For what it’s worth Haila I’ve read your posts and see no reason for you to apologize to anyone. What’s going on around here?

  21. Hi Sassy
    Thank you! Sometimes i think i’m coming accross agressively & i want be assertive with people. I do not want alienate anyone.

    1. Halia you never ever have to apologize to me. I am always interested in what others have to say. I respect your comments even if they differ from mine.

  22. Hi everyone, me again! I forgot to mention that the clueless cambridge have been married 3 & half years! My how time flies when they accomplish a lot.(Sarcasm!)

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