Fashion Files: Duchess of Cambridge- Caribbean Tour Part 2
Fashion Files
Duchess of Cambridge- Caribbean Tour Part 2
The second leg of the tour brought the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to Jamaica. They arrived the same day they left Belize.
Day One Looks
Kate wore this stunning bright yellow Roksanda dress for her arrival in Jamaica. Once again dressing with color of the flag of the country she arrived in. This isn’t really a color we often see Kate in. She wore another Roksanda in this shade for her tour in Australia in 2014 that she repeated at Wimbledon in 2016, and again in 2020 on zoom calls. She also wore a Dolce & Gabbana for Wimbledon in 2018, which thankfully hasn’t been repeated.
This yellow looks great on Kate, the only downside to this and a few of her other looks, the weather being so windy, kind of hindered seeing this dress’s silhouette completely on the arrival.
I hope she repeats this look in the summer, maybe with a hat?! (I’m such a sucker for a hat moment!) This color, the length, the bow detail, even this ponytail, is an overall perfect look. She did take her hair down after the airport welcome when they went to the Governor General’s house, which I think makes the look heavier.
Later that evening Kate wore a vintage dress from the 1950s (remember this for later) and piece of local jewelry, her bracelet made by Lashawndla Bailey-Miller.
day two looks
Kate wore a McQueen white pant suit with a bright orange top under. A theme of this tour that becomes more noticeable is the bright, cheerful colors. Especially here, Kate doesn’t often wear orange, and not a true orange at that. Usually its more of a red-orange or a peach, this felt really refreshing. Both professional but also fun, which was a good balance considering her engagements that day included meeting the Prime Minster, Andrew Holness, going to a teacher’s college where she met with administrators and staff, gave a speech and met school children, and visiting Spanish Town Hospital.
Again she threw in some vintage with her fun orange bag.
These are the pants I mentioned in my last post that I wish she would’ve worn with that YSL jacket. I think it just would’ve felt more tailored and polished.
Finally, the gown of this leg of the tour! A beautiful Jenny Packham gown, again dressing to the countries colors in an emerald green.
I love the color and the sparkle, the matching jewelry from The Queen, the sleek updo. It’s very pretty, but not my favorite on the tour. The top of the dress just reminds me too much of a loofah and my brain just can’t get past it. While I don’t totally hate the updo, I do wish it had been a little looser, like the model from the designer’s instagram.
Final Day Looks
For her final even in Jamaica, Kate wore a white short sleeved lace dress by Alexander McQueen and a hat made by Philip Treacy. My immediate thoughts was the similarity to her iconic McQueen dress she wore 10 years ago to the Service of Thanksgiving for the Queen’s diamond jubilee.
Unfortunately, it also reminded a lot of royal watchers of a look The Queen wore in the 1950s as well.
Now remember when I said remember the 1950’s vintage dress from above?
So while yes this is a tour to celebrate the Queen having been on the throne for 70 years, the Caribbean does not want to celebrate this history, and understandably so. The Prime Minster just told Will and Kate the day before that they want to remove the Queen as their head of state and move forward as a republic, just like Barbados did recently. So this didn’t feel like the right time to revisit history, especially not in a way that calls back to colonial times. I think this article does a great job of looking at how some parts of the tour are put together locally, like Will and Kate riding on the back of the land rover which wasn’t a great look, and some are choice made by the royals and how both can lead to bad looks.
For the final look in Jamaica, Kate repeated an Emilia Wickstead dress, again diplomatic flag dressing. Assuming it was because of the wind, Kate kept her updo from earlier just minus the hat. She also wore a brooch The Queen recieved in 2002 for her Golden Jubilee discribed on the Royal Collection Trust as “Brooch in the form of the Jamaican National Doctor Bird (a species of hummingbird only found in Jamaica) noted for its distinctive tail streamers.”