Fashion Files: Duchess of Cambridge- Caribbean Tour Part 1
Fashion Files
Duchess of Cambridge- Caribbean Tour Part 1
I haven’t written on my blog in over a year and I truly hadn’t meant for it to be so long. Having a full time job has truly taken over. That being said, with this series I’m starting this week, I hope to post here more consistently.
If you don’t follow me on instagram, you might not know that I follow British Royal fashion, specifically of Kate and Meghan, very closely. Last week, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (better known as Prince William and Kate) went on an eight day tour of the Caribbean in honor of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee which celebrates her 70 years on the throne. Now this tour had a lot of issues: out of touch, protests, and a PR nigthmare to name a few. However, I want to focus on the fashion aspect because they reflect each of those issues and as a summary, Kate’s team let her down greatly.
Arrival look
Each part will cover Kate’s fashion from one of the three countries she visited. Starting with Belize. This is the first look we saw of the tour.
Immediately this look reminded me of two others’ Kate has worn. Both are designs of Jenny Packham. Both are from 2016 and side-by-side with this new outfit, the similarites are obvious. Personally, I would’ve loved to see this arrival dress without the lace, I think it would’ve come off as less matronly, especially with that deep collar. As you’ll notice through the next posts, and have noticed if you’ve followed Kate’s fashion for a while, the arrival outfit is always a color of the country’s flag. It’s also usually a British brand.
That moves us onto a major issue I had throughout this entire tour, starting with day one. Kate wore mostly British brands throughout this tour. Now on her tours in Canada and New Zealand/Australia (as Elizabeth Holmes pointed out on instagram) Kate wore a lot of brands from those countries, but they were also brands she already loved, think Erdem, Emilia Wickstead, etc. So there wasn’t much branching out by Kate’s team. (A sidebar real quick, we don’t actually know how much input Kate has in her professional wardrobe. We could assume it’s all her team's choices but we also have seen her wear pieces in her professional outings that we’ve seen her wear off-duty and pre-royal days.)
One thing Alex, duchessmmgrace on instagram, and I discussed, the Pakistan tour Will and Kate went on in 2019 gave us so many expectations when it came to Kate’s tour wardrobe. It was a great mix of repeats, new, British designers, local designers and fabrics, it was the height of diplomatic dressing from Kate’s team. However, in hindsight? Her team didn’t really have to expand their circle much. ( I could’ve sworn Catherine Walker, a go-to designer for Kate and Princess Diana, had a connection to Pakistan specifically but I can’t find it.) However, Kate wore a ton of Catherine Walker on the Pakistan tour, just like Princess Diana did. She wore local designers, her team sourced fabrics locally and Catherine Walker worked with local Pakistan diesgners to make their creations. The entire Pakistan tour fashion screamed respectful and traditional and was exciting. It set a new standard for Kate’s tour style.
Something that didn’t carry over to this one.
Anything Kate wore in the Caribbean that was local, was an accessory. No big pieces or clothing. Which is disappointing. These tours get planned months in advance and while I’m sure a global pandemic hindered things, there had to have been a way to at least source fabrics locally to be used in the designs she wore. The reason this is so important is because a lot of the time on tours, we don’t hear from Kate. William is the future king, he was born into the family, he’s the one we mostly hear from. Kate will give the occasionally speech but mostly we hear from her through fashion. And yes it seems shallow, but trust that Kate’s team knows how important her fashion is. Wearing something local could really help that country’s economy and/or really boost a local designer’s notability, she can wear something and it sell out in minutes, hence The Kate Effect. That’s what makes her fashion so important.
Day two Look
This dress was kind of meh for me. Didn’t make me mad, didn’t thrill me. Once again, the flag dressing with the blue and red worked great! Repeated accessories we’ve seen on previous tours, the clutch from her first royal tour in 2011 to Canada, the wedges from one of the Australian tours. However one thing I didn’t pick up on until Elizabeth Holmes pointed out, the neckline and sleeves of Kate’s dress mimic the local wear the women have on in the photos but without it being costume-y which is a very fine line to walk.
Day three looks
The most casual and the most glam look in Belize on the same day! With the first look, the biggest surprise for me is that her pants are new cargo pants and not her trusty Zara moto jeans!
Ok now onto my favorite look of the entire tour even thought it looked entirely out of place. That Vampire’s Wife gown! Absolutely stunning. This is only the second time Kate has worn this brand and she absolutely nailed it. The color is amazing on her, the fun sleeves, the sleek hair? Perfect styling!
Look how it catches the minimal light as the sun went down! Glowing!
The down side? When you see everyone around her, even with just Will, she looks way over dressed. It really looks more like a Bafta’s or indoor gala gown than an outdoor recption when you see the rest of the guests’ dress. Did the dress code not get sent to her team? As we discussed earlier, this isn’t the time to really stand out like this, in a glitzy, glamorous, royal way.
It’s been pointed out now that this dress was necessary overall because each country got a glamour gown. I still don’t think it makes sense. Even if it was dressing for the slideshow. Maybe for a larger look at the tour it makes sense but looking at the dress in it’s context of the event, the questions, and the location, it just really doesn’t work which is so unfortunate because I think this is going to be an iconic look for her.
DEPARTURE LOOK
This was my least favorite look of the entire tour. Thank God we didn’t have to look at it for long. The jacket, we’ve been told, is actually a vintage YSL that Kate has had since her pre-royal, university days. I love it on it’s own, however, I think it would’ve worked better with slim pants (like the ones she wore the next day) or maybe worn open.
Something about this look feels stuffy and heavy. I think it might also be the look of the ponytail being a last minute decision (it looks to be very windy which is why I think it’s last minute but if you look at the photos of her pony tail here and then later when they land in Jamaica, the one later looks more polished and intentional.)
As this is the end of this leg of the tour, I will say overall I think these looks were my least favorite, aside from that pink gown. Nothing really stood out, the looks get stronger, but also more controversial, as the tour goes on.
I’m looking forward to writing part 2 and 3, let me know what your thoughts on the fashion of this tour and this series I’m starting in the comments!