Kate in Grey Catherine Walker Kensington Dress

For their final day in Ottawa, Kate wore a grey Catherine Walker dress. Catherine Walker was a favorite designer of Princess Diana's. The "Kensington" dress had a great neckline detail - a pointed V collar that continued over the shoulder and ended in deep V in the back. Truly, the dress was most beautiful from the back. Kate accessorized with greyish/silver pumps and a grey Anya Hindmarch clutch.

photo via Daily Mail

Kate & Will participated in a tree planting ceremony - meaning they threw a few shovel-fulls of dirt on an already planted tree. This tree planting is apparently a family tradition as Will's great grandparents, grandparents and parents have all had their hand in the re-foresting of Canada.

photo via Daily Mail

Next they will tour the Canadian War Museum and attend a reception with veterans. The couple then leaves Ottawa and heads for Montreal where they will visit a children's hospital and attend a reception at a cooking school. Follow THIS link for more photos of the tree planting.

Kate in Purple Issa Dress

Back to Issa for Kate. The purple dress she wore to a concert in Ottowa last night, was very similar to the navy dress worn back in November at her engagement announcement.

photos via Daily Mail

Let's start with the positives. I'm giving Kate a big gold star for wearing something other than white or navy (or a combination of both). Purple is a really flattering color and she certainly is glowing. Kate chose black accessories - on the whole I'm glad because it would have been very bad if she tried to go all matchy with purple accessories. Very, very bad. That being said, this ensemble is a perfect example of why it would be so much more fun and interesting for all of us if Kate understood how to accessorize. The beauty of these Issa dresses is that they are so simple and sophisticated and BEG to accessorize interestingly - a strappy shoe, a chunky bracelet, a statement necklace. She is a young, beautiful woman who accessorizes like a woman twice her age. Observe:

Now, I realize Olivia Palermo is probably the most stylish person on the planet, but who better to turn to for inspiration? Maybe Kate just feels she needs to be super conservative, and maybe she does need to be. Perhaps being more interesting would open her up to too much criticism. Playing it safe means everyone can just say - "She looks nice" or "She looks beautiful", because she does. She just doesn't look very interesting.

Canada Day 2: Kate in White Reiss Dress

Hmmmm . . . what to say about this. First, it's a re-wear. This is the white Reiss "Nanette" dress Kate wore for her official engagement portrait. The dress is fine, it's the accessories I'm a little concerned about. Let's take a look shall we:

photo via Daily Mail

 

 

 My first thought was this - "NOOOOOOOOOO! Not the fascinator!" and that was BEFORE I discovered it is a Maple Leaf themed fascinator. I was so hoping we could get through these next 10 days without anyone wearing a satellite dish on their head. With the red court shoes, it's just all so "theme-y". The one redeeming thing might be the cute Anya Hindmarch clutch. I'm not sure it goes great with the silky formality of the dress, as it is made of straw, but it is super cute with the tassel. It should also be noted, that Kate is wearing a maple leaf shaped diamond brooch on loan from the Queen. How sweet. Well, Day 2 is off to a slightly disappointing start. Stay tuned.

photo via Daily Mail