Kate in Blue Erdem Dress

I have to be honest, when I saw Kate's latest dress, I burst out laughing. What's going on here? When she gets dressed is she thinking, "Hmmmm . . . should I wear a dress I have already worn, or should I wear a dress that looks just like a dress I have already worn?"

photo via Daily Mail

photos via Daily Mail

photos via Daily Mail

Kate's wearing the blue and lace Jacquenta dress from Erdem. I realize it's a completely different color than the navy lace Erdem, but really? This woman has her choice of literally thousands of dresses and she can vary no farther than same designer, same (basic) color and same style? I'm confounded. Befuddled. Utterly stumped. I'm trying to love you Kate, I really am. I am no longer even bothering to figure out the accessories. LK Bennett shoes, Anya Hindmarch clutch, you know the story. One can only help Kate is taking some accessorizing advice from this young man:

photo via Daily Mail

Ok, maybe not.

Kate & Will Cooking in Canada

These are some really cute shots of the royal couple at the Institut de tourisme et d'hotellerie du Quebec last evening.

photo via Daily Mail

photo via Daily Mail

It's nice to see them doing something a bit more fun and relaxing. All the handshaking and smiling has to be wearing on them. I'm glued to the tennis today, so I'm not sure what these two are up to. Good things I'm sure. I'll be posting about it tonight. Happy Sunday!

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

Kate in Issa Bird Dress

The Duchess wore a black and white bird print Issa dress to a barbeque in Ottawa last evening. It's Ok, but not necessarily what I wanted to wake up to this morning.

photo via Daily Mail

photo via Daily mail

She paired the dress with simple gold jewelry and black espadrille wedges. She wore this same dress just before her wedding. Yikes - looks like she is also wearing pantyhose. She is, right? Someone needs to talk to her about this. Modern women do not wear pantyhose. They especially do not wear pantyhose to barbecues in middle of the summer. I know she is all confident about "who she is" and "her sense of style", I get it, but sometimes even the most self-assured among us can use a few words of advice right? Trust me on this one Kate - lose the hosier. Also, love the whole "I'm a new bride, so I'm wearing white" and "my signature color is blue" thing, but we're going to need some other colors thrown in there every once in a while. Ok. Carry on. Hope you got some sleep. See you in a few hours. 3 outfits down, 27 to go.

Canada Loves Kate (and presumably Will)

Before we move on, a few more shots of Duchess Catherine in her navy lace Erdem looking adorable and charming the crowds Canada (William was there too):

photo via Daily Mail

photo via Daiy Mail

photos via Daily Mail