Today, the Irish Guards celebrated St Patrick’s Day with The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at Hounslow Barracks; Catherine handed out shamrocks to the soldiers, something that has become an annual event for the Duchess. As expected, Kate wore green for the occasion.
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Kate chose a custom Alexander McQueen coat, based on a ‘military jacket’. Made from a light wool silk, the piece features a high, stiff pointed collar with seam detail to the edge and closed with hook and eye fastenings. Darts radiate from the neckline towards the chest and back, and also come from the thick waistband up the chest, while the hemline falls just below the knee.
The peaked shoulders add to the military feel, as do the buttons at the waist (one functioning as a belt closure) and one at the neck; these buttons are also seen at the cuff in a group of four. The Duchess refrained from keeping those seen on the peplum of the original jacket, and chose to keep just one peplum flap, which – interestingly – makes the coat look like a skirt suit from the rear.
The jacket is sold out but you can view it here.
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We think the pattern on these buttons are influenced by the shamrock form, but not too obviously so as to not make the coat inappropriate for other occasions. This shows the thought that goes into even the smallest details of a bespoke piece.
Some also noted the similar dart and waist detailing that we saw on Kate’s coat on Remembrance Sunday last year.
Catherine’s hat was a new piece, which we think is Lock and Co. The felt percher base sits on the right-hand-side of the head, peaking in width at the top. Here, a number of felt flowers are attached, the petals tied to create the centre of the flowers; one lies on the base, and the other two sit upright on the apex of the hat.
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Our own Michelle notes the similarities of these flowers to ones seen before on a Lock and Co hat.
You can see that Kate's hat from today looks to have the same cut flower trim and center knot as a previous Lock & Co hat worn to the RAF 75th Anniversary #DuchessofCambridge pic.twitter.com/hhSZXeTyxl
— MF Stylist Perth (@PerthsFashion) March 17, 2019
Catherine also wore her new Gianvito Rossi ‘Piper’ heels with a pointed toe and 85mm curved block heel. These were first earlier this week at at children’s centre in London with a purple pussybow blouse and navy wide-leg trousers; remind yourself here. You can get a pair for £495 here or £510 here.
We just caught a look at the bag the Duchess carried today, as she handed it to an aide. It was her older Jenny Packham ‘Roxy’ clutch. The bag features a slightly oversized outer, which almost hides the gold-ware and the clasp. The suede fabric is pleated, on the diagonal from the centre, in a symmetrical way. This gives an almost art-deco feel to the bag.
The Duchess stuck with the green theme, and wore her Kiki McDonough ‘green tourmaline and amethyst drop earrings’. First seen in India in 2016, they sold for £3,500. The green tourmaline stud at the top is surrounded by diamonds and drop down to a green amethyst oval-shaped stones also surrounded by diamonds. The drops are joined in the middle by a single diamond, with the entire earring set in gold.
The Duchess wore the Cartier gold shamrock brooch from the regiment. This simple piece has a central emerald and diagonal lines across the three heart-shaped leaves, and a stem. It once was used by The Queen Mother.
While the images have not been too helpful in confirming this, it looks like there is a bow at the base of Catherine’s gloves, making them her Cornelia James ‘Imogen’ bow gloves.
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Kate had her hair in an updo; two plaits cross above a voluminous bun, which is held in place with a hair net. She often wears a variation of this style when she wears hats. You can also see the rear of the earrings below.
This was another really well put-together look for The Duchess of Cambridge. However, we would love to see her deviate from the green we have expected from her (yes, she did wear brown in 2015, however), to a shade of blue, know as St Patrick’s blue; this is the colour of the feather in the Irish Guards bearskins and actually the traditional hue associated with Ireland. The Queen Mother often wore this shade when handing out shamrocks was one of her duties.
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You can steal Kate’s style here:
Thanks to @LadyParky for the coat ID, and @dataduchess2 for noticing the bag
