The Duchess of Cambridge has been hard at work over the last two days for the Chelsea Flower Show, promoting her collaborative garden design project ‘Back to Nature’. Firstly, introducing her husband Prince William and children on a private visit, then an engagement with school children, shortly followed with a tour by her grandmother-in-law Queen Elizabeth II. The Duchess was dressed in a gorgeous floral gown from Erdem.
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The Duchess wore a bespoke version of the Erdem ‘White Shebah Floral Cotton-silk Gown’. We know that Erdem is quite ‘marmite’ for many royal fashion watchers, but we liked this one!
The gorgeous floral gown has a high rounded neckline, three-quarter sleeves ending in ruffle cuffs and a floor length skirt, which the Duchess has had modified to hit just above the ankle. The gown features a ruffle down the front centre and white crochet details at the neckline, diagonally over the chest, at the cuffs, waistline and tiered skirt drop. The gown has a fitted silhouette through the bodice and falls into an elegant a-line skirt. An intricate floral pattern in black, cornflower blue and yellow appear over the white background of the dress. The gown is crafted of white cotton-silk voile and is from a past season. We wonder if the Duchess has owned this dress for a while and she has worn it privately in the past?
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At first when we saw Kate, we thought perhaps this dress was a little much considering she had been dressed in a white shirt, brown linen trousers and white sneakers earlier. Though when The Queen arrived, we realised this dress was the perfect fit for the engagement and a wonderful choice.
You might recognise the print from an Erdem dress worn recently by Princess Eugenie.
The print is actually inspired by The Queen herself, making this an even more flattering choice for this engagement. Erdem was particularly drawn to The Queen’s style in the 1950s, and a number of fabrics from his collection last year reflect this.
Catherine re-wore her Castaner ‘Carina’ wedges that we first saw on Sunday, when she visited the garden with her children. The brown leather wedges have a jute toe and sole and tie around the ankle with a brown suede strap. The straps finishes with a small flower suede cut-out, a very cute extra little detail. You can purchase these wedges here.
These are very practical shoes, though perhaps the brown does not quite match with her gown as well as one of her black pairs of wedges could have.
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The Duchess of Cambridge accessorised with her Cassandra Goad ‘Cavolfiore Pearl Stud’, earrings, retailing for £4,490. Inspired by the flowers of young cauliflower stalks, these earrings feature a cluster of seven pearls each in laid with a diamond set in 18ct gold. These were a perfect accessory to her beautiful Erdem dress. You can purchase Kate’s pearl earrings here.
Try these for a more affordable option, here.
The Queen seemed to really enjoy herself, smiling broadly as she toured through the garden. The Queen looks radiant in her chartreuse coloured Stewart Parvin coat; this is the same coat that she wore to The Duke and Duchess of Sussex wedding roughly around the same time last year.
With her dedicated work for this project we can really see why the Duchess is deserving of her GCVO recognition she received in the past few weeks.
You can replicate Kate’s beautiful maxi dress look here:
with thanks to @daniellestacey for dress ID