As I type this, I don’t have a TON of information about this event beyond that it’s at Empire Music Hall, and focused on the Cambridges — ack, the Carrickferguses; I forgot! — meeting “inspirational young people.” I’ll update that once more details leak out from Twitter and beyond. But given that it’s both an evening event and something honoring These Kids Today, I think Kate hit exactly the right note with this frock — all the more noteworthy because, historically and which we’ve noted at length, cocktail wear is not her forte. This Missoni (it retails for a mere $2480, which I’m sure you have kicking around in your couch cushions) is glittery and posh, but not heavy or overly formal, and most importantly you would easily be able to see her across a dark venue if she were to, say, jump behind the bar and pull a pint.
Oh wait:
It could have used niftier shoes, of course. These feel like she and her stylist were having a super hard time solving the puzzle of what color to put with that gossamer minty dress, and just punted to something simple that they hoped would go mostly ignored (and tried to tie them in with the clutch). They aren’t a terrible deployment of her favorite neutral Gianvito Rossi pump, but honestly, silver would have worked, no? We know she’s got those Jimmy Choos kicking around in her closet. Too flashy? Possibly, but it IS a nighttime event, and I’m sure The Youngs like a kicky shoe (sometimes these pumps can cast a slightly dowdy aura over the entire outfit, for me). But, I’m nitpicking. AS USUAL. (Jessica and I have both been waiting for her to re-wear this Markus Lupfer, and had this been a warmer-season event, it might’ve worked. I just want to see it again.)
Here’s a better angle of the pint pull, by the way:
I’d be curious to look back at some point and see if there has been an uptick in Kate wearing non-UK designers. I’ve been frustrated that Meghan seemingly doesn’t engage in too much of that kind of soft diplomacy with her new home country — especially when she was very good about it on the Down Under tour — and accordingly I don’t want to overlook whether Kate has drifted away from it as well. Of course, it is not a requirement for either duchess, and they shouldn’t be forced to wear homegrown stuff all the TIME. Also, I’d need to go back and actually refresh my memory on both arrays (excluding McQueen and Givenchy/Clare Waight Keller, given that they’re each part of A Special Relationship), because I bet I’m forgetting stuff from both Kate and Meghan. I just think it’d be interesting from a data standpoint, in terms of the ongoing fashion stories being told here as both women prepare for the next big phases of their royal lives. This Missoni is nice; in the absensce of an obvious Northern Ireland designer, could Kate have been served here as easily by something from, say, Wickstead or Packham? Or a fancy floral by Richard Quinn? (That would be surprising and dramatic.) Basically, my point is, I need to make better mental notes about this stuff, because I’m always intrigued by how both women’s wardrobes develop.
Also from social media:
Mary Peters is a former Olympian who won the gold medal in the pentathlon in Munich in 1972, by a tenth of a second over the West German athlete, and per Wikipedia:
After her victory, death threats were phoned into the BBC: “Mary Peters is a protestant and has won a medal for Britain. An attempt will be made on her life and it will be blamed on the IRA … Her home will be going up in the near future.” but Peters insisted she would return home to Belfast. She was greeted by fans and a band at the airport and paraded through the city streets, but was not allowed back in her flat for three months. Turning down jobs in the US and Australia, where her father lived, she insisted on remaining in Northern Ireland.
She also repped Northern Ireland “at every Commonwealth Games from 1958 to 1972,” per that same entry, and now runs a trust that helps fund athletes from her home country — one beneficiary of which has been top golfer Rory McIlroy. Mary! Come to Drinks With Broads. You’ve got some STORIES.
