On Tuesday the 18th October, 2016, the Duchess of Cambridge (Kate Middleton) attended a reception at Buckingham Palace along with the Queen, Prince Philip, Princess Anne, Prince William and Prince Harry.
The reception honoured the athletes from the 2016 Rio Olympic and Paralympic games. A number of medal winners from Team GB and ParalympicsGB attended.
Kate’s outfit:
Kate chose a poppy printed dress by Alexander McQueen. It’s another bespoke piece for the Duchess.
The dress shares a number of similarities with pieces in Alexander McQueen’s pre-SS17 collection, including this shirt:
Both are made from ivory silk fabric, feature a red poppy print motif, have long sleeves with cuffs and printed buttons. Kate’s dress also featured an ankle length flared skirt and a crossover front.
As Kate’s dress is bespoke, it is not available for purchase. Alexander McQueen might release it in the future, as they have done with other items worn by Kate.
The designer label is stocked at Saks Fifth Avenue too, where you’ll find a similar dress available for preorder too ($3075 USD / £2658 GBP)It’s the ‘Silk open-back midi dress’. It features the same poppy print and flared skirt. However, that’s where the similaritie. s end. The dress at Saks comes with a back ruffled trim and high “mock” neck.
Kate’s suede Gianvito Rossi “Gianvito” pumps made a come back for the occasion.
It was nice to see Kate carry her red suede Miu Miu clutch bag for a second time. She first carried it last month, on day two the Royal Visit to Canada. The bag is adorned with a little red bow.
The bag originally retailed for £640 GBP / $895 USD at Net-A-Porter.com, but it is now sold out. You can still buy the bag in different colours from the following places:
- Black from Net-A-Porter
- Black from Fashionette
- Navy blue from SSense
- Burgundy from SSense
Kate finished the outfit with her Baroque pearl earrings by Soru Jewellery.
The handcrafted earrings feature baroque pearls edged with multi faceted Swarovski crystals. They’re set in 18ct gold vermeil on Sterling silver. They cost £130 GBP (which is around $160 USD at today’s exchange rates).