Thursday, 15th of January 2015—The Duchess of Cambridge (Kate Middleton) attended her first official public engagement of the year. She officially named The Clore Art Room at Barlby Primary School, in Ladbroke Grove, West London.
As you may recall, the Duchess is Patron of the The Art Room charity.
The Art Room is a charity aimed at 5 – 16 year olds who are experiencing emotional and behavioural difficulties. There are currently eight Art Rooms in schools in Oxfordshire, London and Edinburgh offering art as therapy to increase children’s self-esteem, self-confidence and independence.
The Art Room
Kate was supposed to attend the official opening of the Art Room in October 2014. Unfortunately, she had to cancel due to her extreme morning sickness condition, Hyperemesis Gravidarum.
During her visit, Kate met with students from the school and another nearby primary and spoke with students who attend The Clore Art Room facility.
The Duchess also took part in a round table discussion with a number of people involved with The Art Room charity, including ex-students, education professionals, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, famous potter Grayson Perry (who is the charity’s Patron) and Dame Vivien Duffield, Chair of the Clore Duffield Foundation. The guests spoke about the power of art as a therapeutic intervention and discussed the ways in which children learn and achieve through art.
The Clore Art Room offers therapeutic support to pupils of Barlby School and neighbouring Oxford Gardens School. Open 5 days a week, its highly trained practitioners work with small groups of children aged between five and 11 years old in 1-hour 45-minute sessions. Each week, up to 104 children are able to access the Art Room’s methodology in sessions designed to provide students with the confidence, self-esteem and independence through creativity and self-expression. From September 2015, The Clore Art Room hopes to extend the provision of this unique intervention to other Primary and Secondary Schools in the Borough.
The official naming ceremony celebrates the partnership with the Clore Duffield Foundation, whose generous support has facilitated this important new early intervention provision for West London.
For more information about The Clore Art Room, The Duchess’s Patronage and the events from today, please refer to The Art Room’s press release here.
Kate’s outfit:
The Duchess wore a navy blue dress by Madderson London, a luxury British womenswear and maternity wear label.
Specifically, Kate wore the brand’s ‘Naomi’ statement shift dress. It features tweed trimmed pockets and hemline detailing.
The blue maternity dress retailed for £450.
Channel the big 1960s trend of the season in the Naomi shift. The navy wool comes from Hainsworth, a heritage British mill that clothed the soldiers in the Battle of Waterloo. The designer has trimmed it with French tweed to transform a simple silhouette into something special. Add heels or this season’s knee-high boots. Fully lined.
Update Jan 2021: Sadly, Madderson London no longer trade. You can, however, hire the dress from girlmeetsdress.com.
Kate carried her Mulberry London Bayswater clutch bag in black. The clutch bag features an embossed gold-tone turn-key closure at the front. There’s a pocket on the back that would fit a couple cards. It also comes with a detachable leather/chain strap, which Kate does not use.
The Bayswater Clutch Wallet combines an ultra-slim clutch with the versatility of a classic wallet. Inside there is a compact but carefully-organised space, with slip and zip pockets and slots for cards, cash, tickets and receipts. The chain strap can be tucked inside for an understated, slim-line clutch.
Mulberry.com
Kate owns the clutch bag in three colours, black, buttercream and conker, all in suede. If you’d like to buy the Bayswater bag, I’m afraid to say you’re out of luck. Mulberry no longer stock it. You could try eBay, there are usually some for sale on the site. Or take a look at the Mulberry Darley style instead. The Darley wallet is a similar shape. Kate owns one of Darley bags in red.
On her feet, Kate wore a pair of black suede shoes by Episode. They’re the Angel style. (Close up pictured below from another occasion.) Kate wore the shoes regularly between 2010 (for her engagement portrait) until 2015. They feature an almond toe, high heel and small platform.
Episode was a ‘house’ brand, exclusively stocked at House of Fraser. The company decided to streamline their womenswear offering and dropped the Episode brand somewhere around 2017/2018.
Kate added a little bling to her outfit by wearing her Cartier Ballon Bleu watch and her Sapphire & diamond earrings (thought to be adapted from a pair owned by Princess Diana).
