Kate Middleton used her outfit to signal support for Ukraine as she met those who have fled the Russian invasion at a Cultural Centre in Reading on Thursday (17th of November 2022). The Princess of Wales wore a polka dot dress in the country’s national colours, yellow and blue.
Kate spent time at the Reading Ukrainian Cultural Centre having conversations with Ukrainian mothers who’d been forced to move to the UK with children, plus volunteers who run sessions at the centre.
The Princess joined in with an art workshop, which the Ukrainian Centre runs for children.
The session provides a place for children to build friendships and express their emotions and experiences through a creative outlet.
The Reading Ukrainian Community Centre houses the Berkshire branch of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain (AUGB), the largest representative body for Ukrainians and those of Ukrainian descent in the UK. The organisation has helped to organise classes for children and provide housing/employment advice for adults settling in the UK.
On the same day, Kensington Palace announced that through The Royal Foundation, Kate is supporting the Ukraine’s First Lady, Olena Zelenska, with her campaign to address the impact the ongoing conflict is having upon the mental being of Ukrainians. Kate convened a virtual roundtable meeting last week that brought experts together and covered a wide range of topics.
You might remember that Kate met with the The First Lady in September, before the reception held on the evening of the Queen’s funeral.
Kate Middleton’s outfit:
Immediately, I suspected Kate’s spotty dress was from L.K. Bennett (they have a sort of recognisable/familiar look, don’t they?) A quick Google search confirmed I was right.
The Princess wore the brand’s Tallis dress. The garment is crafted from a sheer, lightweight fabric. The shirtdress features a long rounded collar, long sleeves, buttons and a pleated midi length skirt and a contrasting blue ribbon belt at the waist.
As I wrote in the opening paragraph of this post, the Princess obviously chose the dress with the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag in mind (below). L.K. Bennett describe the garment as “navy blue [with a] golden yellow spot print”.
Kate did similar during a visit to the Ukrainian Cultural Centre in London in March, at the start of the invasion (see below). We suspect she chose the sweater to pay homage to the azure blue hue in the country’s flag.
If you’d like to buy the shirt dress, Fenwick sell it for £223 (was £279) in sizes UK8 and UK10. It’s also available (for full price) at John Lewis in the same sizes. Brown Thomas have the garment in sizes UK8, UK10, UK12 and UK14 for £365.40 at the time of writing.
L.K. Bennett Tallis Dress in Navy & Gold
EXACT MATCH – Kate’s spotty dress is still available to buy:
Daytime television presenter Holly Willoughby also wore the Tallis dress on her show, This Morning earlier in the month.
Kate’s no stranger to L.K. Bennett. The Princess has been loyal to the British brand for well over a decade now. She’s worn shoes, dresses and coats from the company—just last month, she chose one of their red coats for a visit to South Wales.
On her way into the centre, Kate kept warm by wearing a camel-coloured coat over the polka dot dress. The piece is from Max&Co. It’s the LongRun coat.
The 100% wool wrap coat features a lapel collar, slip pockets and a matching self-tie waist belt (which Kate has not yet worn).
The Princess debuted the camel coat earlier in the month during a visit to Scarborough.
The company sell the coat for £460. You can buy it from Max&Co’s website and they ship to many countries.
We know the Princess owns at least one other coat from Max&Co, the Runaway Classic in pink.
Kate wore the coat on a school visit in spring 2021. (Note, Harrods currently stock the coat in a similar shade of fuchsia, here.)
Max&Co. is a subdivision of the Italian fashion house MaxMara. The company operate a bunch of different labels, including Sportmax. Kate’s worn quite a few MaxMara and Sportmax pieces over the last decade.
Let’s take a closer look at the Princess’s accessories now, they’re all familiar pieces that we’d seen before.
Kate wore her pearl earring drops from British jeweller Annoushka Ducas. The pretty freshwater pearl earrings are attached to 18ct gold pearl hoops.
Kate’s had the earrings in her jewellery box for over a decade—I think it’s fair to say they’re one of her favourite pairs—she’s worn them to over 60 public engagements. This might not sound a lot, but compared to other pairs she owns, it is!
For anybody looking to buy the earrings, you’re in luck. Annoushka still sells the style today. They’re currently reduced to £340 (from £425) in the company’s Black Friday sale. For our readers in the states, the earrings cost $384 (was $480). Other currencies/locales available too.
Annoushka Ducas is the jewellery designer who co-founded Links of London, a stalwart of the British high street for nearly three decades. The designer sold the business and started her eponymous brand in mid-oughts. Sadly, Links of London ran into financial problems and was liquidated in the early 2020s.
In addition to the pearl earrings, Kate owns an 18ct gold and diamond eternity ring from Annoushka.
We’re pretty confident Kate suspends the pretty pearl droops from a pair of gold and diamond hoops by Kiki McDonough. RRP £600 at kiki.co.uk.
I am confident to call Kiki McDonough Kate’s favourite jeweller—the Princess wears many, many pairs of the designer’s earrings.
Kiki McDonough is a British jewellery designer known for her contemporary designs and use of striking, colourful gemstones. Her flagship store is located in Chelsea, London and her designs can be purchased online.
Let’s look at Kate’s shoes now. It looks like the Princess wore her Gianvito Rossi 105 pumps in navy suede.
They’re from the Italian designer’s signature collection. He sells the style in a range of heel heights including 105mm, 100mm and 85mm. We believe the Princess wears the tallest heel in the navy—105mm.
The shoes are handmade in Italy from fine suede leather. They feature an elegant pointed toe and slim heel.
I believe Kate owns the Gianvito 105 pumps in eight different colours. I think we can well and truly call them her go-to style! In fact, I’d probably call Gianvito Rossi her favourite footwear designer. She owns 16 or 17 pairs of pumps, shoes, sandals and boots from the Italian master craftsman.
Gianvito Rossi has a boutique in Chelsea, London. International readers, I’d recommend shopping online at Net-A-Porter.com for free standard delivery. I believe all taxes and duties are paid by Net-A-Porter too.
Let’s move on to Kate’s final accessory. We saw a return of her namesake bag by Jaeger.
The navy blue leather ‘Kate’ bag features gold hardware, a gold chain (which Kate tucks in) and quilting all over.
The piece is long sold out, unfortunately—Kate’s owned it for years.
Jaeger is a British fashion company—another stalwart of the British high street that sadly ran into financial difficulties and entered administration. Marks & Spencer acquired the brand in 2021.
