Duchess Kate in a $75 Hobbs dress in London: pretty or poorly styled?

Duchess Kate has already done TWO royal events in 2015. Remember this time last year? Kate pretty much went dark for like three months. It was sort of crazy. But she’s got a new American press secretary and I guess he’s convinced her that if she’s going to take off for a month to Mustique and then take off two years for “maternity leave,” she better get through some events right now. Kate met “foster carers” in London today at The Fostering Network. You can read more about the event here, plus the new Kensington Royal Twitter has lots of photos and stuff here.

Let’s talk clothes! She wore this brown jacquard dress from Hobbs, which apparently only costs £50 (about $75). I don’t believe this dress was originally intended as maternity wear – it seems like something that was bought oversized and then tailored to fit Kate’s bump. And you can tell that it’s been altered, especially in the back. In yesterday’s post, I noticed a lot of you were talking about the poor quality on so many of Kate’s alterations. Word. You guys are totally right. Sometimes, the alterations don’t even make sense, like adding a panel of fabric to a jacket so it can be worn as a miniskirt, rather than just investing in the coordinating pants or skirt.

What else? I find it weird that Kate wears coats as dresses (and never takes off those coats, even when she’s inside) and then she goes coat-less when it’s obviously pretty cold during an outdoor meet & greet. I also find it odd that she’s been doing so many dark colors while meeting with children (but hot pink for the 9/11 Memorial?). And maybe this is just a minor quibble, but I really hate black or navy tights with brown clothes. They make brown tights! She could have easily done a monochromatic look with brown tights and brown heels with this dress, but she went with black tights and black shoes instead. Is this just a Southern thing for me? In the South, that’s a styling rule: don’t style your brown ensemble with black shoes. And we know she has brown shoes too! Tell me: do brown & black combos make anyone else’s eye twitch? Is it just me?

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.

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