Monday Memory: July 29, 2014

Today’s Monday Memory takes us back to July of 2014. July was usually a relatively lean month for Kate in terms of public engagements, and of those events, most were sporty. Remember that way back in the day, July was a pretty sparse month for William and Kate. They were already winding down for the summer, in addition to an entirely quiet August break. There has always been Wimbledon and a few events here and there, but it has only been as they have gotten older that their summers have stayed relatively busy in the run-up to August.

In any event, the outfit/engagement I am going to highlight: Kate’s appearance at the second day of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow wearing her Stella McCarthy sheath dress, Smythe blazer, and her Corkswoon wedges. Those wedges. They were so popular, she loved and wore them so much, and I am sure everyone hates them now. Funny how fashion works, eh?

The dress is the star of the show, though. Kate also loved this McCartney dress and wore it multiple times, and I think it has aged just fine. It features clean lines and inverted darts for a sleek modern design finished off with a bold punch from this bright blue hue. The dress looked fantastic on Kate. It epitomized her sheath dress era.

Kate’s choice of jewelry also featured old fan favorites. The then-Duchess wore her citrine drops from Kiki McDonough and her Woodland Charms necklace from Asprey London. We have not seen this necklace in a long while. It features small woodland charms—an oak leaf, an acorn, and a mushroom (all diamond encrusted, of course). We all assume the oak leaf and acorn are meant to be Middleton motifs, as they featured in the family’s royal wedding jewelry. A decade later, the mushroom remains a mystery. If you have fresh insight, let me know! Maybe she just really loves mushrooms.

How do you think this ensemble aged? It was a hit back in the day. Would it look good today?

Harry was with William and Kate at the Commonwealth Games in 2014. This was in the time period he said (at the time) he had found a lot of healing.

Sad to think what could have been.

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Now, this post features the second of two-days the then-Cambridges spent at the Games. On the first day, Kate wore trousers. I remember that back then, a lot of people felt her blue skinnies were faded and too tight, and I would get a lot of emails from fans complaining. I peeked at my archives, and, sure enough, I noted this in a post at the time. Apparently, I was on board for the look:

I have to say that I find something comforting in Kate's adherence to a sport "uniform." I too have certain outfits for particular types of events that I go back to again and again and again; I am sure many others do as well.  I understand that there seems to be a certain boredom with the whole ensemble, but honestly when I sat down to think of ways she could switch it all up, I didn't have a very large range of options.

Of course, it has been some years since Kate made changes to her casual ensembles, and we have not seen this combo in a long, long while. So perhaps the message to those who are worried about Kate’s current uniform of trousers is: do not despair. Even a long fashion trend eventually comes to an end. Kate is almost certain to balance out her choices after a while.

Another blast from the past? I ended the post in 2014 with this comment: “Handsome Harry…” Times sure do change.