Monday Memory: Scotland in May 2021

The inaugural Monday Memory is here...with a Campbell's of Beauly pink sweater RepliKate.

Good morning, Happy New Year, and welcome to this first Monday Memory post. I am using a random number generator to pick a year and a month, and today those numbers have directed me to May 2021—so not all that long ago.

In May of 2021, Elizabeth II was still with us, and William and Kate were still known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The world was slowly coming out of COVID and that May was actually pretty busy month for Kate, but the highlight was right at the end when the Cambridges wrapped up the month with a trip to Scotland. I want to highlight my favorite dressy look from that trip and briefly one of her casual ensembles that I also loved.

It won’t surprise you to see this coat was my favorite formal look. As I mentioned in an earlier post about Jade Holland Cooper being Kate’s muse, the Princess of Wales has a seemingly ever-expanding collection of Holland Cooper in her closet, and this Marlborough coat in Heather Tartan is certainly one of the jewels of her collection. The bold greens and blues of this tartan were breathtaking. I remember when I saw the pictures of this event, I was immediately and thoroughly wowed.

Kate was wearing a Joseph maxi-skirt underneath in a gold sparkle fabric. This ribbed style knit is a style Kate has loved for years, and works well under her formal coats. The gold and green would have looked really nice, too, when she removed the coat.

To me, the accessories for this look were the elements that took it from a hit to a smash hit. Purple is the predominant color, but Kate drew out the deep greens in the coat with luxe velvet heels in forest green from Manolo Blahnik.

She added significant sparkle with sapphire and diamond earrings. These were part of a collection gifted to Queen Elizabeth II in 1979 while on tour in Dubai. According to the Court Jeweler:

During a tour of the Middle East in February 1979, the Queen added a second sapphire demi-parure to her collection. She was presented with a suite of diamond and sapphire jewelry by Sheikh Rashid of Dubai. The unique Asprey set, with a loop design, originally included a large necklace, a pair of earrings, and a ring. The Queen later had the necklace shortened and used part of the resulting material to fashion a new set of earrings. The original earrings and ring were then used to make a bracelet.

I love the loop of the diamonds. Kiki McDonough has some beautiful diamond and pearl pieces with similar style loops that I almost ordered for my wedding, but I made a bold bet my husband-to-be would gift me earrings the morning of my wedding (and he did), so I wore those.

This ensemble was a show-stopper and never gets old. Kate, who usually wears her hair down, made the right choice to sweep it up into a ponytail, and every picture from this event is stunning. I hope she looks back on this look for inspo in 2024, because she was every inch a Princess of Wales in it, even before she’d received the title.

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Second, I want to briefly highlight this casual ensemble Kate wore on that trip, because this sweater was very popular, and if you loved it, I have a tip for you. The sweater was by Campbell’s of Beauly. I don’t really buy things Kate wore, but I made an exception for this sweater after I saw her wear it. I bought it for my honeymoon and loved it. It is a beautiful sweater—warm wool in a perfect pink. But I did find it a little short-waisted on me.

A fan captured a picture of Kate without her coat, giving us a full look at the sweater.

Just last month, though, I found what I consider to be a reasonably close repliKate from J.Crew that I might like better than the original. It is 25% off today for a New Year’s Day sale. I sized up for a generous, cozy fit. It is so soft and warm and the pink color is gorgeous (a little brighter than pictured, but by much). I love this sweater so much that I bought it for my mom in blue, and I might buy it in the camel/sand colorway they are offering, too. You can find the sweater here.

Well, it is 10:30am where I live, and my dad just started a cozy fire. We are planning a quiet day in playing with the baby, and I intend to take a nice long wintry walk late this afternoon before cocktail hour. Right now, I am off to rustle up a sweet carb to go with the last of my coffee. I hope you are also easing into 2024 gently.