The final cherry on top of yesterday’s royal tour sundae was the appearance of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at a reception held in honor of the Queen’s birthday. Hosted by the British Ambassador Jonathan Knott, the party was held at the Orangery in Lazienki Park.
And among nearly 600 guests, Kate certainly stood out in a black and white dress by Gosia Baczynska, the first Polish designer to ever be featured at Paris Fashion Week.
She paired the dress with black Gianvito Rossi heels and the same set of pearl earrings and necklace that she wore in Paris this March for yet another reception held by a British Ambassador.
I actually like them far better tonight than I did then – since the dress itself is a bit outside-the-box for Kate, I find them a little less jarring than I did with the black Alexander McQueen.
So now let’s talk about the dress. As you well know by now, I’m almost always pleased to see Kate in a new label, however a foreign tour debut is generally a bit of a misnomer and we rarely see those brands brought into rotation in the UK. Even so, I’m glad to see her switch it up a bit and I like that this dress is slightly outside Kate’s comfort zone, despite containing some very “Kate” elements.
The v-neck cut, the allusion of a belt and the pleated skirt – all v. classic K Midz.
But then there’s that skirt, which I was having trouble wrapping my head around in pictures when I first saw it. It almost looked…papery? I couldn’t tell how it moved, but I think you get a sense of it in the below image.
In fact, I think I like it better in motion than I do when Kate is standing still. It’s a little much for my taste, but I think it’s absolutely appropriate that the Duchess feature a local designer for at least one engagement and it’s always fun to see her branch out.
Last night’s reception also featured William’s first speech of the tour in which he thanked the people of Poland for a warm welcome and sent along the best wishes of his grandmother, the Queen. He also tried to string a few pleasantries together in Polish, which might not have been perfect, but I think he gets an “A” for effort.
Some of Kate’s facial expressions tonight were pretty priceless:
And in other pictures, admittedly, Kate did look a bit tired this evening. The camera caught her, and William for that matter, looking a little out of it on more than one occasion. The downsides of traveling with two toddlers, I guess.
There were also more than a few moments when they seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves and the company, so fingers crossed they got a good night’s sleep tonight and are ready for a slew of appearances.
It’s unclear exactly how often we’ll see George and Charlotte this trip, but likely we’ll see them again on Wednesday when the family leaves Poland for Germany. In the meantime we have a busy day ahead of us with new engagements for the second day, so check back here later.
