London - She chose a noticeably longer Catherine Walker coat and dress on her arrival in New Zealand, but the Duchess of Cambridge still managed to be caught out by a gust of wind.
Although the outfit’s hemline was around three inches lower than normal, it seemed Kate still hasn’t picked up on the Queen’s trick of having lead curtain weights sewn into her outfits.
No sooner had Kate stepped off the plane than she managed to flash a length of shapely thigh.
It evoked memories of Kate and William’s tour to Canada in 2011, when a gust of wind at Calgary whipped up the hem of her primrose yellow silk dress by Jenny Packham.
Catherine Walker, a great favourite of the late Princess Diana, died in 2010 and the fashion house is now run by her husband and business partner Sayeed Ismail. It designed the scarlet coat with two rows of pearlised buttons especially for Kate’s first formal appearance on the Antipodean tour.
The eye-catching colour and striking style ensured that Kate stood out on a grey and blustery day in Wellington.
The duchess clearly continues to be influenced by Diana. The outfit was almost identical to the red skirt suit Diana wore in 1989 to visit RAF Wittering – from the vivid shade right down to the buttons, pointy collar and sharp shoulders.
However, others suggested that Kate’s outfit looked more Virgin air hostess than royal style icon – add a slash of red lipstick and a jauntily-tied scarf and she could be offering you a glass of champagne before take-off.
Miss Walker became synonymous with Diana’s glamorous dresses, making more than 1 000 outfits for her. The first was three months after her wedding and the last a little black dress ordered a few weeks before she died in 1997. Diana was buried in it. Diana isn’t the only royal from whom Kate is taking style inspiration. She was also wearing the Queen’s diamond fern brooch, a gift from the Women of Auckland in 1954, and what appeared to be American tan tights.
The Gina Foster pillbox hat, too – a little bit Jackie O, but a lot more Queen Mum – marks her out as one of the family, part of the royal lineage, mother and wife to heirs to the throne.
Her £400 (about R7 2000) shoes from London boutique Emmy (with a matching £200 clutch) make a welcome change from those nude LK Bennett heels she’s so attached to, and lengthen her already fabulous legs. - Daily Mail