Photo courtesy of @KensingtonRoyal
Of course the first big Royal tour of 2018 has to happen smack in the middle of awards season. Time stops for neither royals, nor peasant fashion bloggers. Let’s dive into an exciting journey to the land of reindeer, IKEA, and gravlax!
Day 1
Itinerary: Ice Hockey in Stockholm; lunch with the Swedish Royal Family; tour of Stockholm and the Nobel Museum; visit to the national center for architecture and design; black tie dinner with the Royal Family and guests.
Clearly, Kate is not letting her pregnancy get in the way of playing sports with adorable children! She looked bundled up and ready for some hockey in a Burberry coat, a sweater by Swedish designer Fjällräven, and Sorel boots.
Next up was a green Catherine Walker dress and coat combo, with the fur turban we saw over Christmas at Sandringham.
A quick note on the Swedish royal family. In the second picture, from left to right are Kate, Will, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Queen Silvia of Sweden, Prince Daniel, Duke of Vastergotland and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden. Carl is the reigning monarch, and Victoria is his eldest child and heir apparent. Like Kate, Daniel is a commoner – he and Victoria met when he was her personal trainer! I like Victoria’s dress here – it’s from Swedish designer Ida Sjöstedt – and will prove to be her best look on this visit.
After touring around Stockholm for the afternoon, Will and Kate joined the Swedish royals for a black tie dinner with Kate wearing Erdem.
I was going back and forth on this one for a bit, but ultimately I think I like it despite its vague upholstered-ness. Slightly upholstered is kinda my jam after all. I don’t know what the normally chic Victoria is wearing in that second picture, but it’s dålig (Swedish for “bad”).
Day 2
Itinerary: a tour of the Karolinska Institute medical research center; a visit to a local school; a stop at the NK department store to open an exhibit about UK design; private tea with Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel at Haga Palace; and an evening event at the Fotografiska Gallery.
Kate kicked things off in a new coat from her go-to custom designer Catherine Walker, and it’s one my all-time favorites. I adore this mod houdstooth pattern. However, and it’s rare I ever say this about Kate, I HATE the oxblood Chanel purse and Tod’s pumps with this. It’s not that she necessarily needed to be matchy, but the two reds are just so different it feels jarring. I would have stuck with simple black for this one.
I also have QUESTIONS for Vicky here. Did she get psyched out by Kate’s sartorial prowess? Did she get hit over the head and wake up thinking it was 1986? What else could explain this dated, Pepto Bismol colored jacket and pantsuit combo?
Under her coat, Kate is wearing a custom tweed dress from Alexander McQueen. This is lovely and could easily be mistaken for Chanel. I like the accessories here against the white much better than clashing with the red jacket.
For their evening engagement, Kate brought out another high-necked, vaguely upholstered Erdem.
This one is fine – it’s not my favorite thing she’s ever worn, but I’m not offended by it either. Mostly, I just want to talk about the choices Victoria made for this trip, because this final look is also terrible. It’s just tacky, a word I don’t usually associate with Royal family member fashion. The material looks cheap, the skirt is too tight, and the boots belong with another outfit.
All said, a nice outing for Kate with the debut of some lovely new pieces. And she put a Crown Princess to shame, which must feel good I guess?
Stay tuned for Days 3 and 4 in Norway!
Fashion Wonk 