Princess Kate is a Retro Garden Party Dream in a New Self-Portrait Dress and Vintage Hat
The Princess of Wales added another blazer dress to her collection on May 8.
Princess Kate can’t get enough of a Self-Portrait blazer dress, and she once again showed her allegiance to the brand at a royal garden party on Friday, May 8. The Princess of Wales joined Prince William, Duchess Sophie, Prince Edward and Zara and Mike Tindall at Buckingham Palace to mark the second garden party of the season, and Kate brought out all the fashion stops in a polka dot outfit.
The princess wore a vintage-inspired cream dress featuring a wool jacket with a 3-D satin rose, but hers featured some different details than the $750 style available for sale. Self-Portrait's original dress has a full satin skirt, but Kate's appears to be a custom version with a slimmer, longer pleated skirt.
The royal further customized her outfit with a different belt, and swapped out the black one that comes with the dress for a white style.
Princess Kate is pictured at a Buckingham Palace garden party on May 8.
Princess Kate is pictured at a Buckingham Palace garden party on May 8.
The Princess of Wales added some more old-school glamour with her hat, wearing a vintage style by Mitzi Lorenz featuring a cream base with black flowers and black mesh detail. The hat was recently sold for £135 from Albion Vintage Hat Shop in London via the website Hat Circle, suggesting it was Kate who snagged the gorgeous headpiece.
She finished off her outfit with an old pair of brown Ralph Lauren pumps, a woven clutch by Forever New, Queen Elizabeth’s Bahrain Pearl Drop Earrings and a pearl bracelet that was owned by Princess Diana.
The original version of the dress brings back memories of some of the styles Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret wore in the 1950s, including a white dotted dress Margaret wore on a 1955 tour to the Caribbean and a style Queen Elizabeth sported during a tour of India in 1961. Self-Portrait currently sells a very similar dress to the one Margaret wore, proving the silhouette never goes out of style.
Princess Kate is pictured at a Buckingham Palace garden party on May 8.
Princess Margaret wears a dotted dress in 1955.
Queen Elizabeth wears a polka dot style in 1961.
Princess Kate has worn a number of other Self-Portrait styles in the past, including an ivory blazer dress she also owns in black (as does Princess Beatrice, who wore it to a memorial for Queen Elizabeth). From Wimbledon to a VE Day concert, the Princess of Wales relies on the brand's belted styles to see her through busy days of royal engagements—and if it isn't broke, why fix it?
