Kate Recycles Another Frock for Prince Philip's Birthday

Telegraph UK

Forget the high street or designer boutiques, this weekend Kate Middleton proved that sometimes the easiest place to shop is your own closet. After recycling that black and white Zara dress at her friends' wedding on Saturday, the Duchess appeared at a service celebrating Prince Philip's birthday in pieces she's worn before.

The Mirror UK

Kate's brocade coat is a cornflower blue creation from Jane Troughton last seen at the 2009 wedding of Nicolas van Cutsem (second photo above). For Prince Philip's 90th birthday, Kate changed up the hat (the new one is also by Jane Corbett), shoes (those nude L.K. Bennett Sledge2 pumps) and dress to give the coat a second life.

And the dress underneath that coat? We've seen it before too. It's the blue pleated Zara dress that Kate wore when departing Buckingham Palace the day after her wedding. Kate was also carrying an unidentified nude clutch.

Kate's sapphire-and-diamond earrings have apparently been refashioned from an old pair of Princess Diana's, part of the jewelry suite gifted to the late Princess of Wales by the Prince of Saudi Arabia.

While we can't say we love the earrings--like the engagement ring they kind of seem...old fashioned--the bit of history is appreciated and they do match that famous ring quite nicely.

And this may not be our favourite Kate Middleton fashion look (we'll take a chic McQueen coat dress any day of the week), but we do respect how the Duchess is able to recycle old items to make new looks.

Kate Recycles Another Frock for Prince Philip's Birthday

Telegraph UK

Forget the high street or designer boutiques, this weekend Kate Middleton proved that sometimes the easiest place to shop is your own closet. After recycling that black and white Zara dress at her friends' wedding on Saturday, the Duchess appeared at a service celebrating Prince Philip's birthday in pieces she's worn before.

The Mirror UK

Kate's brocade coat is a cornflower blue creation from Jane Troughton last seen at the 2009 wedding of Nicolas van Cutsem (second photo above). For Prince Philip's 90th birthday, Kate changed up the hat (the new one is also by Jane Corbett), shoes (those nude L.K. Bennett Sledge2 pumps) and dress to give the coat a second life.

And the dress underneath that coat? We've seen it before too. It's the blue pleated Zara dress that Kate wore when departing Buckingham Palace the day after her wedding. Kate was also carrying an unidentified nude clutch.

Kate's sapphire-and-diamond earrings have apparently been refashioned from an old pair of Princess Diana's, part of the jewelry suite gifted to the late Princess of Wales by the Prince of Saudi Arabia.

While we can't say we love the earrings--like the engagement ring they kind of seem...old fashioned--the bit of history is appreciated and they do match that famous ring quite nicely.

And this may not be our favourite Kate Middleton fashion look (we'll take a chic McQueen coat dress any day of the week), but we do respect how the Duchess is able to recycle old items to make new looks.

Kate Middleton and *That* Sapphire Engagement Ring

We've slept on it and we still can't shake that icky feeling when it comes to Kate Middleton's engagement ring. Sure, there's soon to be a run on 80s-style sapphires surrounded by diamonds, and, yes, it's nice that William was thinking about his mother, but the whole thing just feels wrong to us.

First off, poor Kate has enough to deal with walking in Princess Diana's shadow. While these two are seemingly as different as can be you just know that some people are going to compare them to the break of dawn. Giving Kate the ring once worn Diana is only going to make things worse. Poor KMidd doesn't need to be labelled the "Next Diana." Let the girl be Kate or Catherine or whatever she wants to call herself these days.

via iamsupergorge.com

Second, while we love coloured stones and precious gems other than diamonds for engagement rings, we can't say we love the design of this one. It's kind of...old fashioned, no? Yup, we're going on record to say we're not fans.

Third and, to our minds most importantly, this ring is a symbol of a marriage that was, in short, disastrous. Why, why, why would you want to start out a new, fresh union with that kind of baggage?

And, we're keeping it real here, AAKers, we believe in omens, bad luck and jinxes. Superstitious? Maybe, but we believe in better safe than sorry. And right now we're thinking that this ring should have been buried somewhere so as not to get an opportunity to taint another happy bride-to-be.

Frankly, none of this makes any sense to us, and FYI Wills, saying you gave Kate the ring so you could feel your mother was a part of everything is nice, but we're not really buying it. Even using the stones in a new, modern design would have been better than this lazy choice. Hopefully Kate gets some nice jewelry in future to make up for this.

Kate Middleton and *That* Sapphire Engagement Ring

We've slept on it and we still can't shake that icky feeling when it comes to Kate Middleton's engagement ring. Sure, there's soon to be a run on 80s-style sapphires surrounded by diamonds, and, yes, it's nice that William was thinking about his mother, but the whole thing just feels wrong to us.

First off, poor Kate has enough to deal with walking in Princess Diana's shadow. While these two are seemingly as different as can be you just know that some people are going to compare them to the break of dawn. Giving Kate the ring once worn Diana is only going to make things worse. Poor KMidd doesn't need to be labelled the "Next Diana." Let the girl be Kate or Catherine or whatever she wants to call herself these days.

via iamsupergorge.com

Second, while we love coloured stones and precious gems other than diamonds for engagement rings, we can't say we love the design of this one. It's kind of...old fashioned, no? Yup, we're going on record to say we're not fans.

Third and, to our minds most importantly, this ring is a symbol of a marriage that was, in short, disastrous. Why, why, why would you want to start out a new, fresh union with that kind of baggage?

And, we're keeping it real here, AAKers, we believe in omens, bad luck and jinxes. Superstitious? Maybe, but we believe in better safe than sorry. And right now we're thinking that this ring should have been buried somewhere so as not to get an opportunity to taint another happy bride-to-be.

Frankly, none of this makes any sense to us, and FYI Wills, saying you gave Kate the ring so you could feel your mother was a part of everything is nice, but we're not really buying it. Even using the stones in a new, modern design would have been better than this lazy choice. Hopefully Kate gets some nice jewelry in future to make up for this.