Princess Charlotte made her first appearance today on the iconic balcony at Buckingham Palace.
Robin Nunn/Nunn Syndication/Polaris
The Princess joined her big brother George, along with other royals, for the Queen’s official 90th birthday celebration. More from The Express:
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s toddler daughter fulfilled a special rite of passage as an HRH.
The 13-month-old joined her family – including older brother Prince George – on the famous frontage of the London landmark for the first time, on the official 90th birthday of her great-grandmother the Queen.
© Stephen Lock / i-Images / Polaris
Four generations watched the military fly-past after the Queen’s formal viewing of her troops.
© Tony Clark / Splash News
And from The Daily Mail:
George chatted away happily to William. The Duke, who was wearing his red tunic uniform as Colonel of Irish Guards, crouched down and pointed out the helicopters, led by the Chinook, in the distance.
In excitement, he banged the top of the balcony with both hands as he watched the flypast.
© James Whatling/Splash News
Last year it was George’s turn to watch the aerial military maneuvers for the first time.
Stephen Lock / i-Images / Polaris
This photo appeared to capture just one of the many perturbed glances Charlotte will surely cast George’s way in the years to come, but after pondering it for a moment I think George might have been off the hook; Prince William could be the person Charlotte is monitoring. (It also has that priceless “I’m gonna’ make a break for it” look we’ve seen before on George’s face.)
©Andrew Parsons / i-Images / Polaris
Charlotte’s pretty pink dress is a classic style.
©Stephen Lock/i-Images
It features a smocked bodice, Peter Pan collar, and puffed short sleeves with a band at the hem. I initially thought the Bow Smocked Dress ($239) at Rachel Riley was what she might have been wearing, but Charlotte’s sleeves have a band at the hem, not any gathering or ruffle. Also, Charlotte’s smocking appears to be a broad horizontal band across the dress, it doesn’t appear to go all the way up to her collar.
Rachel Riley
After looking at scores of dresses from retailers and brands Kate frequents we still haven’t located the exact piece worn by the Princess. I did want to share this Irulea style, as it showcases several design elements seen in Charlotte’s frock, including the hand smocking at the bodice and the waistband on the back of the piece.
Irulea
I have a number of inquiries out about the dress, hopefully we will hear back and get the item identified. It really was the perfect piece for todays’s events.
If interested in a look similar to Charlotte’s these designs are just two of the many options available: below left, the Smocked Baby Dress at Feltman Brothers ($62.99); on the right, the pink Smocked Flower Dress (€55, about $80) at Les Petite Abeilles.
Feldman Brothers/Les Petites Abeilles
Charlotte’s shoes appear to be the Early Day’s ‘Emma’ in pink. We show the style at Childrensalon (£29, or $41.76).
Early Days / i-Images
Charlotte’s little anklets look like Condor’s Perle Side Openwork ankle socks in either the pink or rosetta colorway (€3.90, that’s about $4.40). Smaller sizes are an 80/20 cotton/nylon blend, while the larger sizes are 100% cotton. This is a brand we know Kate is fond of, George has worn Condor’s knee socks from Amaia Kids on many occasions.
Condor
It also looked like Charlotte was waring one of her Amaia Kids hair bows.
Amaia Kids
Now to what George wore: he was in the exact same outfit worn by his father in 1984 for Prince Harry’s christening.
© Anwar Hussein / EMPICS / PA Wire
Side by side, 2016 and 1984.
Andrew Parsons, i-Images, Polaris / Anwar Hussein, PA Wire
It is also very much like the shirt and shorts worn by Prince William for Trooping the Colour in 1986 (a small photo may be seen here). Last year George was in another outfit his father had worn, the powder blue set seen at 1984’s Trooping the Colour.
Kensington Palace Twitter
A closer look at Prince George as he watches the aerial demonstration.
©i-Images
His shirt features modified tuxedo pleating on the front with contrast piping at the collar and cuffs, while the shorts look like a tropical weight wool, with waistband and pockets.
If looking to repliGeorge today’s outfit we have a wonderful suggestion shared by Maeve on the WKKW Facebook page: the white and blue Linen Two Piece Set at Estrella’s Boutique (£24, about $34). Maeve noted that it is something she bought for her own son.
Estrella’s Boutique
Another option: Classical Child’s Two Piece Linen Set for boys ($92 NZ, roughly USD $65), offered in blue and white, as well as an understated beige or taupe paired with white.
Classical Child
In terms of accessories, I think the young Prince was in a pair of Early Days or Start-Rite shoes, probably in black.
© Stephen Lock / i-Images
It was an utter delight to see both children this afternoon. What do you think – does this qualify as Charlotte’s first royal wave from the balcony?
©James Whatling/Splash News
We will update the post, Twitter and Facebook as we gather more information and photos. You can read all about the ceremony and Kate’s ensemble at our sister site, What Kate Wore.
NOTE: We have updated the caption and link for Charlotte’s shoes; originally we had the correct shoe but the incorrect name.
LINKAGE:
- The Daily Mail’s photo-laden story is here;
- The Telegraph’s photo gallery is here; People magazine’s story is here
What if it was one of Kate’s old dresses? My seven-month-old little girl has worn several dresses of mine from when I was a baby in 1986. My mother took good care of some of my dresses. It does look very bright and new, however. Still, you never know how people can preserve things these days. It’s just odd not to have a retailer at this point for the dress. It could be a family heirloom.
That’s certainly a possibility, it is odd that we have been unable to identify several of Charlotte’s dresses. 🙂
I have searched high and low for a similar dress…and I found one! While I know that Princess Kate does not shop at Amazon – this one is there and looks so similar to me! I purchased it for my daughter’s second birthday and am in love! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IAHVWB0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Love your blogs!
Aww, thank you Fran! 🙂
Any news about Princess Charlotte’s outfit?
No, none. Several of us (myself and newspaper/magazine) reporters think is probably a one-off or vintage piece. But the search continues! 🙂
I’ve seen on Facebook that “Les petite so aleilles” thanked someone who identified the dress as being from them!
Sorry, it’s Les petites abeilles!
Sorry once more, it was YOU they were thanking!
Thanks so much for letting me know! They do lovely designs, it would be fun to see Charlotte in one of their pieces. 🙂
Great post! I am just so curious about where all of William’s old outfits are kept, how many of them were kept, etc. It all just fascinates me! It would be so neat to see any of the royal closets! 🙂
And how they catalog everything, can you imagine that task?! 🙂
Love both of your blogs!
Thank you! 🙂
I hadn’t even noticed the little frilled-edge socks Charlotte is wearing — too cute! Your WKKW posts are so meticulously researched and beautifully put together. I can’t believe how many different labels are involved. It looks like far more work than straight Kate posts :-/
I also note that the Daily Mail seem to have helped themselves to everything you have here!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3638596/Kate-Middleton-turns-favourite-designers-Princess-Charlotte-s-balcony-appearance-Spanish-nanny-influenced-look-too.html
I believe Charlotte was wearing a dress Zara wore in 1984.
http://www.glamour.com/images/fashion/2015/07/zara-phillips-pink-dress-1984-h724.jpg
My goodness, you have a great eye! But Zara’s dress would be too big for Charlotte from what friends pointed out, something I don’t have a good eye for. A good thought however! 🙂
I don’t think its the same dress, although the style is very similar. But Zara’s dress has little dots of blue in the top, which Charlotte’s dress hasn’t… And I think it would be too big anyway… 🙁
Do you know a source for the blue dress worn by the girl all the way to the right on the first picture?
No, I’m sorry, I do not. It’s something I would love to know because it is a beautiful dress! If I am able to find out I will update the post and/or let you know by another reply to your comment. 🙂
Hi Susan,
Great post, as always. You are so thorough! Just one quibble, though. Is it possible to add a button or tab somewhere near the top of the page that links this blog (WKKW) with your other (WKW), and vice versa? I check in with your other blog almost everyday, and it would be nice to be able to jump quickly from one to the other.
Thank you for all your work!
Thank you for such a lovely comment, *and* a good idea! We’ll work on getting that done this week. 🙂
I’d love a handy cross-reference button too 🙂 I’m pretty bad at navigating this page, it’s taken me since forever to find I get the latest post on the Home symbol, as I flounder between About and Menu Item or trying to work out what to put in the search window. I am a fully qualified nit-wit, quite lost outwith WKW and the familiar side panel showing the three latest posts 🙁
Charlotte’s dress is in the same style as Polly Flinders, which many of us wore growing up.
http://www.grammies-attic.com/pollyflinders.html