As usual, I can't seem to let things go, so I decided to do a little more research in this post, and try to pinpoint 'the ones'. It is pretty obvious that the heels Kate is wearing are made of suede in a camel/beige colour, that they have a pretty low heel, and that they have a natural/nude colored leather sole. All four different shoes that are under consideration to be 'the ones' (see pictures below) have that too, so that doesn't bring us any closer... 
But, in the above close-up I highlighted some other main style features of Kate's heels that might help determine 'the ones': the curve of the back of the shoe, the curve of the heel, and sides. Based on this, in my opinion the heels of the Emmy shoes are too curved, while the ones from Manolo Blahnik and the ones from Russell & Bromley seem to have not much of a curve at all. Besides that, the side of the shoe of the Emmy pumps are not as low as Kate's I think.
* Emmy doesn't offer a Poppy pump in a beige / camel colour on their website, but since Kate ordered custom colours in the past, she might do this again, especially for a Royal Tour. So that's why I've taken them into consideration and changed the colour in Photoshop to match the others. Based on this my guess is that Kate is wearing the ones from Dune. (And I would very much like that, because they are by far the cheapest!) But I am pretty sure we will see Kate wear them again during the Tour so then we will have a better look! What do you think? 
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 *Sigh*, I wish I looked as good after a 25 hour flight as Kate did when arriving at Wellington Airport! My prediction about the red coloured outfit was correct, but it turned out to be too cold for just a dress. A custom coat by Catherine Walker it was, and I totally loved it! (But then again, in my opinion you can never go wrong with a fit and flare coat.) The outfit was quite formal, but that is why it was such a very nice outfit to kick off the Royal Tour with, and obviously very reminiscent of the red Catherine Walker coat she wore on the last day in Canada during the Royal Tour in 2011. And didn't you love the Jackie Kennedy feel of her Gina Foster pillbox hat? I like this type of 'back of the head' hat a lot better than the Jane Taylor piece she wore during the South Pacific tour in 2012.
Inspired by Kate's bold red? Below are some options to channel your inner Kate/Jackie. 
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The contest will run until the end of the Royal Tour (25 April), after which I will choose the lucky winner among all entries, and the best replikates will be featured in a blog post! Until soon!   “I love that woman. I love her more than sharks love blood.” This says Frank Underwood about his wife Claire in the hit series House of Cards. Previous weekend the second season of House of Cards aired on Netflix and Kevin Spacey still plays the vindictive Machiavellian politician as brilliantly as he did in season one, supported by his calculating wife, played by Robin Wright. When watching the second season, apart from enjoying all the political backstabbing, I was drooling over all Claire Underwood's outfits. She always looks so intimidatingly perfect, any professional woman would kill for her wardrobe.  Claire Underwood’s outfits are structured and severe, with an understated elegance. Tom Broecker, House of Card’s costume designer for Season 1 said in an interview that he feels that Claire Underwood wears her clothes as armour, protecting herself behind a shield that is both masculine and sexy. Ready to do battle everyday. And although Broecker refers to her as a modern-day Lady Macbeth, her character actually is far more complex than that, because while she benefits from her husband’s political ties, she wants them for her own benefit, constantly balancing options and playing the field.
For Claire Underwood's wardrobe, House of Card's costume designers mostly chose classic minimalist labels like L'wren Scott, Zac Posen, Theory, The Row, Armani, Ralph Lauren and Akris. But according to Johana Argan, the costume designer for season 2, the precise fit of Claire's clothing is more important than the labels. And indeed, everything is perfectly tailored to Robin Wrights to-kill-for body (if only I had the bone structure for a pixie cut like that!). Claire Underwood makes it look effortless, but there is nothing casual about her. The same kind of intention plays out in the neutral, dark palette of her wardrobe.  The only real colour she wears is blue (the rest is a strict palette of blacks, greys and neutrals, to abide by the unofficial dress code for Capitol Hill), but Claire never looks stuffy. In fact, she makes a mockery out of the traditional ‘power suit’. Summing up her wardrobe as rigid categories like ‘Oxford shirt’ and ‘Sheath dress’ would do it a terrible injustice. It makes Claire’s wardrobe sound rather boring, when it is the exact opposite. There is always a certain element that makes the pieces she wears interesting. An asymmetrical zipper, a square neckline or beautifully placed seams.  To analyze Claire Underwood's style, let's take a look at some of the pieces she wears. When watching the second season of House of Cards, as an avid Duchess Kate follower and huge fan of Reiss (one of her favourite brands) I immediately recognised this navy blue dress. It is their Angel dress in Indigo from the A/W 2013 collection, currently on sale for €125, down from €260. This piece is a perfect example of the simple, yet interesting dresses she wears!
Claire's perfectly tailored shirts are actually more affordable than they look, as they are the 'Oxford Shirt' from Banana Republic. It always takes me ages to find a shirt that is 'just right' (sometimes I am a bit of a Goldilocks ;-) ) so I just ordered one in white and one in blue for myself!
The white dress with bolero as seen on Claire below is actually a favourite among costume designers it seems, as it is also worn by Lara Pulver as Irene Adler in Sherlock and by Emily VanCamp as Emily Thorne in Revenge. Unfortunately it is beyond most of our reach, as it is the Illusion Bolero Sheath dress by Alexander McQueen. 
Even when it comes to accessories and jewellery Claire opts for a minimalist look. (If you have such gravitas of your own you don't need bling-bling to get attention, right?) Her go-to bag is the large black leather 'Muse' tote by Yves Saint Laurent. Simple and practical, but of exeptional quality.
Although Claire Underwood mostly sticks to brands that are not very friendly to your wallet, her look is actually quite achievable. In my experience the best places to look for a quality, yet affordable office wardrobe are Banana Republic, Ann Taylor Loft, Zara and Mango. It's also a good idea to check L.K. Bennett, Reiss and J.Crew whenever they have a sale. If you are trying to channel your inner Claire Underwood, these items might fit the bill.  PS. If you've fallen in love with a specific Claire Underwood item, the Tatiana's Delights shop on Etsy might be able to help you out. Don't hesitate to contact me!   When my closet doors refused to close I knew it was time to do something about it. Especially because there were a lot of items that didn't get the attention they deserved. So this week I found out that if there ever was an activity that is: 1. soothing (folding and ironing clothes becomes meditative after six hours), 2. exhausting (it takes forever photograph and write about all items), and 3. exhilarating (I discovered treasures in my own closet), it must be organising the first Shop My Closet event of Tatiana's Delights! So how does it work? Hop over to the Tatiana's Delights - Shop My Closet shop on Tictail and see if there is anything there you like! Most pieces are new or hardly worn. A lot of pieces are originals or replikates of pieces worn by Kate or Pippa Middleton, but also several items that are 'just' Tatiana ;-) PS: All prices are including shipping (to everywhere in the world). This shipping option will be without tracking code and at your own risk. You can also choose for traceable shipping at the checkout for an additional USD 10.   Is it noticeable that spring is on my mind?
  As I am a fervent list maker I love to make little wish lists (well, who doesn't really? ;-) ) So I thought I'd try something new here and share my weekly cravings with you guys!
Coat: Hobbs / Boots: Old (similar here) / Bag: Ebay / Scarf: Amazon UK Earrings: Metropolitan Museum of Art Finally it is getting a bit colder here in Holland. No snow yet, but I have had it up to here with this dreary rainy weather we've had up till now! What happened to a good old-fashioned winter?! It seems America stole it... Luckily, now I have the opportunity to wear my most amazing fashion buy of last year's visit to Bicester Village Outlet: my brown Hobbs Celeste coat. We have seen Kate wear this coat on three occasions already. First on Valentine's Day 2012 while visiting Liverpool, then again with a red scarf while attending a Christmas service in Berkshire with William and her family, and then lastly last March while she was pregnant, during a visit to Grimsby. I really like the way she styled it the first time in Liverpool, with the turtleneck dress and black tights. What's your favourite?  Currently I am totally in love with everything tartan, both for my clothes and for my house, so when I saw Pippa rocking a scarf with the Isle of Skye tartan I couldn't resist buying a similar one for myself, as I also recently bought a 'RepliPippa' of her purple cashmere dress. But I think the scarf works really well too with the brown coat. The dark brown suede boots I already have for many years, but they make a nice replikate for the Stuart Weitzman Zipkin boots. Last year Ayvee from DianasJewels.net identified a pair of UFO earrings of Diana as the Venus earrings from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I have loved them ever since, and last December, when my parents visited New York, they brought a pair back for me as a Christmas present ( I have the BEST parents!)  Regal Style Facebook Page The earrings are inspired by the painting Venus In Front Of A Mirror by the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens. This painting, made in 1615, shows the Roman goddess Venus with blonde hair and naked, with a fat, rounded figure in the usual style of Rubens. She is sitting with her back facing the viewer and her face only partially visible, but she is aware of the viewer in a mirror that frames her face like a portrait. The only things she is wearing is a bracelet and the pearl earrings. More information about the painting you can find here.
So, what do you think of the painting? Who wears them better, Venus or me? ;-)   Although I love the clutches Kate uses (Stuart Weitzman's Muse clutch, the L.K. Bennett Natalie clutch etc.), they are not very practical for everyday life. But there is one bag of Kate that is VERY practical and I have been in love with that one ever since I saw it: her grey leather D-bag from Tod's. Unfortunately, it turned out to be very hard to find a decent and affordable replikate (since I can in no way pay for the original). Luckily, after months of searching, one savvy Tatiana's Delights Facebook follower pointed me to a great one on Ebay:  The bag sells for $31.62 plus shipping (which was, in my case to Europe, another $32), and is made of real leather. The size of the bag is 39 x 16 cm 25 cm and it comes with a detachable long shoulder strap. 
The verdict: not the same medium grey colour as Kate's Tod's D-bag, but a great alternative nonetheless, especially considering the low price (and that for a real leather bag!).   Left: cream saucer hat as worn by Kate during the wedding of Zara Philips and Mike Tindall. Middle and right picture is the replikate hat made by Brandi, for sale at Girl Fabulosity for US$ 205 I always love watching pictures of Kate at Trooping the Colour, at a Buckingham Palace garden party or at a wedding, because she always wears the most gorgeous hats by the likes of Jane Taylor, Jane Corbett and Lock & Co. Unfortunately these hats are almost always waaaayyy out of my price league, but it is always fun to dream. But looking at those gorgeous hats, Brandi wanted more to do than dream of those gorgeous hats, she wanted to make them! That is why she started the Etsy shop GirlFabulosity, where she sells very beautiful replikates of the hats worn by Kate. I always like to hear more about the 'story behind the store', so I thought it would be fun to meet and interview the girl behind GirlFabulosity and learn a bit about her process of making Kate's hats. 
I think I first fell in love with Kate’s style when the engagement announcement was shown on TV. There she was in that beautiful sapphire blue dress looking so radiant and happy! I of course knew who she was before then, but I just never really paid any attention to her clothing and style. (But I have to admit, I had always had a little crush on Prince William!) After their engagement I really started to research her style and brands, and this is when I found What Kate Wore and all the other great pages that are related to Kate's style. Kate has a style that is classic and timeless, and it falls in the lines with Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly along with Princess Diana (even though I don’t like to compare her to Princess Di). She has an effortless style that any age girl/women can wear and look great in it! I mean, who can honestly just put on a pair of boots and jeans and a t-shirt and look immaculate?  Left: large black sinamay hat worn by Kate during a wedding in October 2010. Right: large black sinamay hat with ostrich feathers made by Brandi and for sale at GirlFabulosity for US$ 280. And then there is of course your Etsy store, GirlFabulosity, where you sell hats inspired by the ones Kate wears. How did that start? GirlFabulosity started completely out of a whim. I had no idea I would be doing so well with it as I am doing today! In 2011 I got very ill and for nine months I was out of work off and on. I could not exert much energy, and basically laid on the couch sleeping, or browsing the web. It was then that I stumbled across Etsy and several great stores that sold supplies to make fascinators and hats, so to keep busy I ordered some feathers and a couple of round bases from England and just started from scratch. The first few I made were for dogs and not people, but the more I played around with what I had I wanted more, so I ordered more and bigger stuff. Then I decided to order a hat block, which was really exciting for me because those are quite pricey. One hat block can cost up to $400. Luckily I got mine from someone who didn't need it anymore, for only $150. By now I also ordered a few new hat blocks, so I have a good collection to work with. I never took any lessons in hat making, as there are none offered anywhere near me, so I basically study a picture and duplicate it. I had some vintage hats so I could see how they were sewn together. If I cannot figure out how to do something I can normally google it or ask a fellow milliner. By now, I love experimenting with different kinds of fabrics! I love hats, but I have no idea what it actually takes to make a hat. Can you tell me a bit about the process? What do you use? How much time goes into one hat? The process of making a hat is mostly the same for all types. First, I start with straw or sinamay and wet it so that it is playable. Then I stretch and pull it over the hat block and make sure that it is pulled nice and with no bumps, and then I pin it. This base then needs several layers of stiffener, until it reaches the stiffness that I need. When I make a felt hat, this process is basically the same, except then I use steam to shape it. The more steam, the more stretch the hat has. After the base is dried and shaped I carefully remove it from the block and put wire around the brim and trim it with petersham ribbon, or I just turn the brim over the wire and sew it. When this is done, I add the decorative trims of feathers and such. Then you have a hat!
Are there any hats that you especially like to make? And was there maybe a hat that was a lot more difficult than you initially anticipated and therefore particularly frustrating to make? All the hats Kate wears are great to make. However, I do get tired sometimes of making the same hat over and over again, because just when I think that I have time to start on a hat of my own design, I get a new hat order and I don’t have time to work on it. But the Etsy business is great, so I don't complain! The felt hats are the easiest to make and the quickest. The straw hats take more time, but I enjoy making them more because the outcome is so lovely. There are two hats that were really frustrating to make. The first one was the light pink hat with lace trim that Kate wore to the Buckingham Palace garden party in 2012. That hat is made out of two different parts that you put together, but there are these little tails that come out from under the brim, and it has these lace appliques on top. Luckily, every time I make the pink hat I am able to improve it. The other hat that is really difficult is the nude beaded cocktail hat that Kate wore with the nude lace McQueen dress to the Diamond Jubilee church service. I once started on it, but it has so much hand beading I decided to stop half way. This hat isn't really hard to make because it is a difficult design, but adding the beads by hand is very time consuming, and the more time consuming it is, the more the cost of the hat goes up. I want to try to keep the costs down so I am still trying to find a way to offer this hat cheaper.  Left: straw and lace hat as worn by Kate during the annual garden party at Buckingham Palace in May 2012. Right: straw and lace hat made by Brandi for sale at GirlFabulosity for US$ 200. Any plans for the future when it comes to your hat making business? Maybe considering an internship at Jane Corbett in the future? ;-) Haha, of course I don’t know what the future has in store for me! In theory I would love to be able to quit my full time job and only work on hats. But I would have to sell a lot of hats for that to happen! I would love to be able to go somewhere and take classes and improve my skills further. I would love to go to England some day to shop for supplies there and visit different hat stores. Maybe even get a glimpse of Kate! But for now, I am just planning on keep adding new hat designs to GirlFabulosity. Currently I am making puppy party hats to sell at a local dog boutique, so I hope to add those to my store as well. Also I would love to offer other hats than just Kate’s, like designs worn by Pippa or Corale Middleton, along with my own designs! And last, but not least: Who is your absolute hat icon (apart from Kate of course)? I don’t think I really have one “hat Icon”, not someone particular. I tend to just check blog posts and magazines to see what Kate, Pippa etc. are wearing and pick from there. I do however have a few favorite designers. Jane Corbett is amazing, her hats are very unique and have her signature flare in the folds that she does. Gina Foster has very girly, flirty designs. She uses flowers and feathers in a very beautiful way! And of course Jane Taylor, I love the lines in her designs, very classic and clean. She makes flowers out of feathers and uses veiling in unique ways! Giveaway of a replikate of Kate's brown St. Patrick's Day hat! Now is your chance to win one of Brandi's handmade hats: a replikate of the brown felt hat as worn by Kate during St. Patrick's Day 2012 and Cheltenham Festival 2013! The contest runs from Tuesday 29 October until Sunday 3 November. The winner will be announced on Monday 4 November 2013. This particular giveaway is open to everyone all over the world. Here’s how to enter:
 As about 99% of you may know already, Kate had her first solo engagement since the birth of Prince George yesterday, attending a workshop at one of her new charities: SportsAid. No pieces we hadn't seen before, but I thought it is a nice outfit to replikate nonetheless (although playing volleyball in 5" heels has 'Don't try this at home' written all over it)! 
What did you think of Kate's outfit (and amazing post baby body btw!)? Are there some items you would consider replikating? 
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- ABOUT TATIANA -
Hi there! I am a fashion and travel enthusiast living in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Tatiana's Delights is your online resource for preppy and minimalist fashion, travel tips, affordable home decor and adorable cat photos. You can find out more about Tatiana's Delights here.
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