Kate in Temperley at the Teenager Cancer Trust

For their first public appearance after announcing their engagement Prince William and Kate Middleton chose a charity event. Wills and Kate attended the Thursford Christmas Spectacular in aid of the Teenager Cancer Trust in Fakenham, England on Saturday.

Kate sure does love her jacket-and-dress combos, and this cropped black jacket paired with a black-and-white Temperley London dress is no different. While we adore Temperley this isn't our fave look ever on Kate. Not bad, but it didn't have us oohing and aahing either.

Temperley's Titan dress was introduced in 2009.

Images via

Get Kate's Reiss Nannette Dress

It's official! According to the Reiss' blog, the high street brand is re-releasing the white Nanette dress worn by Kate Middleton in her engagement pictures. The dress will be part of Reiss' Spring/Summer 2011 collection. You can sign up here to be kept up to date with production and availiability.

Kate's Engagement Picture Links of London Earrings

Want to get your hands on the white topaz, egg-shaped earrings Kate Middleton was sporting in her official engagement portrait, photographed by Mario Testino?

Look no further than Links of London, who have been selling the Hope Egg earrings since 2006.



Image: Mario Testino via Getty Images

Kate & William's Official Engagement Portraits

Let's say it all together now: Awwwww. That's the exact reaction we had when we spotted Prince William and Kate Middleton's official engagement photos. The casual one, anyway. They look all happy and smiley like. Not surprisingly, both portraits were taken by Mario Testino, who famously photographed Princess Diana and who would totally be our pick if we ever needed to get photographed for the cover of Vanity Fair or something. We're just saying. It could happen. A girl needs to be prepared.

Kate's Whistles Blouse

Trying to figure out where Kate's embroidered blouse is from but don't recall seeing it on the runway? That's because it was never there. Oh, you think, so it must be custom made in some kind of priceless silk, right? Wrong. C'mon lovelies, we're in the middle of a recession and conspicuous consumption is so passé. Kate Middleton knows where it's at. We love us a fab fashionista, but what we love even more is a bargainista who can look like a million bucks wearing something that cost $24.99. Not that Kate's blouse was that cheap, but still. Close enough. And it's two years old. From Whistles.  

William is wearing a Turnbull and Asser shirt and a Brunello Cucinelli sweater. We were all ready to give props to Wills' dreamy sweater when we heard that it really belongs to Testino. See? We knew the man had taste! Now if only he'd call us...

Okay, so this formal pic is nice and all but doesn't really do much for us. Taken in the Council Chamber linked to Clarence house the photo is a little too Madame Tussauds for our taste. Anyhoo, William stayed faithful to Turnbull and Asser while Kate went with Reiss' Nannette dress with Links of London earrings.

We're not sure where the hype ends and the truth begins, but apparently both garments worn by the future princess were already hanging in her closet. If you'd like to snag a blouse for yourself Whistles is re-releasing the style in early 2011 and rechristening it the Kate (cha-ching!) Reiss is also looking to re-release the Nannette, likely in January of 2011.

There is one thing that has us stumped. It's been reported that Kate did her own make-up for the engagement shoot. WTH? Why? Sorry Kate, but that's a little too Bargainista, even for us.

Claudia Bradby Necklace Designed by Kate Middleton

 

 Jewelry designer Claudia Bradby is releasing a necklace that she collaborated on with Kate Middleton during the time the future princess was an accessories buyer at Junior Jigsaw. Apparently the idea was to create something that could be worn by both mothers and daughters.

While we appreciate the sentiment we can't say we looove this style. Cute, but pretty generic.

Fun Fact: Claudia Bradby's husband Tom was the journalist who interviewed William and Kate on the day their engagement was announced.

[Vogue UK]

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 'till the break of dawn. Giving Kate the ring once worn by Di 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 unfindable, 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 & Wills' First Interview

As all the engagement hoopla starts to die down we've had a moment to stop and reflect. You know what we realized lovelies? We've never actually heard Kate Middleton speak. Until now. Directly after the official engagement announcement press conference Prince William and Kate sat down together for the first time to be interviewed. You can watch the entire interview here.

Our feeling is that they both came across quite well, even if soft spoken Kate seemed a tad nervous. They appear to be natural with a real, normal relationship. There was some teasing and, especially when their infamous breakup was mentioned, the same kind of knowing reactions that many couples have when discussing issues that will never really be 100% put to rest between them.

There are quite a few unique aspects to this duo. They're a royal couple who has dated for nearly a decade and even lived together and Kate is said to be the first commoner in more than 400 years to marry the future King of England. In the interview William describes Kate as having a "naughty sense of humor" and discussing his desire to prepare her for life in the royal fishbowl and shield her from some of the things that hurt his own mother. Kate describes the proposal as a "total shock" and practically squeals with glee when describing her excitement over the betrothal.

Engaged! Prince William & Kate Middleton Make the Big Announcement

After nine years of dating Prince William announced his engagement to Kate Middleton. These photos of William and Kate at the official engagement announcement were beamed around the world; the press finally getting the news they've been salivating over for so long.

Us? We were interested in the important stuff. Namely what is Kate wearing? Answer: Issa London, one of the future princess' favorite designers.  Congrats to Daniella Issa Helayel, who just hit the sartorial jackpot. We give Kate two big thumbs up for this deep blue jersey number, which was gathered in all the right places. Of course, the dress also perfectly matched Kate's new--and most important--accessory.

Which brings us to Big Question Numero Dos. WHAT DOES THE RING LOOK LIKE?! And then we saw it. And we were all, "Oh, well, that looks awfully familiar..." Yup. Kate is now the proud owner of Princess Diana's sapphire-and-diamond stunner. We're kind of, well, stunned. More on that later, lovelies. We need to gather our thoughts.

Kate Admiring Her New Bling

We were also keen to know just where and how William popped the question. Apparently the smitten prince asked for his lady's hand in a remote cabin in Kenya. We say better Kate than us. That girl sure is a trooper--long wait and all--and deserves whatever diamonds and sapphires have come her way.

The date of the royal nuptials is still unknown. We're doing our best Waity Katie impersonation and patiently anticipating the announcement so we can clear our calendars. There's not much more in this world that we love as much as a good wedding.

Except maybe shoes. And chocolate. Definitely chocolate.


Photos by Getty Images

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