Kate wears Temperley to greet the athletes

At a reception at Buckingham Palace to salute Britain’s golden summer and the wonderful athletes created it, Duchess Kate showed off a new dress that has so far received decidedly mixed reviews. The black and gold dress from Alice Temperley has been described as being too ‘busy’ with floral applique panels, a frilled skirt which also had a pleated panel, and a silk sash belt at the waist, there was certainly a lot going on. But, in my opinion, this does not distract from the beauty of the gown, which I think was perfect in it’s cocktail length, beautiful embellishment, and also in the use of gold as a motif.

It seems that this dress has been custom made by Alice Temperley for the Duchess, but it contains many of the hallmarks that feature in other Temperley designs, notably the mesh panel and frilled sleeve detail. This can be seen in one of the fab designs Alice produced for her ‘Somerset’ collection for John Lewis, the ‘Spot Mesh’ dress. Another striking point is the use of black and gold as a colourway. With flapper trends and the Great Gatsby on its way, the use of the most Art Deco of colours shows Kate is in tune with style trends once again, but is interpreting them in an elegant and regal way.