Thursday, November 21, 2013

Weighty Katy! Duchess of Cambridge should weight her hems like the Queen to avoid Marilyn Monroe moments




The Duchess of Cambridge almost suffered a wardrobe malfunction as she arrived at a forum for the charity Place2Be on Wednesday



As she bent down to accept a posy from local schoolgirl Tierney Potter outside the offices of Clifford Chance, her skirt blew up in a gust of wind





Kate wore a specially designed Jenny Packham primrose yellow shift dress during her tour of Canada, and had a slight wardrobe malfunction on the windy runway at Calgary Airport.

And in May this year, when seven months pregnant, the Duchess of Cambridge was hit by another unfortunate gust of wind as she arrived at the wedding of friends Willian van Cutsem and Rosie Ruck Keene, in south Oxfordshire. 


Kate was left red-faced after a breeze lifted up her £38 Topshop polka-dot dress.

This time, the offending skirt was by Orla Kiely skirt and her jacket by MaxMara. She also wore a pair of gloves by Cornelia James, a £245 Russell and Bromley blue suede Muse bag and Alexander McQueen heels.


Kate should perhaps take a leaf out of the Queen's book.


Last year the Mail revealed how, despite conducting thousands of public engagements in her 60 years on the throne, the Queen’s decorum has almost never slipped.

Slipped inside the lining of each of the Queen’s exquisite hand-made outfits are a couple of small lead curtain weights, costing just £1.50 for a packet of four.


Whoops: A seven months pregnant Duchess of Cambridge was hit by an unfortunate gust of wind which blew up her skirt and exposed her thighs


The small circular weights, measure just 1.2inches (32mm) across and weigh less than an ounce each - but prevent the royal hemline from flying away in a gust of wind.


Jenny Packham revealed that she'd received a letter recommending that very trick after pictures of Kate in her billowing yellow dress surfaced last year. 


'I had a little handwritten letter from a lady in Wisconsin passionately criticising me for the primrose yellow shift dress I made for the duchess,' says Packham, who was born in Southampton, told London's Evening Standard at the time.

'She said didn't I know about putting weights around the bottom of a hem so it can't blow up?

'Well, I didn't know it was going to be worn on a windy runway - but I did think maybe in future I will put in more weighting, just in case...'

Disembarking: The Duchess looked elegant in the pretty floral Project D dress when arriving at Brisbane aiport - and successfully managed to contain her skirt when a gust of wind threatened to pick up the hem


WATCH: Duchess of Cambridge has a Marilyn moment on visit

Stuart Parvin, the Queen's favourite couturier, revealed the weights he uses for her dresses are sourced from the curtain accessories section of famous Chelsea department store, Peter Jones.

Society dressmaker Mr Parvin then neatly stitches them into the hem of her garments, which prevents them from blowing up in the wind.

The surprisingly cheap trick seems to work, for the Queen has seemingly never been photographed in public looking even remotely ruffled.

‘The beauty of a handmade outfit is that it hangs just right but, of course, we have a few tricks up our sleeve,’ Mr Parvin told the Daily Mail in an exclusive interview.


Her pleated skirt was by Orla Kiely skirt and her matching navy jacket was by MaxMara

Kate was attending the charity's 'Resilience and Emotional Strength in Schools Forum' at the offices of Clifford Chance in Canary Wharf, London


Kate seemed to be enjoying the day, despite the chilly - and rather windy- weather 
‘Surprisingly, it is nothing fancy. I use curtain weights, lead weights, from Peter Jones’s curtain department. We call them penny weights.'

‘I just pop a couple into the hemline of her dresses and coats and it makes them hang beautifully. If there is a flap in the coat then I will sew in one on each side of the split to even it up. And sometimes if she is wearing a lightweight chiffon skirt I will sew in an even smaller lead weight the size of a pea or even a length of chain, rather like a dog’s chain. But the curtain weights work beautifully.’

Unfortunately not all female royals follow the Queen’s lead and have, on occasions, fallen foul of the elements.

The late Diana, Princess of Wales, the Duchess of York and her daughter, Princess Beatrice, have all suffered similar wardrobe malfunctions.



St Edmunds is one of more than 200 schools across the country which works in partnership with Place2Be to offer mental health support services



Kate explained to the professors that yesterday on a visit with Prince William to crime prevention charity Only Connect she had been hearing about 'sexting', the exchange of graphic pictures and messages on mobile phone

Kate took the opportunity while at the event to speak to experts about early years development, asking Prof Byron specifically about babies and toddlers

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