Steal Her Look – November 2017 Edition
Duchess of Cambridge (Kate) has been very busy with her royal duties these past few weeks. But good news for us with the greater number of engagements we have a greater opportunity “steal her look” through the art of sewing.
We have seen quite a mix of outfits in November from athletic wear to formal gowns. This month I’ve broken up the outfits by category vs date in which they appeared. I also tried my best to include patterns from independent designers in the line up and not just patterns from the big 4.
Jackets/Coats
Red Down Jacket
Kate pulled out a familiar coat that she wore back in February of this year, it was the Perfect Moment Mini Duvet II Ski Jacket. Shopbop.com describes the jacket below:
“This down-filled Perfect Moment ski jacket has a contoured profile. A thin magnetic flap crosses the zip placket. On-seam pockets. Gathered elastic cuffs. Lined.
Fabric: Technical weave
Shell: 100% nylon.
Fill: 90% goose down/10% feathers.
Measurements
Length: 24.5in / 62cm, from shoulder
Measurements from size S”
It looks rather cozy and would certainly keep you warm on a cold winter’s day.
Some additional design features you will notice are the elbow patch sleeves and the interesting quilting work done around the abdomen and lower back.
Now I’m not going to say that this pattern is an exact match, in fact it’s kind of a stretch, but if you were looking to support an indie pattern designer I would choose the Tamarack Jacket Sewing Pattern by Grainline Studio.
There are a few design tweaks that would need to be made in order to make this look just like a light weight version of Kate’s coat.
- Add elbow patches to the sleeves
- Change the closure to a zip instead of buttons
- Narrow the quilting rows
- IF you’re really ambitious, square off the hem
I hear you I hear you, “but that’s just changing the ENTIRE pattern!” This is very true however I have found that after making ANY pattern once I tend to modify it completely anyways. However, I was able to find a big 4 pattern that would not need as many modifications.
I give you, McCall’s M7695 Misses’ Puffer Vests and Jackets view D.
It is dead ringer and all you would have to add are elbow patches.
Outdoor Barbour ‘Defence’ Jacket
For the 10th anniversary celebration of the Royal Horticultural Society’s School Gardening program, Kate wore a cozy causal outdoor attire that included her Barbour waxed ‘Defence’ jacket.
The jacket is described as a military-inspired olive field jacket, featuring front pocket styling and a waxed cotton exterior to shield from the elements with side button tabs provide a feminine fit.
I’ve loved this style of jacket that Kate has in her closet, she has at least two other jackets of similar style, and I have been eyeing the Lonetree Jacket by Allie Olson of IndieSew to make a RepliKate for a while now.
The only alteration I would do to make this coat a solid match would be to remove the waist cinching string and replace it with side tabs, like the ones on the original jacket.
Goat Pregnancy Coat
Brought back from December 2014 the Washington coat from Goat Fashion. It was described by WhatKateWore.com as, “…a swing style with a retro, 1960s feel. It is made of heavy wool crepe, with contrasting tabs at the cuff and on the back with decorative buttons.”
I love the original design and I especially have to say hats off to Kate for not letting her pregnancy totally dictate what she wears. As she progresses through her pregnancy she does tend to go towards boxier sheath versus her normal fit and flair style.
My pattern match for this coat is Simplicity Pattern 8055 with a couple of alterations for an exact match. 😉
The alterations that I would attempt for this coat would be to
- Add a placket to cover the buttons
- Add button tabs to the cuffs and center back with decorative buttons
- Contrasting trim at the collar
- Round the hem at the corners on the coat front
Otherwise you have the basic structure of a great coat if you just wanted to sew the coat the way it is.
Catherine Walker Coat
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Gushing a little here, I love, love, LOVE Catherine Walker’s designs! The silhouettes are just flawless and perfect. Kate wore a bespoke version of the Caressa jacket which is described by the designer as, “The structured, nipped in silhouette with a gentle flick at the hem contrasts beautifully with the full skirt. Jet, glass and silver Swarovski buttons lend a further eye-catching dimension on this black silk velvet jacket.”
The best way to achieving the full outfit is by finding a jacket pattern as the top and then adding a skirt to the bottom. A pattern that best matches the lines of the original jacket is Burda Style Pattern 8949 Jacket.
I would recommend using the body of view A and the sleeves of view B to get a more accurate look. Also a little tailoring might be in order to give you a more fitted look.
For the skirt modification, that’s a little more complicated. You could put a half circle skirt on the bottom of the jacket with side seams and an opening in the front but if you look at Kate’s bespoke piece it appears that the skirt of her jacket continue the princess seams from the bodice all the way down. So if you are a skirt mastermind, a skirt with princess seams are in order, make sure there is enough flair to give it that fullness.
Dresses/Gowns
Jenny Packham Gown
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This dress is simply stunning, I just love everything about this gown. Now imagine my surprise when I stumbled across a cocktail length version of this gown on the Simplicity pattern website. It’s actually what got me started on doing November’s pattern matching.
Simplicity 8545 is a dead match for a version of this gown. If you wanted to turn it from a cocktail dress to a full length one, simply lengthen the skirt to your desired length.
As for the beading on this dress, if you are ambitious enough to attempt beading the entire dress you made to match, or look like, the original I will bow and kiss your feet. However, if I do ever stumble across a beaded material that looks like this you better believe I’ll be sharing it on my Instagram.
Kate Spade Dress
To the Foundling Museum Kate wore a simple Kate Spade Diamond Shirt Dress. It is currently a sold out piece and is described below by the website:
“This patterned shirtdress has a pleated silhouette and feminine tie-neck that knots into a dramatic bow.
FEATURES
- 100% polyester
- diamond print
- pleated skirt
- bow neck tie
- striped panel at the hem
- long blouson sleeves
FIT
- shirtdress
- size s measures 47″ long from the highest shoulder point
DETAILS
- side seam zipper and center front placket”
Vogue Patterns by McCalls has a great dupe for this dress. It is pattern V9201, which is a fitted dress with a front band and fly button closing to waist, front princess seams that release into pleats, invisible side zipper, narrow hem, and length variations. This is a beautiful dress as is however it’s not exactly the same.
Modifications I would make to have a close RepliKate:
- Make the skirt pleated
- Remove the placket covering the buttons
- Add a contrast waistband
- Add a little extra fabric to the back panel to be gathered in the center
There is one other pattern option that you could use if you were looking to go the route of an independent designer. The Penny dress, version 1, from Colette patterns is another great match. Of course to make it your own Kate original you will need to make the following alterations.
- Lengthen the sleeves
- Remove the button from the waist band
- Make the waist band one piece
- IF you’d like the gathering in the back you will need to add extra fabric to the back panel
The great thing about this pattern is that it has POCKETS and if you know me at all you know I LOVE a dress with pockets. I don’t know why I just don’t add pockets to every dress I make.
Jeans
Kate wore a pair of her black skinny jeans to one of her engagements this past month and I just have to say it is possible to make your own jeans and I HIGHLY recommend the Closet Case Patterns Skinny Ginger Jeans to steal this look.
Get the course and pattern combo and you will never look back. Heather is absolutely a fabulous teacher and I’m not going to gush about it too much more here. You can read all about my first pair in this post.
Tops
For her more casual outing we saw Kate also wear a black mock turtleneck top.
I searched online for an Indie Pattern designer that would have a top like this and the first top I came across was the Piper Top by Christine Haynes.
I have not made a pattern from Christine Haynes yet but if any of you have let me know how her patterns are in the comments below.
So there we have it, a simple roundup of Kate’s November 2017 looks with patterns to match. I hope you all enjoyed this and if you would like to see more please like this post. Also let me know in the comments below if you try any of these patterns to make your own RepliKates.
If you want to keep up with all of my current RepliKate Pattern finds follow me on Pinterest.
