Dotty for Kate’s spotty frock!
Mrs Javid latest to wear version of royal’s £1,750 designer gown
REMEMBER the Galaxy dress? The Roland Mouret bodycon design first worn on the red carpet in 2005, and which launched myriad doppelgangers on the high street?
Well, this season the new ‘It’ dress is very different. It’s comfy rather than organ-crunching – yet set to be just as ubiquitous.
The £350 ‘Mathilde’ by LK Bennett, has emerged as the smart-but-not-stuffy, easy-to-wear, crisp, business-like but feminine staple. It’s the sort of dress that won’t let you down. And that’s important if, like Laura Javid, wife of the Health Secretary, you are forced into the public eye at the Tory party conference and you don’t want your outfit to be the only thing people are talking about. The dress is prim and buttoned-up and it’s a good, below-the-knee length, meaning she can sit down without sparking a diplomatic incident. It has sleeves so she can wave with impunity. It’s also navy (but comes in claret too) which is good for party allegiance.
The Mathilde has been snapped up by women of all shapes (it goes up to a size 18). It hugs hips and gives the wearer a defined, nipped-in waist. It can be worn in an ironically demure way, as seen on the boyish-figured Amanda Holden. It looks even more sensational on Holly Willoughby’s famous curves. It’s pretty but doesn’t remotely scream ‘little girl’ and can easily be sexed up by undoing a few of those statement buttons.
The Mathilde is a close descendant of the £1,750 dress by London-based designer Alessandra Rich, worn so wonderfully by the Duchess of Cambridge in 2019. The trained eye can spot straight away why Kate’s dress costs so much more: it’s longer, for starters, with a fuller skirt and the silk moves like mercury.
Other fans of the Rich dress include American actress Abigail Spencer, Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka and former supermodel Christie Brinkley.
As people return to the office, the Mathilde is a dress we should get used to seeing. Think of it as a uniform. It goes equally well with box-fresh trainers and tall stilettos. It will take you to work, a wedding or even party conference. So, well done, Mrs Javid. You teetered on that perilous tightrope and got safely to the other side. Which is all anyone can ask of a dress.