How Meghan is pushing the boundaries of royal fashion
Haute couture in Cheshire, Chanel at polo, Dior for the RAF. The Duchess is pushing the boundaries of royal fashion, says Victoria Moss
Google what to wear in Runcorn and there’s a decided lack of pointers… It’s no New York city mini-break. Although, given that it boasts Poppy’s, a specialist (self-proclaimed) “leading mother of the bride retailer”, perhaps the Duchess of Sussex felt the town would appreciate the level of skill in her haute couture Givenchy shoulder-caped sheath. Or maybe she just felt that for her first solo outing with the Queen, she needed to throw a super-brand at the problem.
Which is understandable. What a world to have entered, where every seam is inspected and tutted over, where the fit of your wedding gown is the concern of gossip columns. Since Goat-gate – the £590 dress (and white! tights) she wore for her first post-bridal foray – the Duchess has been carving out a definite style template, with a slightly blow-the-budget formula.
There is no set of printed rules for newly minted members of The Firm, more an indeterminate concept of “protocol”, which hinges on the slightly fusty opines of the
British establishment and an opaque idea of “appropriateness”. Early on, the upper-chattering classes were put out by her exposed (Hugo Boss) arms at the Stephen Lawrence memorial service in St Martin-in-the-fields church; similar distaste was voiced by her daring full-shoulder exposing Carolina Herrera at Trooping the Colour. The Queen, it was bristled, should not have to see so much flesh on her official birthday.
The Duchess of Cambridge – a study in non-flesh-flashing outfits – has made keen favour of balancing out her bespoke Mcqueen commissions with Zara sundresses and Superga plimsolls. She’s well known for keeping a high-low balance, popping in the odd Topshop jacket or Hobbs coat every now and again.
Latterly, however, eyebrow-raising guesstimates of the six-figure cost of the
Duchess of Sussex’s trousseau are being thrown around. Bar one
M&S fascinator, popped on with an Oscar de la
Renta frou-frou dress for the wedding of Celia Mccorquodale, the Duchess has kept it high-high. Prada! Dior! Givenchy! Roland Mouret! Ralph Lauren! That fascinator began to feel less like a token effort and more of an emergency Lincoln high street drive-by, having momentarily forgotten about the English obsession with wedding millinery.
Last week’s Irish visit was marked by an adept display of considered chic, where she showed her penchant for muted block colours and a highly fitted, body-conscious silhouette. Those sheath-like power dresses are a tried and tested public-facing favourite. They work from all angles. You’re not going to get caught out by a gust of wind. It’s fashion-efficiency. They were the reason Victoria Beckham launched her first dress collection – she had found a formula that worked in her much-papped lifestyle and wanted to share.
It’s the look of the international glamazon. Melania Trump is a fan.
It’s very 5th Avenue, for the charity-lunch attendee wife of a certain level of wealth. Crucially, it’s an expensive one to pull off.
Yet it’s somewhat unlikely that the Duchess is being charged civilian prices. She will be paying
– royals are not allowed to accept donated dresses – but the bill will be at the designer’s discretion. It would be perhaps a bit off for them to charge the full whack. Instead, it is more likely that she’s paying cost – an arrangement where everyone wins. It’s also not entirely out of the question that she’s borrowing pieces – given her actress background, she may be circumventing her budget (covered by the Duchy of Cornwall) this way. Equally, last week’s trip was an official visit, which would likely be underwritten by the Foreign Office (with inclusion for a clothing allowance and grooming – the Duchess has enlisted fashion’s favourite tresses-teaser, George Northwood). That shouldn’t be balked at: the royals are a brilliant marketing exercise. Why all the international mega-brands, though? Why not British? It is understandable that she wouldn’t want to go to the Catherine patronised Alexander Mcqueen; she’s taking her own style route, and using designers that provide the polish she likes. Still, though. The Fendi (£3,850) and Givenchy (£1,800 and £1,500) handbags, the sky-high Aquazzura (£490) and Dior (£600) spiked court shoes are items that convey a certain status. A bit well, Melania. Yesterday, she took the spending down a notch, wearing a £625 trenchcoat-dress by Canadian label House of Nonie for a visit to the Southbank. It’s not quite LK Bennettlevel friendly, but it’s less frightening than Parisian bespoke. The proof will be in the re-wearing.
If she trots out the gorgeous Givenchy et al a few more times, she’ll be on a better cost-per-wear trajectory. But another M&S jumper – as worn pre-wedding – to alleviate the eye-strain of the murmuring onlookers probably wouldn’t hurt either.