HOW MEGHAN IS ALREADY REWRITING ROYAL FASHION RULEBOOK
By blending corporate glamour with classic off-duty cool, the Duchess-in-waiting is already rewriting the royal fashion rulebook, writes Bethan Holt
Meghan Markle will not come to Princess dressing as a complete novice. Thanks to her 15-year career as a Hollywood actress, she has already clocked up countless red carpet outings and public appearances requiring glamorous, carefully considered looks. Her style has veered toward the form-fitting, with plenty of abbreviated lengths to show off her yoga-honed legs.
A clutch of the red carpet highlights to date include a Beaujolais-coloured cocktail dress by Marchesa in 2012, a Dolce and Gabbana brocade shift and a silver tuxedo-style mini dress by her good friend Misha Nonoo for the Council of Fashion
Designers of America fund dinner in 2015.
The question is: can one sport such thigh-high lengths, decolletage-baring necklines and an international mish-mash of designers when one is Her
Royal Highness Duchess of
Sussex, rather than Meghan Markle?
Arguably, no. For royal women, there are unspoken rules of style engagement, which include retaining a certain standard of demureness and keeping mostly to British brands.
But if anyone is going to break these rules, then Meghan — confident, beautiful and a star in her own right — is the woman to do it, and there are already clues that she is on a mission to do so.
Take the outfit she chose for her first official public appearance with Prince Harry, watching wheelchair tennis at the Invictus Games in September. The relaxed white ‘husband shirt’ from Nonoo’s ‘Easy 8’ collection (above) was a masterclass in the art of saying something without saying anything.
It is a royal speciality — think of the way Diana coined the term ‘revenge dressing’ in an off-shoulder cocktail dress at the height of her rift with Charles in 1993, or how the Duchess of Cambridge left hospital after giving birth to Prince George in a polka-dot dress — an undoubted tribute to Diana, who had worn a similar outfit after having William.
Meghan was defiantly casual in the same ripped jeans, ballerina pumps and oversized tote bag that millions of women the world over rely on as their practical daily uniform. She looked more off-duty actress than princess-in-waiting.
“I also love that French way of styling, where if your outfit is pulled together, then something’s got to be dishevelled — your hair, your make-up,” Markle has previously told Glamour magazine. This seems like the kind of royal dressing blueprint we can expect from the future Duchess.
Dazzling ballgowns likely by Erdem — “a designer I’ve been wearing for years”, Markle recently told Vanity
Fair — will be pared-down by her freckle-baring make-up, while daytime engagements might include the Hunter wellies, Mulberry handbags and Barbour jackets she has started to wear since spending more time in London, albeit styled with modern, delicate jewellery and fashion-forward denim, like the Mother bootleg jeans she wore while shopping in the upmarket Chelsea district last week.
Markle isn’t flashy, but instead favours clean lines, classic colours and bodyskimming silhouettes, not altogether different from her no-nonsense screen wardrobe as lawyer Rachel Zane on the TV series Suits.
The ‘Meghan effect’ is already in full swing. Sunglasses brand Finlay and co reported a 1,000pc increase in sales after she wore their ‘Percy’ frames in the summer, while fashion search platform Lyst says Markle regularly creates surges of at least 100pc in searches for items she
is pictured in. When Kate Middleton made her first tentative steps on to the world stage in November 2010, she opted for a royal blue wrap dress by one of her favourite names of the time, Issa, which cleverly co-ordinated with her sapphire engagement ring. It led to a surge in demand for the style which had been masterminded by Daniella Helayel, Issa’s Brazilian founder, and transformed what had previously been a rather under-theradar label.
For the royal engagement photos, Markle wrapped up against the late November chill in a white wool coat by Toronto-based label Line the Label (above), layered over a bottle green dress by P.A.R.O.S.H, an Italian brand which specialises in vintage and vintage-inspired pieces.
“Effortless, understated, thoughtful” is how Line the Label describes its style philosophy. Markle is already a confirmed fan, having worn one of its trench coats at the closing ceremony of the Invictus Games in September.
The fact that Canada is part of the Commonwealth allowed Markle to show an early prowess for diplomatic dressing whilst remaining in familiar style territory for her first official royal foray.
Just moments after the engagement images went live, Line the Label’s website crashed and the €640 coat sold out “within minutes”, according to the company president. Markle’s dress was just as popular, with every copy snapped up in under an hour. The design is due to be reissued next week with the new name ‘The Meghan’.
Markle accessorised the outfit with her favourite ‘Matilde’ heels by Italian footwear brand Aquazurra and a pair of €850 opal and diamond earrings by Canadian fine jewellers Birks. Although Markle has plenty of British brands in her wardrobe, her decision to wear Canadian and Italian labels for the photos suggests she may be planning to mix patriotic choices with pieces which reflect the fact she is a) American and b) had a professional reputation in her own right before becoming engaged to Harry.
Now that she and Harry are marrying, Markle’s fashion influence — like that of the Duchess of Cambridge — will be unstoppable and, most importantly, a breath of fresh air.