Ultimate copy-Kate
Superfan’s discount duchess style
AT first she didn’t even know who Kate Middleton was, let alone care what she wore.
But then Julie James saw Kate’s engagement to Prince William.
From that moment in 2010, watching on TV at home 4,000 miles away in the US Midwest, Mrs James looked at Kate’s £385 royal blue Issa knee-length dress and was hooked.
She snapped up a very similar dress at Banana Republic, where she then worked, taking advantage of her 50 per cent staff discount to get it for £45.
From then on, Mrs James, 37, from Nebraska, adopted Kate as her as her ‘style muse’. She has an Instagram account dedicated to pictures of herself copying the duchess’s outfits – at a fraction of the price. One of a growing number of ‘repliKates’, she insists: ‘These are items I wear every day.’
Highlights include a £30 online version of the £930 Dolce & Gabbana polka dot dress Kate wore to Wimbledon in 2017 and a buttercup print shift dress, bought for £15 on eBay, similar to the bespoke Jenny Packham dress, costing more than £100, the duchess wore as she left the Lindo Wing in London with baby Charlotte in May 2015.
A version of the striking £3,192 Naeem Khan embroidered dress Kate wore at the Taj Mahal in 2016 cost Mrs James £14 on Amazon, while a dress similar to the bright yellow Jaeger that Kate wore in the Solomon Islands in 2012 was also a bargain. The £44.95 Gap trousers and £426 Smythe blazer Kate wore in the Isles of Scilly in 2016 were copied for £11.50 as Mrs James already had the jacket.
But she may not imitate Kate so much in future – Mrs James has recently been expanding her wardrobe to include outfits inspired by the Duchess of Sussex.