KATE’S SMART STYLE TRICKS
Laura Antonia Jordan on the duchess’s sartorial journey
YOU MIGHT THINK that for something to pass muster as an ‘investment piece’ it should come with a hefty price tag. But, despite a wardrobe full of Alexander Mcqueen, Erdem and Emilia Wickstead, Kate Middleton shows again and again that high-street finds are equally deserving of repeat-wear status.
Take the ruffled Whistles blouse she wore for a video call earlier this month. It wasn’t just the ruffles that made it romantic – worn a few days after her 10th wedding anniversary, this piece made its first appearance in the future duke and duchess’s official engagement photos in 2010. Maybe there’s a sentimental message in there about longevity, or maybe she just loves it.
Other high-street heroes revived in the past year include Reiss’s cobalt ‘Trina’ dress – which debuted for her first public speech as a royal in 2012 (Carole Middleton wore the dress to Royal Ascot in 2010; the next best thing to shopping your own wardrobe is shopping your mum’s) and dug out again in December 2020. Reiss’s ivory Olivia coat appeared both at William’s RAF graduation ceremony in 2008 and on a 2020 trip to Ireland. But these are both relative young guns compared to the Penelope Chilvers boots that were ‘official’ even before she and William were – they’ve been appearing since 2004.
A queen of diplomatic dressing, repeat-wearing is one of Kate’s favourite fashion moves – signifying a down-toearth accessibility as well as a sustainable savvy. Her triumph is that these pieces never look tired, but appear natural, current choices. That’s because Kate’s style over the past decade has been an evolution rather than a revolution. Instead of going for reinvention each season, she knows it’s the tweaks, details and nuances (a spikier heel, higher waist, lower hemline) that will transform something ‘old’ into something ‘new’.
Considering 99% of your wardrobe has probably gone unseen and/or unworn for the past year – now is the perfect time to give some of your own forgotten high-street gems an encore.