A fashion for royal rulebreakers
As the Countess of Wessex wearsrs a jumpsuit to Ascot, Bethan Holt discovers how regal style is getting a makeovereover
Contrary to popular belief, there is no official royal style rulebook. If only. After all, how fabulous would it be if a Debrett’s-esque guide were published each year, decreeing midi skirts were in, but off-shoulder tops and frayed jeans were out?
When the Duchess of Sussex emerged on to the lawn at Buckingham Palace, just days after her marriage, wearing sheeny, sheer tights, it was tempting to imagine that a courtier might have delivered her a bumper pack of standard-issue hosiery and informed her that this was now a non-negotiable.
But in reality, our princesses, duchesses and countesses (and their wardrobe assistants) rely on an ever-shifting instinct for what feels right. “There’s no book that says you must do this or this,” says Eleri Lynn, curator of the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection at Historic Royal Palaces. “Instead, the guidance is unwritten and evolves over time. For the Tudors, it was all about making yourself look almost divine, whereas now royalty wants to seem approachable.”
Take the Countess of Wessex, who last week took a stride into the fashion history books when she became the first royal to wear a jumpsuit to Ascot, just one year after they had been cleared by the racecourse’s dress code committee for the Royal Enclosure. Given that no royal woman has yet even made a foray into trouser suits for the event, despite their being deemed acceptable since 1971, Sophie’s choice is actually rather remarkable.
Fashion comes into the unspoken rules of royal style, of course, but it’s really about perception. Like the Duchess of Cambridge’s striped T-shirts and occasional penchant for Superga plimsolls, which speak of yummy-mummy relatability, or the Queen’s neon-green birthday outfit in 2016, which was less about the shade itself, and more of a declaration of modernity on her own terms.
With a gang of fashion-forward women now part of The Firm, we’re witnessing boundary-pushing times for royal attire. Here’s a guide to the new rules of regal dressing.
It’s time to barere arms (and shoulders) s)
The Duchess of Sussex has taken a refreshingly relaxed approach to traditional ideas about not baring one’s shoulders in church or for other official occasions. She set social media alight with accusations that she had “broken protocol” when she wore an off-shoulder top by Carolina Herrera for her Trooping the Colour debut, and also raised eyebrows when she attended a service at Westminster Abbey ey in a sleeveless Hugo Boss dress. But Meghan’s outfits are otherwise demure – and what’s so terrible about a sliver of shoulder, , anyway?
Jumpsuits are in
The jumpsuit is a modern wardrobe staple, as simple to wear as a dress, but with a bit more attitude. Princess Margaret may have worn them to parties in the Seventies, but they’ve had little royal love in the intervening decades – until the Queen’s 92nd birthday concert in April, when the Countess of Wessex chose a sleekly tailored one-piece by Galvan. And there’s the diaphanous Emilia Wickstead one she wore to the races this week, further cementing her status as the countess of cool.
Embrace the high street
While Diana, Princess of Wales is widely credited for blowing away the cobwebs of royal fashion norms, she never ventured on to the Great British high street. That job has fallen to the Duchess of Cambridge, who made a statement of style intent when she wore a Reiss blouse in her engagement portraits. Since then, she’s made Topshop and LK Bennett contenders for a royal warrant, added Boden to her repertoire, and seems to have bought up Zara’s entire summer dress collection. Now the Duchess of Sussex has made it her mission to give M&S a boost, wearing a £45 jumper from its Autograph collection earlier in the year and a £29.50 hat to a wedding last weekend.
Turn the colour dial down
The Queen is famous for her colourful outfits: “I must be seen to be believed,” she once said. The Duchess of Cambridge seems to have noted this style strategy, emulating Her Majesty’s look with vibrant coats and dresses. But Meghan has taken a different route, wearing navy, blush, khaki or black over anything more eye-catching. At Ascot this week, she donned a muted cream shirt-dress by Givenchy. “The role she’s taken on, it’s very austere, it’s very sort of serious,” said Stella McCartney, who dressed the duchess for her evening wedding reception.
Trousers and jeans are the new normal
For most women, jeans or trousers are the pieces we reach for every morning, but when Meghan started wearing trousers to her outings with Prince Harry, pre-wedding, it seemed thoroughly modern. There was a studied nonchalance to the ripped jeans she chose for the Invictus Games. And the trouser suit she opted for in January? A powerful statement of elegant independence. Diana blazed a trail in the trousersas-eveningwear stakes towards the end of the Eighties. The Duchess of Cambridge has dabbled in trousers – skinny jeans being her specialist subject – but it is Meghan who understands the chic modernity of tailored wide-legs or slim cigarettes like no HRH before her.