Hemlines often sat at a demure (but never dowdy) knee length. She veered away from flashy, trendy, or adventurous pieces—a fact that is, in hindsight, fairly remarkable given she was still at university, which for most of us is one of life’s most confusing, experimental phases. (Especially when it comes to our wardrobes.) “Kate loved a suede boot, a good blazer, and a cute blouse,” Vogue’s fashion news writer, José Criales-Unzueta says of her central style tenets at the time. In short? It was all just so normal.
Indeed, the only time that Kate’s wardrobe veered a little wilder was when she and Prince William briefly broke up in 2007. At the time, she rocked v-neck dresses and sequins while clubbing in London, spilling in and out of cars with overly-bronzed faces and flushed cheeks—a princess-in-waiting no more. Yet, upon their reconciliation, the more responsible style returned.
Perhaps it was a sartorial strategy. As Kate wouldn’t speak to the press, the only thing they could regularly comment on was her outfits. Sure, she couldn’t talk—but her clothes could.
So, she positioned herself as an every-girl English rose. “Rarely dressed in anything that the British public couldn’t afford, she presented as the perfectly pitched girlfriend from the manor next door in fresh, swingy high street dresses [and] cropped blazers,” writes Tina Brown. “She became a mute icon of appropriate style.” At the same time as the press weaponized her middle-class background, she embraced it: She didn’t need fancy designer bags or body-con dresses to catch the most eligible man in Britain. She could do it in Topshop.
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