Last weekend, the Cambridges and Sussexes joined the rest of the royal family at the Remembrance festival, an annual musical event in London which always gets a good showing from the royals. Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan were sort of pushed to the back of the Royal Box, and there weren’t that many photos of them. At the time, we only had an ID on the Stella McCartney coat Meghan wore as she entered the event, and that was because the coat was a repeat. There were a few photos of Meghan from the chest up in what looked like a very simple little black dress. As it turns out, Meghan can buy off-the-rack mass-market stuff too (which she’s been doing the whole time):
It’s safe to say that no-one pulls off the little black dress better than the Duchess of Sussex. The wife of Prince Harry has worn an abundance of chic LBD’s to many official engagements – and it’s hard to pick a favourite. But, we think we may have found one! On Saturday evening, Meghan attended the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall wearing a dress from Marks & Spencer, HELLO! has confirmed. Meghan wore M&S’s Double Crepe Bodycon dress – and it costs just £49.50.
The resemblance between Meghan’s dress and M&S’ was first spotted by royal fashion blog Meghan’s Fashion. The dress in question is currently online in all sizes – and even comes in a festive red shade too. Perfect for your work Christmas party. Hello! spoke to a spokesperson at M&S who said: “We thought Meghan looked beautiful in our M&S Collection dress. We are absolutely delighted she is a fan of M&S and the British high street.”
I know the Keen Brigade is loathe to make anything a competition – unless Kate is winning – but it does feel like there’s a low-key competition between Kate and Meghan about clothes and the cost of clothes in particular. Kate’s always spent a lot of money on her “bespoke” coats, dresses and gowns, but she’s always mixed in a few mass market pieces too, like a simple dresses from Reiss or what have you. And she’s been “recycling” a lot lately, almost like she wants it to suddenly be about “Thrifty Kate.” On the other hand, Meghan has been building her wardrobe – and her body is changing with pregnancy – so she’s spending more money this year. Meghan’s thing seemed to be “separates,” so she has been mixing in sweaters from Marks & Spencer, or off-the-rack trousers or whatever. It’s smart for BOTH women to mix in some inexpensive pieces more and more. I think Meghan will have an easier time of it in the long run, just because she seems to be building a wardrobe of mix-and-match, high-and-low separates.
Revealed: The £50 dress from MARKS & SPENCER Meghan wore to attend the Festival of Remembrance https://t.co/EaxJjEjYwH
— Daily Mail U.K. (@DailyMailUK) November 15, 2018
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
I mean, we don’t want to make everything a competition because there is no need to pit two women against each other all the time, not because we want to make Kate look better.
As for Meghan’s dress, good for her! This kind of cheaper clothes allows the woman who wants to dress like a royal but doesn’t have the money to feel good and happy so that is always good
My thoughts exactly. I said it in yesterday’s post too – not everything has to be a competition. I like both of these women (I’m certainly no “Keener” lol) and don’t see why it always has to be drama. I’m sure there is some competition there, but hardly as all-encompassing as all that.
That said, I do really like that Meghan buys off the rack, affordable clothes, because it shows that not everything has to cost four figures or more to look good.
Hard agree. Everything you said.
So over the Kate vs. Meghan narrative. Why is the assumption that this is competitive rather than 2 women inspiring each other? I know in my friend group, we talk about clothes, and what and where to buy all the time. I am even on a working moms Facebook page where a bunch of us were advising a new mom on where to buy professional clothes. If my friend takes an idea from me. I am glad that I could help, I don’t see it as competition.
I agree! Remember, Meghan was the Reitman’s model for a time before Harry, and she rocked every Reitman’s item she wore. I love shopping at Reitman’s! They have great stuff for very cheap prices.
When I was pregger I literally wore target for the 1st time. It was similar to urban outfitters 15yrs ago, and I felt hip but in temp outfits. Maybe she realizes the pregger wardrobe is not worth the investment as typically she’s really small?
She modeled Reitman’s? I love that store!
Good for Meghan – many women don’t want to spend a fortune on a maternity wardrobe that will only be worn for a few months
I don’t get the whole competition thing either
There is NO competition with Princess Henry Duchess of Sussex, at minimum time as HRH, yet in the short time has continue to accomplish and perform a dedicated professional, consistent Royal work ethics for HM -POW/GB/CW gov and people.
Prince Henry Duchess work ethics to Royal Duties as a new Royal – leaves the only comparison to the Entitled 17+ years common waity middleton – who has shown none of the qualities to DoS +dont seem to even pay attention to her attire, other than what was place for her to wear and get back to her palace home), and the use of Luxury Entitled lifestyle of Royal Perks/ taxpayers expense – for her family of five and the middletons.
Perfectly put, Annie. I’m relieved to see that Meghan is wearing some chic bargains—it’s not only good press, but nice to remind the woman on the street that *chic* and *economical* aren’t mutually exclusive goals.
I agree. I’m more of a Meghan fan but I think this “competition” nonsense is harmful. We women have enough to fight against in this patriarchal society without having to gin up imaginary competitions against each other.
I hope they’re not actually in competition with eachother. They all still seem relaxed in eachothers company.
I think people often think that when someone says Kate and Meghan are “in competition” with each other it means they hate each other. I don’t think so at all. I think they probably like each other and get along fine, but there may still be some competition. (Kate has openly admitted that she is a competitive person, and that’s not a criticism. Lots of highly successful people are also very competitive.) My brothers are very competitive with each other, H and I are competitive about some things, etc. It doesn’t mean there is animosity there.
MM looks even prettier with a little extra weight on her face.
M&S have some nice classic pieces which fits with Meghan’s style and while both have mixed high street with high end, it’s not something Kate has done for quite some time. On a personal note I prefer the high street stores Meghan uses (she’s worn a few And Other Stories which I LOVE) – am not a fan of Reiss or LK Bennett.
But yeah I agree that Katie Keen has been ‘recycling’ her wardrobe a lot lately, far more regularly that she has done previously and given how Kate likes a bit of competition yeah I buy the she’s low level trolling for the good PR she’s getting because of it.
I do think there is some low level trolling going on. That’s a good way to put it. I know people insist Kate has always repeated outfits, and while that is true – these past few weeks have been kind of extreme. In the past, she has not worn repeats for several different engagements in a row, which she has been doing lately (with the notable exception of her custom McQueen pieces.)
That said – I am not hating on Kate for this actually, because to me it shows that someone in her office is following the press clippings and is trying to be aware of optics. I don’t think that Kate is trolling Meghan, I think she’s trolling the press in a way.
I think we have Catherine Quinn to thank for Kate improving. She came in with a lot more experience than a lot of the other staff that they had previously worked with. I think there was a lot going on behind the scenes and there was more to the story than just plain lazy. I’m not saying she’ll turn into Princess Anne, but I do think insecurity and anxiety played a huge role in Kate avoiding work. She wouldn’t seem suddenly more happy, confident and engaged if it hadn’t. William tried to avoid what happened with Diana by babying her. That’s just swinging the pendulum too far in the other direction. It makes it look harder and scarier than it is and builds anxiety. Quinn is probably doing whatever she can to boost Kate’s confidence. So, if repeating gets her praise then Quinn will push her to repeat. I just wish Kate would start weeding out the stuff that only fits when she’s too thin. It still sticks in my mind that she was afraid of looking “too thin” in the Vogue shoot. I think the repeating is why she ends up loosing so much weight. I’d like to see her let her weight get where she feels comfortable and then wear what fits and auction off some stuff for charity or something.
I have been thinking that perhaps some of Kate’s repeating is about still fitting in to things she wore pre pregnancy (pregnancies).No body judging here,just thinking about how great I felt post pregnancy,getting my body back and feeling like wearing pre pregnancy clothing made me feel great,and the things I re wore felt new no matter how old-could Kate be doing some of this?Just wandering…
@Spicecake38.
That’s my thought as well. If there is an agenda behind the recycling, it is more about Kate messaging that she can still fit in her pre-pregnancy clothes than trying to appear thrifty.
Agree spicecake38. When I saw her in the teal evening gown which she wore pre any pregnancies, I figured she must be thrilled to be back at her original size and wanting to show it off. I think anyone who’s had kids knows how that feels!
@Becks1, for a gossipy, trolling take on this: There is going to be a marked contrast for cost of wardrobe between Kate and Meghan at the end of the year because Kate has so many rewears. And Meghan is not going to be cut any slack for this being her first year as a royal. It will help the stories about Meghan wearing too much Givenchy and also too many American designers.
Or could it be that Kate finally has “enough” – enough kids, enough classic clothes, enough security – to start wearing the clothes she has more than once?
I don’t know if I would call it trolling. Rather it is responding to media and influencing the media perception of her. I believe Kate does it and that Meghan does it too. I think it’s fine to do if it’s in the interests of promoting your work or brand for example. In this case repeating wardrobe pieces is a very good, practical thing to do and if it gets you portrayed as being thrifty fine. It’s very disengenuous if it’s done to build you up as something you’re not like say genuinely keen about your role.
Could it be that Kate is finding less and less time to shop, especially with the newest baby at home?
Or that her… What is Natasha’s role? Assistant? Well, she is close to give birth so she is on maternity leave…
So between that and being busy with her own family, Kate may be choosing to repeat.
I doubt that’s the reason. She’s always had people, and shopping was never too difficult a task when George or Charlotte were babies. I think, as someone upthread said, that Kate or someone on her team has simply been paying more attention to the press.
or maybe because meghan has come in and she wants to show that she is thrifty kate?
Or maybe she’s just really excited to be able to fit into the same clothes she wore before she had 3 kids. I know I would be!
Said basically the same up thread 😀Agree with you!
Pretty clothes don’t always cost a fortune, and it’s very good to see her in an affordable dress. I don’t favor one duchess over the other, and I don’t think they’re in any kind of competition. They seem friendly with each other, and probably laugh about how so many people think they’re competitive about clothes, speeches and fame. Wasn’t Kate known to often wear affordable brands, and wear outfits multiple times?
It may be that it is difficult not to compare when the article itself is set up to feed speculation with the supposition that A is only doing something because of B .
That said, I’m just happy that it’s ok to be a sugar again!!! Now bring on more footage of gowns and jewels! I’m still hoping for pics from the bday party.
I hope we’ll get pics from the birthday party as well!! Another family portrait, this time with QEII and Philip would have been nice.
Also would have been nice to get information and photos of Harry and Meghan’s engagement yesterday that was going on while William gave his speech about his failed task force (did he even do anything for it besides launch it and then end it with harsh words and stern looks when it failed to do anything?)…but of course can’t have pics of Harry and Meghan that might overshadow the golden boy! This is yet another reason H&M need their own press office. There is no reason they can’t get get credit for doing work on the same day as W&K, just like Anne (or other of Charles’s siblings) would work on the same day as Charles and it’s no big deal.
The engagements were not happening at the same time.
And there are lots of engagements the royals do we don’t get pictures. Harry and Meghan had one last week, William had another one yesterday morning, and the two couples had one last night
@Royalwatcher
” but of course can’t have pics of Harry and Meghan that might overshadow the golden boy. This is yet another reason H&M need their own press office. There is no reason they can’t get get credit for doing work on the same day as W&K’
It goes both ways you know. We didn’t get a pictures or got very late pictures of the work Will and Kate did during Harry and Meghan’s recent tour.
Really? Not saying you’re wrong but I don’t remember that. Which of their (W&K’s) events were not publicized at all but just showed up on the CC? I actually thought it was funny because I noticed several times that H&M would do a days worth of engagements and William would do 1 and there would be the same number of photos on the KP Twitter timeline.
Harry and Meghan had two engagements that day, including one at the BBC.
Interesting comment, without any facts to support your statement of “his failed task force” comes across as rubbish and babbling rhetoric.
Making distictions about William’s lack of work ethic and when some of his work is actually beneficial are important, however, for many people their own prejudice doesn’t allow it to be seen.
@Royalwatcher
“Which of their (W&K’s) events were not publicized at all but just showed up on the CC?”
___
To answer your question..William and Kate held a reception for the finalists of BBC Radio One’s Teen Hero Awards on the 17th October but the KP twitter account didn’t post anything about it (very unusual), people only found out about this engagement because it was posted on the CC. The KP twitter account didn’t post pictures of the event until 19th October (again very unusual).
In the same week, Kate held a meeting regarding her “Early Years” initiative. Nothing was posted on the KP twitter page although the CC was updated. No pictures were released even though pictures have been released of other meetings she has held in the past.
Seems to me that there is only one person posting on the KP twitter page on behalf of 4 people and s/he gets to decide what gets posted or doesn’t get posted. If both couples are sharing a twitter profile then each couple needs its own social media manager that can post on the KP twitter page on their behalf.
Some receipts were just delivered
He’s the golden boy by way of being the future King of England. In reporting daily events they attend, William will always get more press, or at least equal press. Separate offices or not. And that makes sense to me.
OK, I like Meghan and she is many positive things, but “thrifty” is not one of them. Even if there is so-called recycling, she like Kate spends tens of thousands of dollars on clothes that, let’s face it, often aren’t that special or distinctive from each other.
I think Kaiser meant fans want to make this competitive btwn K and M. Yesterday’s comments regarding speaking more were prime example.
BTW- let’s dispel a myth, just because you’re an actress doesn’t make you a great public speaker. Some truly great actors are terrible speaking in front of a live audience. It’s a communication skill, sure acting can help with memorizing lines but that’ doesn’t make you a great communicator in a public forum. It’s diction, confidence, eye contact, vocabulary etc And the fake comments lol transparent. Maybe toy didn’t like the story she told but it’s hard to deny Meghan isn’t good with speeches, since she was a teen – before acting.
Anyway…. thrifty is good – on both ladies. I have always thought Kate was great at her role and didn’t think much more until Meghan came along and all the hubbub about K vs M came and it’s really ugly. Intentional from UK press but more disappointing from fans. It’s not that serious lol so it’s laughable when royal Press but worse when it’s her defenders- she doesn’t need it, she’s fine.
I like that dress, simle but elegant.
@Kaiser…….LOL-ing at the “Keen Brigade”. It’s certainly become more vocal now that MM has entered the scene.
Soooooo much more vocal, lol.
I can see Kate feeling a bit threatened. Heck, I’m 47 and have felt uncomfortable at times when my childhood bestie has gotten close to someone else. Of course, as an adult, I get over it but I do feel it. Kate has been “the one” for 7 years. She has had her husband AND Harry to herself and it appears that she and Harry have been pretty close through the years. And for better or worse, she’s had the world’s attention so I wouldn’t be surprised if she felt some kind of way from time to time. She’s human. Now, whether she handles that with grace or there’s an undercurrent of competition and/or one upmanship, who knows? In the end, they’ll all be fine because they will have to be.
This has nothing to do with the cost of clothes but so many commenters at What Meghan Wore were throwing a fit about Meghan wearing this dress because… it was a sleeveless dress and Meghan was the only one wearing a sleeveless outfit at the event. I seriously felt like I was reading a bunch of comments from my grandma and her friends.
This exactly. It’s becoming more and more apparent to me that these BRF dressing protocols are more a product of the queen being a conservative 90 year old rather than the members of the Royal family must appear modest or whatever. It seems like people like to believe in this sort of mythical well they have to dress conservatively because they’re ROYAL and DIGNIFIED and NO SHOULDERS. And I’m just not sure that’s accurate. A lot I think is deference to the Queen’s age. Obviously I don’t think any of them are going to suddenly appear in a Kardashian inspired outfit. But Meghan has already worn the short tuxedo dress and a few other similar items. And many of the other European royals regularly dress far more modern and dare I say sexy. Queen Letizia is a Queen and is regularly in jumpsuits and stilettos. I’m American so I don’t know if there are cultural differences between the BRF and the other monarchies. I’m sure there are to a point. But I really think some of this dignity/modesty stuff is way overblown, and more a function of respecting everyone’s elderly grandma than a larger set of rules.
It doesn’t feel like a competition to me. It feels like two very different women who married brothers. But that narrative isn’t as exciting, lol.
I notice yesterday a lot of the kate fans were constantly calling kate regal how she looks so perfect and like the future a Queen. And when people would point out how meghan looks just as regal as kate they would say how meghan hair was messy and that meghan earrings were rumor to be from foreign countries. I said it yesterday kate fans only want them compare when it’s comes to their looks their marriage and how much they both spend. Because according to them kate wins in that department kate is literally baby by her fans all time. The leeway giving to kate by her fans is ridiculously my favor excuses is she married in young at the ripped old age of 29 according to kate fans she the most prepared royal ever and that’s why her marriage will last longer than harry and meghan. Yet you guys turn around and say she had to have seven years off for royal duties because she need time to prepare. I like kate but her fans are ridiculously they would rather dragged meghan then keep 100 when it comes to kate any mild joke or criticism of her is labeled as mean and pitting woman against each other or jealous. But when it comes to meghan their no limit to what you guys will say about her and if anyone dares to defend her we are labeled as stans or their omg the fawing over this woman too much
+ a million. I thought it was hilarious that SOME Kate fans were up in arms about how much people were angry that William would criticize the SM giants while at the same time ignoring the KP IG and twitter feeds.
They were crying that William was being bullied like no other…all the while ignoring the completely raci$t, threatening (including death threats to Meghan and her unborn child) bullying going on in front of their faces. I didn’t see any of them as angry at the vitriol and threats that Meghan has been receiving, but let Will get some flack for not taking a stand on a platform he could control and it was more than they could stand.
What a wonderful opportunity William had yesterday to say that he has seen the KP threads and was disheartened by them so comments will be disabled going forward and that anyone making those comments should take a look in the mirror (or something similar).
W&K never speak out against cyberbullying that gives them a PR boost.
Or it would have the opposite effect. Calling out the racists gives them a platform and attention. Knowing they succeeding in what they are doing. I never give anybody like the a moment of my time. It’s wasted.
They are also public figures supported by their Nation. How do you disable comments? They would be accused of censorship.
Social media isn’t a public forum but private companies offering a service. Therefore any abusive language can and should be removed from platforms like Facebook, Instagram and twitter. It is not censorship to remove hateful language from those platforms. In fact leaving it on there just encourages them and they simply continue to do it because it works. Many politicians block people who send them abusive messages and don’t get accused of censorship. Doing nothing about it is much worse than at least trying to control the hateful messages.
They are public figures using that platform. It doesn’t matter who owns it, it’s irrelvant to what you are saying.
The comment was about disabling ALL comments. That is censorship. They are public figures and can you imagine the outcry if they didn’t allow anything negative to be said about them?
That’s not the same thing as blocking certain individuals who are racists pieces of trash.
If that was what was being said that’s a different.
This thread is about whether William should of called out racists on KP media in his speech on bullying.
Some believe because he didn’t, he doesn’t take it very seriously or his role of campaigning against bullying on social media is diminished (my words). Difficult to interpret what some of them mean or if it’s just more rhetoric.
I am not so sure about this. I believe William has spoken out about bullying on social media and the effects it is having on young people.
I listened to William’s speech and thought he was correct in calling the creators of social media to address the considerable unintended consequences that have arisen out of it like cyberbullying. I’m afraid if he had called attention to how his family has been bullied via social media it would have misused his position and platform. He was wise not to do this. William made his point using general terms and I thought he took a risk so good on him for doing it.
It’s like a football forum on here with team Kate v Team Meghan. Is it ok if I’m on both teams 😄
Ha ha. Thanks Kaiser. The “thrifty” word getting bandied about is so weaponized. Of course, blusher and eyeliner is now sold out around London, as well as the Marks and Sparks dress. Anyway, two lovely women are really upping the Royal Family standing and profile; I’m sure they get along just fine.
I love her makeup here. It’s a lot more blended, and the rouge isn’t horrendously overdone. The gloss is great on the lips.
The thing with their cloth expenses that people mention all the time is like this I think: They have a job accepted by many (royal family). They represent their country. Imagine IF they went out with cheap clothes. They would be mocked but most importantly the UK would be ridiculed. Even the presidents or prime ministers of other countries have an allowance for clothes so they can be presentable in public. Also think of the military, police doctors. They get clothes for their work as they are of public service. They have an image to maintain.
As for their homes as far as I know the military get some kind of help, founding, if not flat out accommodations in some instances, Not as the royals but still get help from the government.
The thing is royals most likely are expensive, but it seems some thing have been put in place long before, think of the Dutchy of Cornwall or the sovereign grant. It’s not like it is something new and people are paying from their savings.
The royals have more money and privileges that we can dream of. They know how to play the system to get the most of it but who doesn’t try it when the occasion arises?
When I hear that one of them buys something that cheap I ask myself why, what’s the point when the shoes or the clutch or the coat costs 100 more? When I hear they buy something super expensive I sense that they haven’t paid the full price. Trust me they know how to get discounts on everything. They are a walking publicity.
Anyway what’s the deal with the repeats and stuff. We all repeat clothes, sometimes more often then we like. As for cheap clothes I think it makes sense when you are expanding and won’t wear them anymore (or maybe for some other few months for another baby). It’s common sense to me but still not something that important. I have friends who are wearing their normal clothes as far along as 6-7 months and stretching those poor shirts to the max as they don’t want to spend money on ugly maternity clothes. You should see the ingenious ways they dress just to save.
She’s mint.
The photo directly below Daily Mail UK photos, is MM caressing Harry’s face? Or is Harry leaning against his arm? Anyway, dress is fine on MM.
The real question: is Kate lending any of her maternity wear to MM?
Lool!😂
M&S had some amazing finds when I went to them in Ireland in September. Belts for 18 euro each that hold up so well and an amazing pair of wide feet ankle boots that have become my fav for 80 euro.
Well their so called job is to be philanthropist, and a true philanthropist by nature should be somewhat generous with his/her own wealth (even their private wealth)… but Hmmm do they donate from their private wealth to those suffering in the UK?
Or do they just make sure to throw in a thrifty piece here and there to keep those peasants fooled that they aren’t hoarding all that wealth in self indulgence?
Let’s be real, any non royal who marries a royal feels as though they hit the jackpot, and they are not in this solely for the philanthropy (though funny enough that is their job description). Nothing wrong with that, it’s normal to be super excited to get a winning lottery ticket !! But let’s not be fooled by those ‘thrify’ pieces here and there !