Unpopular opinion: Duchess Kate and Duchess Meghan both kind of have bad style? Kate has gone through so many cycles and yet her default is always buttons, pussybows, twirly skirts, blue coats and coatdresses, and lots of lace. She looks like a doily, or like she’s constantly doing Diana-in-the-1980s cosplay. On the other side, Meghan has a tailoring problem, and she spent too much money on bad looks (which is also one of Kate’s problems). I don’t really want to dress like either of them, but both have occasionally worn a cute sweater here or there. Who would you choose as your “best dressed” royal though? Did anyone say “neither”?
The Duchess of Cambridge has already been on something of a sartorial winning streak in 2020 – she kicked things off with a striking blue hat worn to church at Sandringham on the first Sunday of January, and donned a spectacular sparkling gown for the UK-Africa Investment Summit reception at Buckingham Palace earlier this month. And the British public are certainly impressed with her wardrobe decisions of late, having voted her the Royal Family’s number one fashion icon.
Research conducted by fashion school the Fashion Retail Academy has revealed that nearly half of those surveyed – an impressive 47.8% – voted Kate first, compared to 20.1% choosing the Duchess of Sussex. Kate proved popular across a spread of age demographics, while Meghan only garnered sartorial approval among the under 45 group, with less than 10% of 55+ demographic reporting to having been influenced by her style.
It is Meghan’s husband, however, rather than the Duke of Cambridge, who comes out top among the men, with 13.9% voting Prince Harry the most stylish male royal figure, compared to 11.5% for his brother. Indeed Harry’s sartorial choices won out across all age demographics, except the 55+ group, who leaned more towards William.
Principal and CEO of the Fashion Retail Academy, Lee Lucas, commented: ‘Meghan may have commanded more column inches recently but it is Kate who has emerged as the royal leading the fashion stakes by a country mile… By embracing the fashion world and Princess Diana’s often daring style, Kate has learned how to balance trends with tradition, and it’s nice to see that she is keeping tradition alive.’
“By embracing the fashion world and Princess Diana’s often daring style…” That’s a backhanded way for saying Kate’s Diana cosplay is a bit creepy. And “balance trends with tradition” means that when Kate isn’t dressing like a school teacher in 1981, she looks like an extra on Downton Abbey. Anyway, I maintain that neither Kate nor Meghan are particularly stylish. I know that the “duchess” role isn’t built for truly fashion-forward women, but it would have been nice. Also: if Meghan’s style was so unpopular, why did Kate begin to copy her a bit?
Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red and Backgrid.
The Brits are well known for their taste in clothes. Wait, no.
THANK YOU!
The Brit that I seem to hear has classic effortless style has always been Kate Moss. Can’t think of anyone else but this is royal style which Is different.
Word on the Kate Moss.
Exactly, they dress like book characters or too old for their age so they will like Kate’s
Most fashion forward royal????? Letizia blows them all out of the water! There, Brits, fixed it for ya!
British and European fashion is vastly superior to American fashion. Some of the fashion discussed on this site confirms this. You Americans haven’t got a clue. All the top fashion houses have European head designers, many of them British. Other than parts of Cali and New York, yanks don’t have a clue about fashion.
yes.. a little surprised by the British don’t know how to dress comment. Also, dressing like characters in a book?? Where is this coming from ?
Have you guys even been on a London high street ?
Not to be rude, but for a country that basically invented athleisure.. i wouldn’t brag about being fashionable 😉
British fashion and European fashion are two VERY different things.
@blodwen thank you! I am laughing out loud at some of these comments on British style – like characters out of a book?? Someone has been watching too many period dramas me thinks.
London is one of the most fashion forward cities in the world – I would never call Kate herself particularly fashion forward but that doesn’t reflect on all Brits for crying out loud.
America invented athleisure because we like to be comfortable in our clothes.
Mac
and that is perfectly acceptable. However in my humble opinion, leggings and trainers are just not that fashion forward especially for anyone above 25 yrs old.
i agree with Blodwen above, that the average brit is far better dressed than the average American.
@kerwood no British and European fashion are not vastly different. We have many Zara and Mango stores on every major high street and having been to the Amalfi Coast, Ibiza, Paris and Amsterdam last year alone, I can confirm that the fashion is basically the same. If anything, British fashion would tend to be more quirky and original, especially in Places like London and Manchester. And just because you like to be comfy in your clothes, does not make it fashionable.
I agree – Kate’s style isn’t actually representative of what the average Brit wears, even other Sloany Ponies are better styled. The low paid receptionist in my office is better dressed and has more style in her fake fingernails that Kate has in her entire being.
I’m a Brit and live in London – I also work with a lot of people in the US and Canada and the first thing they all do when they come here is head for the high street (Zara, H&M, Topshop and Mango seem to be popular, esp as we get the full range and not a very scaled back basic version that am told is what the US markets gets from these retailers). Ted Baker, Reiss and Karen Millen are also very popular.
Plus this article comes via Tatler who’s new editor is an old university pal of Kate’s so go figure.
@Blodwen, sweetie you don’t know how I dress. But I have been to England (I was born there) and am always blown away at how tacky the average British person is.
There are quirky and fashionable people in Britain and those are the people we usually see when the conversation turns to British fashion, but it doesn’t surprise me if Kate is the fashion ideal because most of the Brits I’ve ever seen are as boring and bland as she is. Alexander McQueen, who was a fashion visionary, must be SPINNING in his grave at the tat that’s been coming down the runway under his name.
Agreed. Brits do many things badly but fashion isn’t one of them and the US is miles behind. The Royals are not representative of this, or much in fact, which is why it is so frustrating to watch the way that they behave and read how other countries think Royals somehow = all Brits.
I also completely agree that Kate and Meghan have very different styles but both bad.
@kerwood When was the last time you were here? I didn’t make a comment about how you dress and I couldn’t care less! I see you can dish it but you can’t take it back, sweetie
There are stylish Americans and tacky Americans. There are stylish Brits and tacky Brits. Why talk about each as if they’re one monolithic group?
So, even though the major European houses routinely appropriate other cultures, have a massive diversity problem, and only cater to Western European beauty ideals, they are superior to fashion in the US? Your views are shortsighted and problematic. Also, it’s California. Please don’t call my state Cali.
@Oaklandish, you said it much better than I could have.
Cultural appropriation, especially of African-American style has fueled British/European style for DECADES. See: British Invasion when British bands sold Americans songs written by African-Americans, without bothering to pay said African American musicians. (See: Beatles, Eric Clapton and Led Zepplin among MANY others).
Of course, this has nothing to do with Our Kate, the queen of Tatler. I think one of the reasons Keen Katie got on so well with Mary Berry is because they dress alike.
Brit non fashionista here, but still questioning the comparison. I lived in Virginia for 3 months and another 6 months in LA a couple of years ago. I think I have seen my share of pink velour track suits & yoga tights paired with cropped T-shirts to conclude that British & European women wear more stylish clothes to the local fruit & veg shop than the average American I’ve seen at a fine dining restaurant. It’s more about the fit, fabric & comfort here across the pond rather than whatever trend the latest American IT girl happens to be promoting.
ha, it’s funny how people can get so invested in fashion. Anyways, my 2 cents: I have been to most European countries and to the States, and IMO the most fashionable women (and men) are the French and Italians.
I’m American and I’ll say that my experience is that most of the US is a season behind London, Paris and yes, gasp, that US city of New York. Like I’ll go to New York and think “ooh I would never wear that” and then a year later I am. I see pics of people I know who live in London and they dress similarly to the NY people I know. I don’t know anyone in Paris, sorry.
But I don’t know how the rest of the UK dresses. Is someone in Norfolk (who’s not an aristocratic) dressing the same as someone in London?
At any rate, I think grouping whole countries as fashionable or unfashionable is silly. We have seen Kate Middleton wear athleisure, so it’s def not an American only thing. And women everywhere can thank us for it. But even in athleisure there’s “fashionable” and just wearing yoga pants. I’m sure we can find a way to blame Paltrow for the whole thing.
There’s London and there’s the U.K.
Don’t confuse the two with fashion. Be honest.
The more they gratuitously compliment her the less people will like her. People have eyes you know. So why did anyone ever say she was amazing in any way or form? How gullible we are that the peoples opinions depend on PR campaigns?
Agreed.
I’m French and I live in London.
You cannot compare France and the UK when it comes to fashion.
I really like how londoners are very daring when it comes to dressing and there are no rules whatsoever. It’s really fun to dress and there are many indie clothe stores with a wealth of choice.
Now, the French know how to dress with elegance. They just have it in them. I love observing people in Paris, and it’s fascinating to see how youngsters from ethnic minorities have a knack for mixing their background’s fashion with the parisian style. I’m thinking in particular of the Afro Chic.
Popular parisian stores like Zadig & Voltaire, Sandro, Maje and Comptoir des Cotonniers are the epitome of French fashion but they barely exist in London.
My go to store in the UK for work are Hobbs and Jaeger. Great British tailoring and good value for money.
hahahaha… I love Meghan. Love her style.
Kate… ewww, no.
I loved Meghan’s style in Ireland and in Morocco those were her best looks. And let’s be fair Kate has a 9 year leap on her royal fashion.
I like both Kate and Meghan’s style. They both have had their wins and misses.
Me too! I loved Meghan’s green dress/blazer look. And I like Kate’s style too.
I think Kate has gotten somewhat better over the years. She’s tall and extremely skinny so some people might interpret that as being fashionable.
Meghan seems to have good taste but she needs better fit.
I think Kate being tall and thin is viewed as being fashionable because most of her actual outfits are just bad. The coat dresses are matronly and twee at once, which is almost an impossible feat and her casual outfits often consist of those god awful jeggings from Zara which are years out of date. The wedges may have finally been taken out of rotation but she dragged those out for years too. She also gets obsessed with a certain fashion element and ends up over doing it, like the pussy bows or those hair bands.
There are plenty of British women with a better sense of fashion, like Tilda Swindon or Amal Clooney. Kate just looks Carole’s idea of what a grown up woman in a conservative environment should look like, which mostly involves taking ideas from what Diana wore back in the 80s.
I like what they both wear for the most part too. I wish Meghan had just kept her entire Suits wardrobe and worn that though – everything she wore on that show fit so perfectly.
Man, I hate those culotte things.
Except for Meghan, calling Kate the leader in royal (British royal, that is) fashion is allowing her to step over a really low bar, imho. And this is coming from the Tatler, after all, so there’s that.
I like both women to a certain extent (they both have strong and weak sides) but you’re so right: I don’t want to dress like either one. Not in a mean way. They are forced to wear really conservative clothes, knee length dresses, arms covered and that is hard to do when you’re in your 30s and still look “stylish” or “modern”. Diana could make anything work, she’s a whole other level of everything.
Neither Duchess wears beautiful clothes.
Neither Duchess can wear clothes beautifully.
Diana’s talent was that she wore clothes beautifully. Diana, IMHO, also had a questionable taste level at times with several major fashion blunders but she wore her clothes; her clothes did not wear her.
I think Meghan has better overall style and taste than Kate. But I agree that there were still issues, often tailoring-related and fit, for Meghan. Both women could benefit from good stylists! Agreed about Diana…she was probably a designer’s dream.
I think despite her insecurities and many issues, Diana was genuinely more comfortable of who she was, certainly by far in comparison to Kate. She wasn’t contrived and didn’t have to dress to somehow prove that she was ‘posh’ enough or Royal enough because she herself was born into aristocracy. She also had enough natural elegance and personality to be able to shine in the simplest of outfits and as you observe, did not rely on the clothes to wear her or to compensate for any personal character that was lacking. There’s a clip of Diana in her off-piste ski-gear marching over to tell some photographers off for stalking her and her young children and you would have noticed her regardless of who she was, as she looked so elegant striding through the snow in just a pair of ski-pants, a sweater and her ski boots.
Diana had a great instinct for what looked good on her. She also hired a stylist from Vogue who helped hone that instinct. I still follow some accounts on Instagram that pay homage to her style and I’m still impressed. Diana was just a stylish elegant woman
I have to agree with everything you said here. I really didn’t care for Diana’s style either but you are right, she wore the heck out of her clothes and not the other way around.
I think height is a huge fashion advantage for both Diana and Kate. I wish I was tall!
So this “poll” has determined that Diana is the most fashion forward royal, then, since Kate is basically just wearing Diana cosplay most of the time anyways. Kate doesn’t have her own style. She dresses like the Queen, she dresses like Camilla, she dresses like Carole Middleton, she sometimes dresses like Meghan, but she mostly dresses like Diana. Kate just has a “fashionable figure” so other people’s outfits appear to be more fashionable when she wears them. It’s not her own personal style that is best loved though. It’s a majority Diana style on Kate’s tall thin body.
i honestly dont believe this poll. those people manipulate the result for their narrative. nobody learns from trump and hillary poll disater? these are clearly pr push my mama middleton.
I want to know what the actual question asked was. Was it “who is the most stylish royal?” Or was it “which royal are you most influenced by?” because those are different things yet the article is using them interchangeably.
Ditto.
Upvote on this. Kate is not someone known for having style. She’s either frumpy or twee or super conservative.
Since Hillary got 3 million more votes than Trump I’d say the polling was correct.
Lol they said trump wont win. Not about popular vote . You can spin what you want.
Uh, okay….
I loved Meghan’s style before she got married and had to follow rules. One of my first thoughts after they stepped back from royal duties, was that it was wonderful that I would be able to copy her style again! The day after she was at the Invictus Games in Toronto with Harry, I bought her Finlay & Co sunglasses and Misha Nonoo husband shirt. Many more purchases followed.
Can’t wait to be a copy cat again!
That shirt is everything wonderful. Everyone should own one. Got my own then bought for my daughter and a sister as gifts.
Her style pre royal was so much better!
Seriously! for me is letizia of spain who which is the most style, elegant and glamour female royal.
I think they meant in the BRF specifically.
Letizia is a killer dresser that knows how to dress her body perfectly.
With Letiza, you never know if it couture, bespoke, high street or Zara/H&M which is the mark of true style.
This is very true. She also has the most beautiful tiaras.
I just trawled a Letizia fashion page. She looks fabulous most of the time. A few misses here and there. But it’s not British style. The Fail would have gone even more ballistic if Megs turned up in some of Letizia’s clothes. Leather pants (jeggings??) case in point. Lots of off the shoulder too.
Queen Maxima! Entirely different, but to the point as well. I admire Maxima’s hat game especially. They are fabulous and striking.
Queen Maxima! Entirely different, but to the point as well. I admire Maxima’s hat game especially. They are fabulous and striking.
Letizia is a goddess! She knows how to dress, she knows how to carry herself, her hair and makeup are great.
Yes Queen Letizia has amazing style. She looks great all the time.
Letizia, Maxima and Victoria of Sweden are my faves.
Cosign. It’s her, Queen Rania and Sheikha Moza for me.
I dunno…did you see that blue velvet monstrosity a couple of days ago? Usually though, she’s impeccably dressed.
I agree there’s not a thing of Letizia’s I don’t covet! My special favorite though is Maxima- that is a woman who has a blast Queening!
To me Kate has this flowery and quirky aristo thing going on, that is fashionable in the way beige sweaters are popular among New York upper classes. Unless you are a part of it, it looks like terrible styling.
@rhos good point. I grew up in Charleston, SC and everyone there is covered in smocked stuff, giant bows, gingham, Lilly Pulitzer, church hats and monograms. Then we moved to Denver and everyone here wears exercise or hiking clothes. Everywhere. So many slide on Keens. When I found out Denver had a fashion week I burst out laughing. What fashion? People look at me sideways because I go out to dinner wearing a black sack dress and cognac leather booties. Nobody here cares about fashion. They wear jeans to the symphony.
It’s all about geography. It can become cliquey. If you don’t dress a certain way you will be shunned. Shallow but there it is. I have a minimalist style, I love vintage 40s-60s clothes but they no longer really work for me so I steer clear. Basically though what I’m saying is yes, you’re right, style is dependent on where you’re at.
Also has anyone seen the movie Penelope? With Christina Ricci. It’s a favorite of mine and my daughter’s. I feel like Kate took some cues from that film. It’s a very whimsical buttony coat style. My daughter tends to dress like that. My daughter is 11. 😂
Move to Florida! All fashion styles are worn and welcomed here! With regards to fashion, one sees everything everyday in Florida.
@BTB I would in a heartbeat – I miss the beach, and though I know it’s hours from a beach I love Disney and Harry Potter – but my husband won’t move there. Lol
Sass, I’m moving to Denver!! Kidding, I live in Austin and it’s pretty much that way here too and I love it! But different in other parts of Texas even— v different in Houston and Dallas for example.
As a southerner that moved to the PNW, I can agree. I went from monogrammed everything and pretty sundresses to hiking sandals (wtf is that even?) and workout/outdoor clothing being acceptable to wear everywhere. I wear a cute sweater, boots and jeans to work everyday and am considered “dressed up” by my coworkers.
I’m in a military community so we have ladies from all over the US. A girls night out looks like we all got invitations to seperate events. One in a cocktail dress, one in fishnets and leather, one in jeans and a tank, one in Columbia waterproof pants with a thermal top, etc. American fashion is really geographical.
I like Meghan’s casual style and her formal style more than Kate’s (I’m thinking of her pretty yellow dress in the summer of 2018, that blue dress from Fiji, etc, and then she looks super cute in jeans with a casual scarf or something) but I think Meghan’s more professional/business looks struggled at times and she needed better tailoring with some looks.
I think part of the issue is that since Kate has been on the scene for 9 years, people think that’s how a royal should dress. People assumed that bc Kate co-splayed Diana (and frankly, the queen, which is weird), that was how a royal “had” to dress. I remember on this site finding pictures of Sophie wearing trousers to prove that Meghan was “Allowed” to wear pants to engagements.
👏👏👏👏
Agree Becks1 about Diana. She wore clothes beautifully and towards the later part of her life she really started knocking it out of the park fairly consistently. But many of Diana’s early choices were awful then and are cringeworthy to look at now. Overall, I definitely think Meghan gets it right more than Kate. That said — as we are talking about only women’s style choices here — I don’t think any high profile woman in the public eye gets it right every time. They all have hits and misses no matter their country of origin, their age, or their stylist. I can’t name one woman I truly think of as a 100% successful style icon in today’s 24/7 news feed world.
I have to agree. I watched Diana’s wedding live, and I was unpleasantly surprised by her wedding gown. Yes, the ruffles and fluff style of the dress was typical of the early 1980’s but it did not flatter her at all, and the material wrinkled rather badly while she was riding in the carriage to the church. The dress was a disappointment, to say the least. I also remember her saying in a later interview that the tiara she wore that day was so heavy that it gave her a major headache.
On the other hand, there was that amazing sleeveless black gown she wore to a movie premiere, right after she and Charles announced their engagement – it was stunning!
So basically old people want to dress like Kate while young people under 45 choose Meghan.
I think its a case that Kate dresses like she’s in the +55 age group while Meghan dresses like she’s in the -45 age group and thats what people have responded to.
Kate scores high with the 55+ crowd, Meghan with under 45. That sounds right.
I don’t love either style, but I think Meghan does casual better. Kate has some gowns that are very nice.
i always said that kate doesnt have young woman of uk support. kate suppoters are brexit and maga gang who love to see their wife walk behind their hubby, truning blindeye to hubby cheating etc.
I’m going to be honest… I don’t think there’s a single royal of any family that I am like “WOW. Great clothes, she’s truly a fashion icon”.
Meghan was probably the closest but she has outfits that I really don’t get too. There are SOME Kate outfits that I really enjoy, but typically the ones that are outside of her norm or her boots/more athletic looking jackets. I find Letizia can sometimes go more matronly on some looks and she’s had her own blunders (white bra under black knit sweater) – but she’s had some absolute stunning looks too.
I think at the end of the day, it’s a mixed bag across the board. None of them get it right all of the time, and none of them get it wrong all of the time. And personal preference and bias obviously plays into it pretty deeply. I think we’re more likely to say someone is great at fashion if their style resembles something WE would wear.
Queen Rania of Jordan ftw. Always beautifully dressed. Admittedly, I’ve only been following Rania for about 8-10 years.
Erinn, I agree with you. Kate’s best outfits last year were from the Pakistan tour which were outside her norm.
Kate’s sense of style is to copy. Her outfits except maybe her causal wear never showed her personality.
If Kate’s copy catting makes her fashionable, haha!
I liked Meghan’s sense of style, despite her inability to properly size/tayloring, her looks were often more modern.
I mean…it’s a pretty low bar.
Meghan is gone and they’re still pitting them against each other 😂 I used to think Kate might be insecure but it seems more like the press is because Meghan is bigger than Britain, which seems the only place where Kate makes any kind of splash and even that’s exaggerated. Tatler is just mad that Meghan edited British Vogue, which has reaped so many benefits for as a magazine/ brand and didn’t kiss the ass of those shady aristocrats. The younger generation is who the royals need to worry about, which Meghan and Harry seem to have on lock.
It’s the Tatler so I’m not surprised
But I feel like Meghan’s style is more “accessible”. I could wear most of Meghan’s engagement outfits to work and no one would blink an eye. However if I showed up in a Kate like coat dress, I would raise some eyebrows. Granted your opinion could change if work in a different environment than me
People harp on about Meghan’s tailoring (which I admit can be off putting) but even Kate doesn’t have the greatest of tailoring around her breast area. It seems like she tries to make them bigger or something and it comes off as weird. Like I’ve seen many instances where the fabric looks “off” in her dress
She also is obsessed with raising the waist on her outfits and often it makes the outfit look oddly proportioned.
LOL!
That’s all.
She “embraces Diana’s often daring style”??? Daring is not a word I would use to describe Kate’s style.
So Kate was voted more stylish than Eugenie or Beatrice? What an incredible honor!!!
Personally, I would have voted for Sophie Wessex.
Why is it so important to some people that Kate is the best thing that ever happened to the UK? Is she really the saviour of the White race that so many have her propped up to be?
Anyone looking at the pictures included here can see that this woman is no fashion icon. She has a style, that I think is frumpy, but suits the middle-aged, tabloid reading Brexit set that appears to be her power base.
If Kate is such a credit to the human race, why hasn’t she done ANYTHING worthwhile?
It really hit home to me how lazy/lax she was when someone mentioned Kate’s Early Years initiative spanning eight years and counting, when she could have had a masters in the subject in seven years.
I honestly thought Kate looked stunning when she stepped off the plane in Pakistan and I liked most of her outfits, tho a couple of occasions I think she chose the wrong shoes. I think Meg’s inner beauty shines through no matter what she wears. Megan has better posture.
I live in asia trust me Kate dress in pakistan and india is tacky and bad. Kate cant pull desi dress. Her fashion is very bad and there are really good desi dress and brands which are cheap and stunning. Look at any bollywood wedding in google you will know why I said Kate dress is tacky.
@Shirley: I agree with you, I flat out loved her out on the Pakistan tour – the clothes looked comfy and the colours were different in a good way. It’s a pity she hasn’t worn them back in the UK, as Camilla sometimes wears similar outfits.
Kate has the worst style of all the royal families imo. It’s all dated and matronly. so I guess it’s style is in the eye of the beholder. Queen Letizia ALWAYS looks miles better to me.
I thought the British have an issue with the money the royals spend on fashion. I thought they aren’t to focus on fashion. Oh yea thats just Meghan
Isn’t the editor of ‘Twatler” Kate’s friend from uni? Of course over 55s would prefer Kate’s style, it’s matronly as hell. I prefer meghans style as it’s minimal yet contemporary. I think kate should look at how Queen Letizia dresses, who’s style is somewhere in the middle of hers and meghans. She’s quite modern yet smart and conservative enough for a senior royal. Letiza is like 10 years older than Kate, but her style doesn’t age her at all and she still looks youthful.
Twatler? 😂
Were the voters blind?!! She litterly has the worst taste. Alexander McQueen would’ve been horrified with how his brand has COMPLETELY been hijacked by bland dull Doolittle!
@Awkward symphony, when it was announced that Watie was going to be wearing an Alexander McQueen wedding dress I was very excited because I thought it would be something special. What a shock. Lee would be FURIOUS at what’s happened to his label, especially the association with one of the dullest royals in royal history.
He was well known for being picky about what famous people wore his outfits. If he was still alive he would never have allowed her anywhere near his label. This is the guy who famously banned Victoria Beckham from all his shops as he did not want her wearing his clothes.
— I agree with Digital Unicorn comment about McQueen. That said, I still think Kate’s wedding dress was a lovely take on Grace Kelly’s wedding dress. I also loved Meghan’s and Eugenie’s dresses. I think all three dresses were elegant, timeless, and suited each of them. None of those dresses wore them, they wore the dresses.
I actually loved Kate’s style during the Waity years–lot of jeans with boots and sweaters. She pulled the Sloan Ranger look off effortlessly and her dress/occasional gown choices were a bit more fun (probably because they actually had a bit more va-va-voom to them). Her first couple years of marriage she didn’t look too bad, but somewhere along the lines she morphed into frump-ville with all the lace and buttons.
I was not a fan of Meghan’s style initially, and I do agree that she has a tailoring problem. But as time has worn on, I have come to appreciate her very simple, chic style.
I agree L84Tea. I loved Kate’s early sporty look (especially when she looked so healthy) and many of her early years dresses. Not so much her more recent style. Even now though I still think she gets it mostly right with her casual, outdoor, sports look. I love It when Meghan does solid colors in minalmist, timeless lines. Her fit is sometimes a problem, but it may be because she wants her clothes loose so she can move around easily and bend down etc.
“ Meghan only garnered sartorial approval among the under 45 group”
Yup. Sounds about right. My mum would probably wear Kate’s clothes (Cept for her twee twirly skirts) over Meg’s. I would rather wear Meg’s.
@Watson, ‘the under 45 group’ the people who set fashion trends.
I think they purposefully asked a bunch of old ladies who style they liked better just to guarantee kate won. 😂
My first reaction was to laugh. Second was to consider how sad that is. Same matronly style with little variation. Dull as dirt. However in the very last pic of her in navy with TQ is lovely, for a funeral.
If Kate borrows from anyone’s fashion playbook it should be Queen of Spain!
Wiglets, Margaret Thatcher pussy-cat bows and Diana cosplay
Vs
Too big, too big, too big
It’ll have to come down to posture and confidence. Meghan by a country mile.
Gemma Chan would like to have a word…
Gemma Chan’s wardrobe is a dream!!
Both Kate and Meg have hits and misses but aren’t fashion plates. Are they influential? Yes! But they definitely aren’t turning heads based on their clothing alone.
Im more than sure that the folk who voted were probably aging, racist, xenophobes. Of course theyre going to vote for a bland, & uninspiring dresser.
Well. That escaladed rather quickly!
I’m a big fan of Meghans minimalist, casual style. Her worst looks are always when shes at big family events and is all decked out in hats and buttons and in a matching skirt suit. But when shes on her own or with just Harry, she generally looks good. I happen to love her monochromatic style – or whatever wearing multiple things in the different shades but the same color family is called. I know it’s not everyones cup of tea. Meghan also does business seperates well.
Kate does sporty fairly well. Like when shes gonna go hiking, but that’s pretty easy to pull off for anyone. Im not a fan of her daytime dresses or most of her evening gowns. Shes had a few that I liked, but In general I’m underwhelmed by her.
Not that I was asked but I certainly wouldn’t vote for the royal with the worst posture, the messiest hair and a fondness for dressing like a 50s secretary.
It’s like saying “British people voted for Brexit”. I didn’t. It’s just that the emptiest cans unfortunately make the most noise.
I’m generally underwhelmed by Kate, mostly cause the folding of her patronage The Art Room shows that she actually doesn’t care. No last ditch effort to fund raise. Nothing.
It’s one thing to harp on her work shy nature, and it’s another thing to see real life consequences because of it. Disappointing to see someone with so much power do nothing with it.
Well, with the endless amounts we spend on them year after year I suppose she would be. She looks to me as someone who loves to shop and focuses alot on her appearance. But she doesn’t have any pizzaz, she’s more like a Camilla trying to pull off as a Diana. Anyway, I think it’s sneaky how we never see Kate at fashion shows, as not to draw attention to the massive economic inequality between her and the masses. She has designers come to her, or sends her people to purchase items. That’s why their public strategists get paid the big bucks!
Mm… no.
This is my favorite non-news website and I read it every day. I feel a special connection to all of the Celebitchy’s. Is it my imagination, or are some of the comments taking on a slightly more aggressive tone? I hope this website doesn’t become infected by the rhetoric that has taken over some of the other sites and has taken over politics. Everyone here is smart, interesting, and writes great comments. I hope we keep our special community feeling.
Roxi you are my people 🙂
I love this site. Followed for years. Kudos to Kaiser and my fellow Celebitchies 💐
I wholeheartedly agree Roxi! Obviously a little bitchyness is more than welcome, but I too feel like the tone of the comment section can get heated these days.
I really like Meghan’s style. It is minimalist with a bit of an edge. She is really good at picking the right colours for herself. She also picks clothing with chic lines. Yes, there were a few outfits when she was doing Royal Family duty that were a bit too stuffy suit with hats. But even then, there were good lines to her clothing. Her pregnancy outfits were divine. I myself don’t have a minimalist bone in my body, I like ostentatious prints. But I admire women who can pull off classics and minimalism without being stodgy. Kate to me is conventional and stodgy – those pussy bows, OMG whoever is advising her should take a hike.
Nope we don’t. I prefer Rosie HW
I think it must be hard to fully dress your style when you have to do it based around other people’s rules and protocol… so good for them in whatever they can make of it!
Like anyone, they have hits and misses. But it’s not like they’re allowed to pull off a Kate Bosworth look, let alone a Rihanna look (2 ladies with amazing but different style imho)
Kate has a few wins but not many. She dresses like an old lady. I’d not wear most of her clothes and I’m actually 20 years older than her. All the lace (ugh) the buttons and bows and endless coat dresses. She’s tall and skinny, she can wear anything, it’s just sad that she dresses like her mum.
Megs was hit and miss and I agree tailoring was a big issue. I’m not a fan of the pleated skirts she liked but the form fitted dresses were normally a hit, like the yellow one in particular. I love her coats as oversized is a cooler look. The brown on brown has worked, especially her last day in the UK. I loved the Green leather skirt /silk shirt combo and the maroon leather skirt /sweater combo, loved that look on her.
Both of them do casual well.
Quick follow up. I scrolled a Kate fashion insta page, she definitely has at least some wins. She should not wear powder blue, it’s not her colour, but she loves it? The burgundy dress she wore the other day was perfect for her. Bottle green is great on her. I mostly like her shoes (esp her boots and wedges). And she has gorgeous earrings. So many beautiful earrings.
Look, Tatler is Kate Middleton’s playground and any poll done by them is clearly skewed, but I do like that her clothes are impeccably tailored even if the styles are outrageously dated and unflattering. I like Meghan’s Cali style, mostly her evening wears, however, I think she desperately needs a stylist.
Ultimately though I think it’s a tragedy of epic proportions that Kate’s biggest achievement after almost 10yrs of “royalling” is distilled to clothes and not the impact she’s had on social & economic issues that affect the masses. And that’s rather telling, isn’t it?
I know they mean the British Royal family, but Princess Deena Abdulaziz blows all of the rest out of the water. Queens Letizia and Maxima are also very stylish and mostly beautifully dressed, but Princess Deena is the best.
I don’t find either Duchess particularly stylish, they both wear things I like sometimes.
The vitriol in the Royal posts these days and the sheer number of them make me question my involvement in the Celebitchy community. It would be a shame as I have been a long time reader.
Posters such as kerwood et. al. also tend to reaffirm my suspicion that humanity is doomed.
I hope Charlotte goes through a goth phase.
Hahahahaha haha. 🤣🤣🤣
I needed that laugh this morning.
Thanks for the post.
Queen Letizia, Queen Rania, Queen Maxima, Princess Marie of Denmark, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, Princess Madeleine of Sweden, etc, etc. All of them one way or another run circles around Kate and her style. She has a nice casual style, but royal one? Not so much, too safe.