When Season 1 of With Love, Meghan came out in March, the Daily Mail excitedly cataloged the cost of the Duchess of Sussex’s clothing worn in the series. And when I say “cataloged,” I mean they literally did a breakdown of every single item she wore in each episode and estimated the cost. They claimed, at the time, that Meghan was exhibiting a new “stealth wealth” sartorial vibe, but even stealth wealth doesn’t cut it for the pocket-watchers over there. Well, the Mail is probably waiting until Season 2 premieres next week to do another thorough breakdown of wardrobe costs. But they weren’t content to simply sit on their hands and wait! Of course not. They contacted a California stylist and “image consultant” to talk about Meghan’s Season 2 style. Just in case you didn’t get the Mail’s obsession from this week’s story about Meghan’s everyday jewelry.
Meghan Markle is sending a clear message in her new Netflix series, according to a style expert: She’s no longer a Duchess. According to California-based personal stylist and image consultant Cynthia Kennedy, Meghan is ‘not dressing like a Duchess anymore’ based on the outfits she donned in the teaser for season two of With Love, Meghan.
During the first season, Meghan showed off her ‘quiet luxury’ wardrobe of expensive but classically tailored staples from designer labels such as Loro Piana, Max Mara and Brunello Cucinelli. Some items – mostly cashmeres and linens in various shades of beige – were individually worth over $1,000.
But Kennedy told the Daily Mail that Meghan is clearly going for a rather different look when it comes to clothing in the upcoming second season. In the trailer, the Duchess can be seen wearing a loud striped dress, a floral frock, and a chunky crimson sweater – a far cry from the uniform tones and cuts of season one. Kennedy said that Meghan’s style on season two of her Netflix show is sending the audience a clear message that she doesn’t have to dress like ‘a Duchess anymore.’
‘Her revamped style is sending everyone a message that I don’t have to dress like a duchess anymore — I get to dress like myself, and be more approachable, modern, authentic and real,’ the expert shared. ‘Her choices feel deliberate and more like a conscious move toward comfort, vulnerability, relatability, and ease without losing that sense of polish that keeps her aspirational. It’s a careful balance and I think she’s hitting it.’
Kennedy, who is the CEO of Cynthia Kennedy Stylist, told the Daily Mail exclusively that there’s ‘definitely’ been a ‘shift’ in her style from season one to season two.
‘In season one, Meghan relied on very polished, put-together looks that were almost “Duchess-lite” – clean tailoring, muted neutrals, structured pieces, and an overall feeling of being carefully refined,’ Kennedy continued. ‘In season two, her style feels softer, relaxed, effortless, and more lived-in. Her looks are still elegant, but now it’s mixed with approachable pieces like relaxed, cozy knits, breezy dresses, and more casual silhouettes. It feels less like a public figure on a stage and more like a woman at home letting you into her world.’
With this new look comes a different approach for viewers, too: relatability.
‘Meghan has always been aware of the image she projects, and this more relaxed wardrobe seems intentional,’ Kennedy explained. ‘It signals that she’s not trying to perform “royalty” anymore, but instead connect with people as a modern woman, wife, and mother. The softer looks strip away some of that formality and lean into relatability in a way that feels warm, grounded, and human – which helps her connect with viewers.’
That was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be. It was actually sort of neutral-to-positive? I mean, I think this woman is full of sh-t, but sure, Meghan’s got a different wardrobe in the second season and that’s certainly one interpretation of it. What people are choosing to forget is that… Meghan filmed this last year. She filmed the first two seasons back-to-back in a few months. It’s not like she was making some big point of “in Season 1, it’s all about stealth wealth, but in Season 2, it’s all about rejecting royalty!” Meghan is just… wearing pieces she likes, and probably wearing many of the styles in her own closet. Incidentally, do you think Meghan will finally update her ShopMy account when WLM comes out? She hasn’t added anything to her page in over three months.
Poster & promotional images courtesy of Netflix.
Is it dressing like a duchess when keen wore the red outfit and got out of a car where her dress rode up to show her legs. And all the other wardrobe malfunctions
Good point Tessa!
Duchesses wish they had Megs style. Work ethic. Kindness. Warmth. Etc.
That’s kind of the whole reason the media stalks her and tries to rip apart everything she says and does.
They miss her so bad, lol. Whether Meghan dresses up or down, she’s still a duchess. The press have nothing to talk about anymore. Kate and William are lazy people who give the press nothing and the no one cares for the others. They have to stalk and overanalyze a woman in another country because they’re so bored. It’s hysterical. Literally doing taste tests of her wine as if their opinions actually matter. These people have become completely irrelevant to Meghan and they don’t know what to do.
It just looked to me like she was wearing her own clothes, and as she continued to shoot the show and the seasons and weather changed she wore different types of clothes. So first episodes maybe it was still pretty cool and so she was wearing more sweaters, later episodes probably weather was getting warmer and so she started wearing dresses. I don’t know they could have shot out of sequence, but that’s just how I looked at it, not as any actual targeted plan.
Yes, I think it is just down to the seasons changing. Season 1 was shot in the summer, season 2 at the beginning of autumn.
Meg wears what Meg wants to wear she is no longer living in the royal family. She is living her best life wearing the clothing she is comfortable in and enjoys.
First of all, this is stupid because as Kaiser wrote, the series were filmed one after the other. And second of all, she is “dressing like a duchess” because she literally IS a duchess. And a princess and an HRH and a member of British royalty. So anything and everything she wears is “dressing like a duchess.” It’s dressing like who she is, HRH The Duchess of Sussex.
I don’t even think this consultant means anything negative (she calls Meghan authentic, relatable and a bunch of other complimentary things) but she should have known better than to get into bed with the Daily Fail. I also have to laugh at her/the Fail saying Meghan isn’t being performative, right after they called Keen out for faking being interested in royal duties this whole time.
Can’t wait for season two 🙌🏽
Agreed. Clearly the DF talking points were, as usual:
–Random person no one has ever heard of says random things and what they say is treated as “expertise”
–Everything Meghan does is calculated! It’s all totally thought out to manipulate audiences and everyone around her!
–Relatability is something that takes enormous effort from Meghan because (implied) nothing she does is authentic. However, when the Waleses do things like Greek yacht vacations or move to yet another bigger house it’s because something something kids cancer RELATABLE and it’s A-OK
–When she dresses “like” a Duchess (as you point out, Meghan IS a duchess), then that means quiet luxury, beautiful neutrals, rich fabrics etc. Tell me which are the duchesses of the BRF who have ever dressed like this?
—When she wears “loud” stripes (I’m clutching my pearls here…what exactly is loud about black and white stripes?), colors and chunky knits…is it me or do I hear “THIS IS WHAT BLACK PEOPLE DO AND SHOULD WEAR.” Not quiet luxury or beautiful neutrals. That’s only for white folks.
Ugh….
Sure, it’s not “loud” to dress head-to-toe in fire engine red so you can overshadow your guests at a state visit.
lol bc it was already filmed and the sweaters that convey softness are bc it was made to be a fall season. The stylist missed the point that the sweaters and colors are purposely meant to evoke more of a fall than summer vibe. So there is a kind of shift bw seasons but I think that’s mostly it. The take wasn’t mean or terrible if you set aside the silly premise of what it means to dress like a duchess. Kate wears sweaters and pants now too so does that mean she’s also not dressing like a duchess?
The Fail and this Kennedy person are full of crap because according to the Fail and all of the other trolls of the UK media, Meghan never dressed like a royal. How did she spend 18 months as a royal where they critiqued everything she wore and told us it wasn’t royal enough because it was breaking royal protocol, to now she’s “making a point to not dress like a duchess”? They are so desperate to write about her that they will chase their own tails with lies about her. They are going in circles at rapid speeds that they are dizzy with their own lies. Meghan’s clothes from S1 weren’t her dressing as a duchess because if we go by the lies they’ve told us about her she would have done the S1 episodes in ugly coat dresses with an over abundance of buttons and her skirt hiked up too high, like their racist duchess Kate.
It’s maddening that the British press is constantly demanding that the Sussex’s titles be stripped but at the same time demanding that Meghan acts like a Duchess. It’s like they want to claim her as one of their own but at the same time dismiss her entirely.
Sure, whatever. This woman has no idea what Meghan is thinking, but at least she isn’t slamming her.
But weren’t there a bunch of articles lately about how Kate is dressing in a more non-nonsense power style in preparation for her role as Queen Consort? I wonder how that will play in her isolate mansion at the end of the road.
These weirdos invent ways to talk and write about Meghan. Even when she tried to fit in with made up protocols she looked fantastic but it wasn’t good enough for them. She’s not here to make them happy and they hate that.
That photo of Meg in the yellow sheath is SO meme-able! 😂 She’s looking at the drink being made with this intense expression – I wonder what she’s thinking there! It’s giving me meme inspiration 💡 I want the deets on that gorgeous yellow dress…
Oooh, I like that yellow sheeth too, although yellow is a horrible color on me.
Check out Gabriela Hearst Fiori Wool Maxi Dress (sold out).
I seem to remember the British press attacking Meghan for not dressing like a Duchess when she was a working royal. So the British press are playing games here and just looking for another angle to write about Meghan. Her style in Season 2 is no different from Season 1.
The way they carefully select their words to be cutting. A colorful dress is “loud,” a floral one is a “frock,” which implies dumpiness (Meghan never looks dumpy), and a comfortable sweater with a bit of heft to it is “chunky.” It’s so transparent.
Who was it that said England is a “nation of shopkeepers?” They really do seem to be constantly adding up prices in their heads.
I think it was Adam Smith in Wealth of Nations.
I thought it was Napoleon who had been influenced by Adam Smith.
In other news, I’d hope DailyFail using San Diego based stylist means they’re not willing to pay, or not able to hire any LA based stylists. But it’s probably just DF calculating how best to optimize profits from their nonstop Meghan hate. And if it’s ‘fashion’ their go-to Montecito stooge Dick Mineturds wont do.
NAPOLEON Bonaparte said those unforgettable words
Meghan has always dressed better than all the royals, period. She would never intentionally dress like them. The only other duchess I can think of off the top of my head is the Duchess of York, and she always looks like dumpster fire.
How, pray tell is a Duchess supposed to dress? I thought Meghan’s wardrobe in the first series was stylish, casually elegant, and rich. She looked great. From what I can see of the preview for season 2, her wardrobe is still pretty summery, with the burgundy sweater a slight nod to fall. There is absolutely no difference between the wardrobe choices from one season to the other to indicate a change of style. One thing that can be said, Meghan has established her aesthetic and she dresses accordingly. The whole idea for the article is just plain dumb, and the stylist is trying to spin something out of nothing. One of the absurd criticisms of Meghan’s wardrobe was her choice to wear white! Imagine that! BTW, what colour is a chef’s uniform?
And speaking of Duchesses, there’s the Duchess of Gloucester, Duchess of Kent, and Duchess of Edinburgh- all still in the generation of royal duchesses. I’ve seen pictures of The Duchesses of Gloucester and Kent all beautifully dressed. Regardless of how the RR and the media keep referring to them as ex-royals, Harry is still HRH a royal Duke and that makes Meghan a royal duchess by marriage.
Meghan could be wearing rags, she will still be elegant! Elegance is not standing out, but being remembered!
And the whole RF ( women ánd men) can’t forgive Meghan for that: she’ll always be elegant, it’s innate.
And … she’s strong: she stands and she deals! Go Meghan! 👏
So much for Harry and Meghan being irrelevant, another silly story about them which the Mail reading British public will swallow hook line and sinker.
Ha ha! I was prepared to drag this woman to kingdom come!
DM tried to skew it, but I think she really meant to compliment Meghan. I do wonder who this woman dresses and what they think of her talking to the Fail.
I covet that dress.
LOL How does a duchess dress?
How does a Duchess dress? With 50-11 buttons on their frock? Like their late MiL?
These people are so unserious.
I’m so glad Harry & Meghan had the agency to bounce from that island.