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The coronation of King Charles III—and the subsequent changes to the dynamics of the royal family—were bound to be reflected in a shift in the Princess of Wales’s wardrobe, as she went from the Duchess of Cambridge to queen-in-waiting and her role within the family became even more important. British Vogue’s deputy editor Sarah Harris wrote at the time that she was hoping to see Kate reaching for “more suits… in the shape of a wide-leg, high-waisted trouser with a long-line blazer”. Perhaps this memo made its way to the princess, because she has hardly worn anything but suits this autumn.
Kate’s wardrobe in Windsor must hold rails of midi-dresses in ditsy florals, polka-dot prints, and joyful bold colors—they were her unofficial uniform for her trips to schools and charity centers across the country for at least a decade. But now that she is the Princess of Wales, the foundation of her royal style is no longer a calf-skimming shirt dress with a belt and pleated skirt, but rather a pair of tailored wide-leg trousers.
Since September, Kate has worn almost a dozen different takes on the same tailored, corporate look, and she hasn’t been photographed in a dress since the Wimbledon finals back in July. On a visit to a community hub in Bracknell today, walking across a grey-tiled lobby in a pressed white shirt, tailored grey trousers, and a slate-grey knitted vest (from Samantha Cameron’s workwear-heavy label Cefinn), Kate looked as though she could be welcoming the new graduate intake at a corporate firm.
“Let’s face it, the simple task of getting dressed—even with all the help and advice imaginable—when you’re the Princess of Wales, can’t be easy,” Harris wrote of the process of assembling a royal wardrobe. “Nothing can be too fussy, so forget a slit that’s tricky to navigate, or a collar that needs tending to. Then there is the sheer impossibility of pleasing absolutely everyone. Because, you know, being the wife of the future king—and mother to his heir—means the entire world is watching; scrutinizing.”
In her even more senior royal role, Kate has responded to this scrutiny by distilling her work wardrobe down to a series of sharply tailored suits that can easily be mixed and matched, worn with a shirt or a plain white tee underneath. The princess prefers a high-waisted trouser—either gently cropped or boot-cut—and longline blazers with button detailing. Pointed court shoes (typically suede, often a perfect color match for her suit), provide the finishing touch. Whether she’s wearing Alexander McQueen, Sezane, Holland Cooper, Burberry, or Roland Mouret, the cut tends to be the same, but Kate does switch it up when it comes to color and print.
A trouser suit is the ideal choice for a modern-day princess: it’s polished and timeless, but practical, too. (The princess won’t have to have weights sewn into the hem of her skirts to avoid them being blown around by rogue gusts of wind, as the late Queen Elizabeth II reportedly did, and a suit negates the need for tights.) Royal outfits should never appear wrinkled, and tailoring maintains its appearance far better than a flimsy pleated midi, so they’re a sensible choice on that front, too. This more businesslike look also reinforces the message that the Firm—and Kate and William in particular—work hard. One last bonus: wearing variations on the same outfit might shift the focus onto the cause the princess is spotlighting, and away from her much-scrutinised wardrobe.
Happily for Kate, dressing as though you work at a cut-throat law firm emerged as something of a theme of the spring 2024 collections. The Boss show was even titled “CorpCore”, as it explored traditional codes of executive dressing. This went further than pinstripes and a grey and navy color palette: pens were fastened onto ties and stuffed into chignons, and boxy briefcases and leather garment bags resembled the accessories on the platform at Canary Wharf. Bottega Veneta opened with black power suits with exaggerated shoulders, while spare striped shirts and rolled-up newspapers were spilling out of XL Intrecciato-weave shoppers. Accessories also had a workwear slant, with bookish specs seen at Miu Miu, along with bags big enough to house laptops and a change of shoes. Lots of inspiration for our new corpcore princess.
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