Picture from The Daily Mail
Since Kate Middleton married Prince William and became the Duchess Of Cambridge, there is not a day spending without a paper somewhere in the world praising her (and her sister Philippa aka Pippa) for influencing street fashion. Praises go from her wedding dress to her court shoes.
The wedding dress designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen was unanimously acclaimed. For having seen it on display at Buckingham Palace I can confess this dress is one of the most beautiful and delicate thing I have seen. Paradoxically, despite all the positive critics across the world, clothing stores that offered copies at a more reasonable price have not seen their sales boom. It appears that women, on their special day, want to keep their individuality and be unique.
Kate Middleton is worldly said to have contributed to the "return" of the nude tights. I am always surprised to read that. If I take my personal example, I have always worn them. I mean if I go to a formal event and my attire is of a light color, this seems pretty logical to me to wear nude tights. I cannot go tights-less because I would not look neat. I can not wear dark tights neither. Obviously my case is unique and before Kate's wedding, if I understand those articles clearly, I was perceived as someone old-fashioned for wearing nude tights. Oh well...Since the royal wedding, sales rose by 65 per cent.
The Middleton family, Kate, Pippa and their mother, Carole, are also considered to have launched a new trend when it comes to shoes (apart from contributing to make the L.K. Bennett Maddox wedges popular all around the world): the nude courts. Once again, for the same reasons as the nude tights, I wear nude courts. I have a particular affection for the Pigalle nude courts by Christian Louboutin.
Kate Middleton is not a traditional royal. Whereas late Princess Diana or younger royals like Charlotte Casiraghi, granddaughter of late Princess Grace of Monaco who are fashionistas and only wear designer items from head to toe, Kate has kept her shopping habits and keeps on shopping high street outfits. She has a preference for Zara, Topshop, L.K. Bennett and Jigsaw. She briefly worked for Jigsaw after graduating from college. Her high street style contributes to build a connection with every woman and build the image of a woman with simple tastes who has not changed. On a pure Public Relations level, I think she does a great job!
As a conclusion, I would not be as enthusiastic as most of the papers in the world. I do not think Kate Middleton has revolutionized or influenced a lot at a fashion level.
