In the year In a 2020 BBC radio interview during lockdown, the then Duchess of Cornwall extolled the virtues of dressing up during lockdown.
“I’m very, very happy with my jeans,” said Camilla. “It’s going to be hard to get out of them again. I think you’ve gotten into some kind of a rut, haven’t you?”
Camilla’s photos at Clarence House for the interview show a relaxed, loose-fitting jacket and feminine white shirt, unafraid of the odd cream.
Lesson for Kate: Dressing casually is about feeling and thinking.
Camilla’s tip #2: Let the jewelry do the work.
There are times when Kate is at risk of falling into flash, such as the Jenny Packham cape dress she wore to the South African state dinner at Buckingham Palace in November and the green sequin Jenny Packham dress she’ll wear in Pakistan in 2021, but this is it. Time to fade the dress wattage.
Any celebrity can dress like a disco ball, but Camilla understands that what separates Windsor from the Beckhams and Beyoncé is access to the crown jewels. At a dinner in South Africa in November and a diplomatic corps dinner this month, Camilla’s dress was cut to highlight the sapphire tiara, necklace and earrings that once belonged to Princess Louise of Belgium.
Queen Camilla at Buckingham Palace, December 6, and Princess Catherine wore a rented lime green dress to the Earthshot Awards in Boston. It has been given the meme treatment on social media.Credit:Getty/Twitter @rossiacoolguy
At the party in November, Kate’s famous Cambridge lover’s knotted tiara had to compete with the disco ball glare of her dress.
Looking for dresses to serve as backdrops for undervalued pieces from the family stash, Kate can marvel without Raziel. The rented green dress worn by Princess Diana with an emerald choker was a good attempt, but the countless memories printed on the green screen cloth suggest a retry.
The lesson for Kate: jewelry first. Put on a second suit. Never lime green.
Camilla Tip #3: Don’t play it straight.
Kate is approaching a stylistic trick that emphasizes her height (175 cm) and trim figure. Even Emilia Wickstead’s patterned dress on a recent royal visit to Boston had a matching belt to keep the eye out for a collection of houndstooth. The result is that she is literally sewn into the dress.
When Kate breaks things down, such as her burgundy Alexander McQueen pantsuit in the US with a pink PC bow shirt and cream Zara blazer with navy trousers in June, she looks more relevant and active.
Camilla often breaks up monochrome looks with a V-neckline, bell sleeves or contrasting black accessories.
Kate’s lesson: There is room to be playful.
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