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Original poster

How does Kate choose her clothes?

112 replies

MagicSummer · 27/05/2021 09:16

I was just looking at the clothes which Kate has worn on her trip to Scotland. Loved the heather tartan Holland Cooper coat she wore yesterday! It set me thinking - how does she choose what to buy/wear? I can't imagine that she spends hours trawling the Internet to find things she likes the look of, but equally I can't believe someone else chooses outfits for her. I suppose some companies just send her samples to look at, but whatever the truth it must be very time-consuming, especially when she has to buy the shoes, bags and other accessories so it all co-ordinates!

OP posts:
Muddydoor · 27/05/2021 12:07

Re she’d look great in a bin bag. Does anyone remember the grief she got from the media for having a perfectly natural rounded body after the birth of her first child? I felt so sorry for her and angry at them. She’s been more or less a twig ever since.

Peridot1 · 27/05/2021 12:35

@AngelicaElizaAndPeggy

She has two warehouses near Solihull. One is just for blue coat dresses. And the other one is divided up very carefully into these categories:

Scotland uniform- tartan coatdresses, blue items and that horrible tartan scarf.

Ireland uniform- various bits that are orange, white and green.

Striped items for anything to do with nautical pursuits/seaside visits.

A button department.

Then it's just various subsections for coatdresses of different colours.

It looks like one of those Amazon warehouses, you should see it. It has a staff of 122 and Kate sits in the middle on a plinth with a big supercomputer that's connected to Asos.

Love this! And the thought you’ve put into it!

I hope it really is like this.

gnomeclan · 27/05/2021 12:58

This quote gave me courage to carry on when I was feeling depressed and desolate:
“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

General shopping General style & beauty The royal family
StopPokingTheRoyalTitDear · 27/05/2021 13:45

I can’t believe you have trouble believing someone as high profile as DoC wouldn’t have a stylist. I imagine dressing perfectly for every time you will be seen in public especially events, is probably a full time job in itself when you’re married to someone who’s going to be king one day. Not saying it’s 12 hours down a mine obviously but I wouldn’t want that pressure- even with a stylist.

Pretty sure each time she’s had a baby her hairdresser and stylist(s) have been spotted visiting her in hospital the same day she leaves with the baby. Presumably to get her looking as perfect as they can manage for all those cameras waiting outside.

Tinkling · 27/05/2021 13:48

Google it. Her stylist is well known x

idontlikealdi · 27/05/2021 14:29

My friend works at Buckingham Palace, she gets a clothing allowance and help from a stylist.

Kate won't be choosing stuff for herself most of the time I'm sure although bms isn't she work as a buyer for jigsaw in the early days so she must have an interest in fashion.

It would be hard to look dreadful when you look like she does though.

gnomeclan · 27/05/2021 14:32

I'm so Embarrassed: Blush
I posted the following in the wrong place. Should have been under:
Living well is the best revenge
(This quote gave me courage to carry on when I was feeling depressed and desolate:
“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”)

thedevilinablackdress · 27/05/2021 14:34

I read a fascinating book in a holiday cottage a few years ago about the queen's wardrobe. I5 WA a pretty old book but how much effort goes into it was amazing and the details were fascinating. Nothing must blow in a breeze, tiny chain weights are sewn into hems. And comfort is key, no fiddling or fidgeting.

thedevilinablackdress · 27/05/2021 14:35

It was a pretty old book...

(Typos are getting weirder!)

OnTheBrink1 · 27/05/2021 14:39

She will have a whole team that decides on everything from what she wears, to the brand of her mascara.
How can anyone think that she is picking out all her own outfits from any old place on the internet? 🤣
At most she will be given a selection to choose from for each occasion. This will then be personally tailored to her measurements each time. Each outfit will be recorded to check she hasn’t worn the same thing twice too close together or even she hasn’t worn the same outfit for a sad occasion / then for a joyful occasion.
Lots of jobs are purely based around her look. Same for all the immediate members of the royal family

Laiste · 27/05/2021 14:40

@gnomeclan don't be.

Misplaced posts always make my day.

They either tie in hilariously or sound like someone on the gin, swilling their glass around while announcing something totally left field in the middle of a convo Grin

BarbaraofSeville · 27/05/2021 14:40

@thedevilinablackdress

I read a fascinating book in a holiday cottage a few years ago about the queen's wardrobe. I5 WA a pretty old book but how much effort goes into it was amazing and the details were fascinating. Nothing must blow in a breeze, tiny chain weights are sewn into hems. And comfort is key, no fiddling or fidgeting.
Was ]]?
BarbaraofSeville · 27/05/2021 14:41

Gah, fucked up the link. Try again.

]]

BarbaraofSeville · 27/05/2021 14:42

Not working Hmm. Anyway, it worked up thread. I was just trying to ask @thedevilinablackdress if the book she read was The other side of the coin by Angela Kelly, who has dressed the Queen for decades.

Laiste · 27/05/2021 14:47

The Queen's handbag always fascinates me.

She doesn't need money. Just a lipstick and tissue maybe.

But she does use it to signal her aides. Putting it on a certain arm means - i need you to come and get me out of this convo now, apparently.

MadameQuaver · 27/05/2021 14:52

She does choose her own clothes sometimes, presumably for day to day wear rather than engagements. I've seen her browsing clothes in a shop very recently.

Toilenstripes · 27/05/2021 14:56

Whoever chose that awful red houndstooth dress from last week should be sacked. She also needs to be gently weaned from all the buttons.

Triffid1 · 27/05/2021 15:00

Definitely a stylist. But one assumes that like anyone with a stylist, she provides guidelines and/or preferences. And they will offer her a selection and she'll make final decisions.

I also suspect based on the few hints we have had about Kate that she probably does some of her own browsing and may suggest types of looks/brands/designers to her stylist. But that's perfectly normal. I suggested to my Stitchfix stylist that perhaps she could find me some jeans in a more modern/fashionable style and that I quite like the mum jeans or the modern wide legged ones.... And I'm certainly not royalty! Grin

AdaColeman · 27/05/2021 15:03

Just as Angela Kelly, the Queen's Dresser, is in charge of the Queen's Wardrobe and its staff, so too Kate will have a Dresser and fully staffed department looking after her clothes, liasing with designers, foreign embassies, photographers etc etc.

Kate's really enthusiastic about her diplomatic dressing, something that's been at the core of royal fashion for generations.

Legwarmers · 27/05/2021 15:05

Nothing must blow in a breeze, tiny chain weights are sewn into hems. And comfort is key, no fiddling or fidgeting.

Could they not have considered doing this for Kate each time - Her skirt blew in the wind to show her backside!

GlitterDragon · 27/05/2021 15:11

@AngelicaElizaAndPeggy

She has two warehouses near Solihull. One is just for blue coat dresses. And the other one is divided up very carefully into these categories:

Scotland uniform- tartan coatdresses, blue items and that horrible tartan scarf.

Ireland uniform- various bits that are orange, white and green.

Striped items for anything to do with nautical pursuits/seaside visits.

A button department.

Then it's just various subsections for coatdresses of different colours.

It looks like one of those Amazon warehouses, you should see it. It has a staff of 122 and Kate sits in the middle on a plinth with a big supercomputer that's connected to Asos.

Bravo 👏🏻

Seriously though, try to think of Kate less as a person, and more as a brand. She probably has zero input into any ‘choosing’ or ‘buying’. The RF have staff for all this.

LadyJaye · 27/05/2021 15:14

@ElspethFlashman

It's a huge part of her job. So time and money is given to the process.

They also pick clothes that have symbolism, so in Scotland it will either be blue or clothes that specifically go with her own tartan which is red and (a rather sickly shade of) yellow.

She has a team of several people and one or two of them spends a lot of time researching British brands and reaching out for look books. I imagine it's a finely honed process at this stage. Their engagements are booked about a year in advance so you just have to work away on the list.

They also would get lookbooks on spec from labels they've worked with in the past.

They order stuff, then they do a fitting from time to time, put together outfits for engagements and then order it. They do have to pay for it all.

Pre-kids she wore a lot of Zara and Reiss. But not anymore. I suspect its because she used to have time to go shopping and now just doesn't. So her team do it and it ends up being a more high end.

I'm not a big fan of her style - its very rigid looking and if you counted up the amount of blue coats she has you'd have a heart attack - but I'm glad she always looks appropriate.

'Own tartan'? She's from Bucklebury, FFS.

Not many historic links to the clans in Berkshire...

BarefootHippieChick · 27/05/2021 15:15

As a PP said, there are articles online about Kate's stylist. She's worked for her for some years and she's married to a Royal photographer.

ILoveShula · 27/05/2021 15:17

The Queen has a dresser.
Kate's dresser is probably called a stylist.

Kate could wear just about anything and look good in it, but her high street purchases may well have been altered to fit her perfectly.

huuuuunnnndderrricks · 27/05/2021 15:20

They have choosers ANd dressers !! She absolutely must look amazing and won't be doing that on her own . Plus she will have her hair blown dry and make up done ( although I reckon she adds that ageing eyeliner herself ! )