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Original poster

Princess Kate..... frumpy clothes?

251 replies

CriticalAlert · 28/05/2023 18:10

I was looking at some pictures of Kate before she got married. She looked stunning, had style, was really chic and sexy.
Now she looks quite frumpy. The pink dress she wore at the Chelsea Flower show looked better on her mum, because it's a dress for a middle aged woman! WHY is Kate forced into dowdiness? She looks great in trousers and well cut jackets. She's a beautiful woman, are 'they' concerned she might look a bit too good and not be taken seriously? It's like queen Elizabeth. She was beautiful but her clothes were dreadful. Obviously this is my opinion but I'd like to know what others think.

OP posts:

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BriarHare · 28/05/2023 21:28

I think she does a great job, in that she is perfectly blah.

She dresses accordingly.

kerryno · 28/05/2023 21:30

Her shape is so very slim that she doesn't wear clothes well that suit a more shapely figure. Don't get me wrong I'd LOVE to be as slim as she is but as with more portly people, really skinny people need to chose their clothes accordingly

Yes, she's very slim with a long body. Contrary to what people think she does need to think about styles she wears & proportions.

Ozgirl75 · 28/05/2023 21:31

Actually, in the name of research, I’ve just looked at a website with all her engagements on it and she looks nice way more than she looks frump. She’s got loads of lovely fitted dresses in bright colours that look really great. There was one at Wimbledon last year in bright yellow that looks so lovely. It’s just the floaty mid length ones that are less good on her.

Interested in this thread?

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Clothing General shopping General style & beauty The royal family

PurplePansy05 · 28/05/2023 21:32

I think between last year and this year she's had a number of outfits that were pretty bad, and yes, frumpy.

The 'updated' McQueen dress at the BAFTAs and how she styled it with black gloves was hideous.

Then the recent pink suit with pearly white belt and white heels, really, really bad.

I thought several times in the last year she was wearing curtain-like dresses and blazers which clearly age her. Or that her accesories, hats and jewellery in particular did not match the rest of her outfit.

Something's changed in the way she dresses, for worse, unfortunately. However, the Chelsea dress (the pink one?) wasn't bad I thought.

WheelsUp · 28/05/2023 21:32

Her choices are "safe" because I suspect that she's not that interested in fashion so wouldn't do something fun like go for a blonde pixie like Princess Charlene. It's a shame that women can't get away with one outfit like a suit.

I often wonder how she's not sweating buckets in her outfits but maybe being super slim means she sweats less.

ichundich · 28/05/2023 21:32

I love her style, it's very classic, in a good way.

Ozgirl75 · 28/05/2023 21:33

Love this!

kerryno · 28/05/2023 21:33

I appreciate the restrictions of her position but she could look to Queen Maxima and Queen Letizia who are both older but more interesting dressers.

I love these two, Maxima uses colour really well.

Hbh17 · 28/05/2023 21:33

I don't know what "frumpy" is supposed to mean, but The Princess of Wales (she is NOT Princess Kate) dresses appropriately and elegantly for her work role as a senior member of the Royal Family. High fashion would be highly inappropriate, and also attract criticism for excessive expenditure.

Ozgirl75 · 28/05/2023 21:33

This one I mean

kerryno · 28/05/2023 21:34

Yeah the green dress is great, shorter length to lengthen the legs & higher waist & fitted top to highlight her frame.

The blue one drags her down.

Ozgirl75 · 28/05/2023 21:35

“Frumpy” means shapeless, unflattering and suitable for someone much older. Although to be fair my mum is in her late 70s and she wouldn’t wear a floaty shapeless mid calf length dress any more than I would.

kerryno · 28/05/2023 21:36

Her clothes aren't cheap though & how come other Royals can look a bit more current? Also why is she required to be "appropriate"?

SunnyEgg · 28/05/2023 21:39

I think she looks great

Some dresses would not work on less svelte figures but she wears them well

Topseyt123 · 28/05/2023 21:40

I wouldn't call her dowdy or frumpy, but the pink Chelsea Flower Show dress isn't one of my favourites.

Also, 41 is middle aged.

londonmummy1966 · 28/05/2023 21:42

The CFS dress was Me & Em I think - the fashion journalists favourite brand. It is full of dresses in this style and the puffy sleeved floral smocks. My take is that PoW was wearing a fairly fashionable item which wasn't to everyone's taste. Looked a bit Prada-ish to me but far better she wears a UK mid label than a high end Italian one surely?

Crumbcatcher · 28/05/2023 21:43

I think the pink dress is lovely. It had to be modest for practicality because she was bending down talking to children, and sitting on the floor with them. Everything she wears sells out immediately!

JenniferBarkley · 28/05/2023 22:00

I think she's had a strategy since her engagement to be as neutral and uncontroversial as possible in all things - what she does, says and wears. Given the horrific press she could get it's pretty shrewd, although not particularly enviable.

3luckystars · 28/05/2023 22:03

I think she looks absolutely amazing!

BriarHare · 28/05/2023 22:07

Sophie is somewhat stout and could easily be frumpy. But she manages to look relatively stylish.

Kate has the height and figure that could make her look good in pretty much anything, yet she look consistently dull. She needs to sack her stylist. My friends in their early 40s would not be seen dead in what she wears. I realise she has to play it safe, but she really could add a bit of style to her dullsville outfit choices. Even off duty, she dresses like someone 20 years older.

queentim · 28/05/2023 22:11

I do agree that (since Charlotte maybe?) she dressed too "old" for her age. It's like when she hit 40, her style matched her age.

I think after Meghan arrived, she started freshening up her style which was great, so now when I see her in coat dresses I really like/miss them on her!

I also just think pink is not the colour for her. She looks really nice in blues, greens, deep purple though, especially when sje keeps her hair dark.

keffie12 · 28/05/2023 22:29

I personally think both William and Kate have changed and not for the better in the past 12 years since they married. They have been moulded into what is expected of them to be.

Kate is very frumpy and looks older than her years, as does William. The happy carefree couple has been battered out of them.

Yes, they are parents now with a lot of responsibility. However, neither of them look happy anymore. They are rigid and weighed down in duty

Guavafish1 · 28/05/2023 22:31

She dresses like her mother, so does her sister. I think she always been a bit boring and frumpy

LittleBearPad · 28/05/2023 22:47

Ozgirl75 · 28/05/2023 21:24

But this one, imo is just awful. The colour, the neck bow, the sheer bits and the length are all just horribly unflattering.

I love that dress, such a beautiful colour. Looked better when she walking.

pennyfeatherington · 28/05/2023 22:47

I’m a similar age so have been able to consider what women our age would have worn over the past 15 years.

I think her evening wear and casual clothes are lovely and she always looks great.

Photos of life pre-engagement show that she had her own style, could be adventurous with her clothing and followed fashion. It was stark seeing the difference in how she was dressed once they were working towards getting engaged.

It’s the formal day wear which I usually dislike. She’s been wearing the same boring style of coat dress for way over 10 years now, probably nearing 15. She’s still not aged into the clothes that have been chosen for her since they got engaged. I don’t know anyone her age who would wear the coat dress, hat and matching shoes combos, never mind someone in their late 20s/early 30s as she was when she started wearing them. Her mum often wears similar combinations and looks amazing.

It surely must be disheartening to think of all the coat dress years still ahead of her and knowing of all the missed opportunities to wear much nicer options which are still appropriate for what’s needed in her role.

The Queen’s wardrobe was similar with regards to the idea of it being a uniform but obviously in completely different size and shape to fit . It is definitely in keeping with whatever style rules they have imposed on them.

Diana seemed to be in the same situation. She was dressed far too old for her age. Im always surprised when I think of 90s fashion and what people the same age as Diana would have been wearing.

I would love to know who makes the rules, ensures that the royal women follow them and what happens if they don’t want to go along with it. It’s probably the same old men who insist on cutlery distances being measured at the royal dining table.

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