She's supporting her husband one outfit at a time.
Kate Middleton is supporting her husband, Prince William, one outfit at a time.
While the Princess of Wales has always repeated outfits (she's the reason why the term "royal rewear" exists), her latest styling hack is taking the concept a step further in honor of William's work—according to The Telegraph's fashion director, Bethan Holt.
“Over the last year, the bow is the one accessory that she’s repeatedly added and it’s totally transformed previous outfits into something that looks quite different,” Holt told People of Middleton accessorizing many of her recycled looks with a bow recently. The author added, “I think bows are a bit of a perennial in lots of ways, but there is definitely a bow trend at the moment and she’s doing it in her own way.”
First, Princess Kate opted for a white Jenny Packham dress with black trim to this year’s Trooping the Colour parade that she previously wore to a pre-coronation lunch last May and completely transformed the look with a striped statement bow. Several months later, she attended Remembrance Sunday in a previously-worn black coat dress from Catherine Walker that she altered with a velvet coquette-coded detail at the collar. And weeks after that, she added the same detachable tie to her beloved red Alexander McQueen coat at her annual “Together at Christmas” concert.
“I think she is trying a more sustainable way of dressing. She already has a vast and extensive wardrobe, so why shouldn’t she be looking for ways to take existing pieces and re-imagine them?” Holt explained. “And a bow is a very democratic, universal way to do that.”
Holt continued, “I think it also nods to William’s message about sustainability and his Earthshot project. He went to South Africa and did this whole week of wearing sustainable clothes and really making a big point of it, whereas this is a really relatable way of sending the same message, ie: wear what you already own and add one small thing to transform the look.”
Sustainability aside, Holt also noted that Middleton's new bow obsession could also be a sign that she's returning to her old self following a difficult year. “We haven’t seen much of her for obvious reasons, but in the few glimpses we have seen, she has really gone back to a very authentic Kate—a sense of her being true to who she really is," she added.