The princess learned"the power of her fashion choices" over the past year.
Kate Middleton has always been a style icon, even catching Prince William’s eye in college while walking the runway in a now-iconic see-through dress. While Kate’s style has taken a more demure twist since she becoming a senior member of the royal family, the queen-to-be deviated from her classic and structured sartorial M.O. in favor of more casual appearances as she battled cancer in 2024. And according to royal style experts, Kate is planning to “reevaluate her royal wardrobe” for the coming year amid a changing dynamic with the public.
While Kate has stepped out over the years in elegant dress coats, quiet luxury gowns, and even her divisive pants suits, she leaned into a more relatable aesthetic amid her health issues. This less-formal approach was also mirrored in her actions, as Kate broke with royal tradition by sharing a raw video announcement of her cancer diagnosis with the public, and then again when she announced she’d finished chemotherapy in the fall.
Christine Ross, author of The Princess Project newsletter, told Marie Claire that Kate gravitated towards “casual, accessible outfits” during a time “when she needed to appeal to public sympathies and relate to others going through treatment.”
On the flip side, the royal style expert told the publication that Kate intentionally chose her outfits for her rare 2025 appearances to show her strength and reassure the public that she was on the mend. "When she needed to assure us that she was well as she returned to public duties, she returned to formal dresses that were familiar and reassuring,” Ross added. “I think the past year taught her how important her sartorial choices are for her relationship with the public, and I suspect she will reevaluate her royal wardrobe for next year."
With Kate returning to more of her royal duties in the new year, that doesn’t mean that she’ll be back to her 2023 pantsuit era, which What Kate Wore blogger Susan Kelley told Marie Claire was “less than positive.”
"I don't think we'll see a return to the 'all trouser suits, all the time' sort of shift that we saw in 2023," the royal style expert explained. “She was clearly trying to send a message that she means business, and her work was her top priority," but royal style watchers lost interest in Kate’s public appearances, impacting awareness around the causes she was trying to draw attention to.
“My guess is that going forward we’ll see the princess in her usual mix of dresses or separates, as well as some trouser suits, but I wouldn’t look for any major overhauls to the mix,” Kelley said. However, the blogger said that Kate might spend “even less time on her wardrobe,” signaling a style era with an “increase [in] the number of repeats, especially in the dress coat category.” Considering Kate already closed out 2024 by recycling some of her most iconic pieces, including a tartan skirt for her Together at Christmas appearance, this seems highly likely.
Only time will tell whether the Princess of Wales continues to lean into the “country chic” mix of checkered gingham and vintage-style pieces that she wore at the end of the year, but Ross said she believes that in 2025, fans “will see a reflection of all Kate has learned about the power of fashion with a balance of casual outfits, pantsuits for professional events, and the traditional princess dresses we love.”