While Y2K fashion may make a comeback, Kate's royal position hinders her from donning denim skirts, orange shades, low-rise jeans, and even halter tops. Her regal duties impose a different style protocol.
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00:00While Y2K fashion may make a comeback, Kate's royal position hinders her from donning denim
00:06skirts, orange shades, low-rise jeans, and even halter tops. Her regal duties impose a
00:12different style protocol. Back in the early days of Princess Catherine's life in the spotlight,
00:18she occasionally sported a denim miniskirt. In 2007, she was photographed walking in London
00:24wearing said skirt, along with black tights, boots, and a black jacket. Her look was casual,
00:29but it certainly didn't fit the wardrobe we see her in today. In April 2007, Prince William broke
00:35up with her over the phone while she was working at Jigsaw, a women's boutique, according to the
00:40Daily Mail.
00:41So it did take a bit of time for us to get to know each other,
00:45but we did become, you know, very close friends from quite early on."
00:49The split only lasted 10 weeks, but during their breakup, Kate was photographed out partying with
00:55her sister, Pippa Middleton, and her wardrobe matched her post-breakup party phase. Royal
01:00journalist Angela Levin told GB News,
01:03"...instead of telling her story, instead of, you know, hiding away, she got some very,
01:08very nice miniskirts and tops and she went out dancing. And I thought that woman,
01:13yet young woman, has got a lot of courage and a lot of determination."
01:18Rather than a specific piece of clothing, Catherine, Princess of Wales,
01:22rarely wears the color orange. It's not that she doesn't love bright colors — she's been
01:27spotted wearing cobalt blue, bright red, and even pink. But according to Express,
01:32orange doesn't photograph as well as other vivid colors. The outlet noted that Meghan,
01:37Duchess of Sussex, also shied away from orange while she was a working royal.
01:41One of the few times Catherine has worn orange was on her visit to Jamaica with Prince William
01:46in 2022. While attending a meeting with a Jamaican prime minister, Catherine wore a
01:51white Alexander McQueen pantsuit and underneath wore an orange top by Ridley London, and she
01:57accessorized with an orange handbag. Just because Catherine doesn't opt for orange doesn't mean
02:02royal women haven't worn it. The late Queen Elizabeth II wore several bright orange outfits
02:07with matching hats. She's not afraid of color. Royal style expert Elizabeth Holmes previously
02:12told Access Hollywood how the fashion choice takes a page out of Queen Elizabeth's book.
02:16The late Princess Diana was also a fan of orange, from skirt suits to orange bikinis.
02:22Princess Catherine doesn't wear sandals often. Throughout her time as a royal,
02:26she's only worn open-toed shoes a handful of times. And that's because sandals go against
02:30royal protocol. Fashion expert Keren Ludor told the Daily Mail,
02:35It is well known that the royal family observes strict fashion rules which no one can bend,
02:40especially when it comes to footwear. Only closed-toe shoes are permitted,
02:44and open-toe shoes considered as informal wear and inappropriate for wedding occasions.
02:49Catherine leans on staples, like her suede nude heels by Gianvito Rossi. And while Catherine
02:55prefers a higher heel, she also seems to have found a style that works for her, that's easy
03:00and formal enough to be appropriate for royal events. Catherine veered away from her no-sandal
03:05rule while she was in Belize with Prince William in 2022. While on their Royal Caribbean tour,
03:11she wore wedges and open-toed shoes in the tropical climate.
03:15Like many of us in the mid-2000s and early 2010s, Princess Catherine used to be a huge fan of
03:22shoulder bags. Now, as a senior member of the royal family, Catherine almost exclusively carries
03:27clutches. And there are special reasons for this. Clutches are something to hold onto during intense
03:32public moments and are used as a decoy when Catherine might not want to shake hands.
03:37In 2017, manners expert William Hansen explained to the Daily Mail,
03:42"[The Duchess of Cambridge may well prefer not to shake hands with certain people,
03:46but there are other ways to achieve this, as used by the Queen and other members of the
03:50royal family, than opting for a clutch over a bag with a strap."
03:54He explained that holding her clutch with both hands can make Catherine appear standoffish in
03:58moments. But Catherine isn't the only royal woman who used clutches for varying purposes.
04:03The late Princess Diana reportedly wielded them as a cleavage clutch, according to My London.
04:08She held them close to her chest when bending down to avoid any prying cameras.
04:14Back in the old days when she wasn't a royal, Princess Catherine occasionally wore white jeans.
04:19In 2006, she sported them at a polo match while cheering on Prince William and Prince Harry,
04:24along with Harry's then-girlfriend Chelsea Davy. And she was wearing a midriff in her
04:29pre-princess look. Catherine still wears jeans every once in a while, but they aren't white
04:34or loose-fitting. She often opts for skinny jeans. In May 2021, when she got the COVID-19 vaccine,
04:40Catherine wore a white T-shirt and a pair of jeans by And Other Stories.
04:45For Christmas 2022, the Wales family released their annual Christmas card,
04:49and Catherine wore dark denim skinny jeans while walking with her family.
04:53While she's retired the white jeans, Catherine still loves a pair of denim when she's off-duty
04:58from royal events. The hemlines Princess Catherine wears have undergone an evolution of their own.
05:04Before she was a royal, she was spotted in short skirts. In 2007, Catherine wore a white denim
05:10skirt that fell several inches above her knee when she attended the badminton horse trials.
05:15She paired the look with a navy sweater and brown suede boots. In any normal context,
05:20a skirt above someone's knee wouldn't make headlines, but it does when it comes to the
05:24royals. Following her wedding to Prince William, Catherine occasionally wore shorter dresses and
05:29skirts, though not white denim ones. As Catherine climbed the royal ranks,
05:34the late Queen Elizabeth II apparently urged her to wear longer hemlines.
05:39Katie Nicholl wrote in the Daily Mail in 2014 that Catherine was getting a royal makeover,
05:44one that was more fitting as the future queen and the mother-to-the-heir.
05:48The trend continued, as Catherine's royal ascent can be tracked by the length of her hems.
05:53By 2021, she had almost completely done away with shorter skirts. She began wearing dresses
05:58and skirts that fell around her ankle, which all signals towards her future role as queen.
06:04Like many of us in the 2000s, Princess Catherine wore Uggs. Yes, even a future
06:10queen wore a pair of Uggs, as unfathomable as that may seem now.
06:13"'Cause ultimately, this is a global issue."
06:16In 2007, she was seen walking in London wearing a pair of oatmeal-colored Uggs,
06:21pairing them with skinny jeans and a black jacket. And, like many of us,
06:25Catherine has retired her Uggs.
06:27Catherine still wears boots from time to time. In classic English style, Catherine has a pair
06:32of Wellingtons by Le Chameau in light green. She's worn them to outdoor events like polo
06:36matches during wet weather. Rain boots are not at all uncommon footwear for the royals.
06:42Even the late Queen Elizabeth II wore rubber rain boots at outdoor events,
06:45particularly anything involving horses. For other functions that require sturdy footwear,
06:51Catherine has been seen many times wearing a pair of the Penelope Chilvers long tassel boot.
06:56She's been wearing those boots for well over 10 years now,
06:59and it's clearly become the more sophisticated replacement for her trusty Uggs.
07:04The length of one's neckline doesn't seem to spark global interest unless you're a royal woman.
07:10While we hardly ever see Princess Catherine in anything low-cut now,
07:13she was known to wear a few low necklines back in her pre-royal days.
07:17In 2007, Catherine went clubbing with her sister, Pippa Middleton, to Mahiki,
07:22a popular nightclub in London. For the occasion, Catherine wore a low-cut
07:26satin dress that was gray and gold. Catherine's partying era gained some traction on TikTok,
07:32with content creators noticing how carefree she seemed. One user shared a compilation of photos
07:37with the text,
07:38"[Pictures of Kate Middleton partying in London in the early 2000s are my new favorite thing.
07:43She looks like she's having so much fun."
07:46From the get-go as a royal, Catherine stopped wearing low-cut tops and has gone in the opposite
07:51direction. Many of her looks feature a high neckline, with her chest and collarbone frequently
07:55completely covered. At the 2017 Royal Ascot, Catherine wore a white Alexander McQueen lace
08:02dress with a neckline that sat a few inches high.
08:06There are few things that we can say for certain in life,
08:08but one of them is that we'll never see Princess Catherine in low-rise jeans again.
08:13Back in her pre-royal days, she followed the fashion of the early 2000s and wore some low
08:18riders. The most notable occasion happened when she was 23 and still a student at the
08:23University of St. Andrews. Catherine was photographed in the town while walking with
08:27her father, Michael Middleton. She wore her hair clipped up and paired a white camisole
08:32with some very low-rise flare jeans cinched with a black belt.
08:36Now that she's a senior working royal, Catherine isn't seen in low-rise pants,
08:41and when she wears pants, they're almost always high-waisted. In 2019, she stopped by London's
08:46Natural History Museum and wore a pair of army green high-waisted trousers by Jigsaw,
08:52along with a plum-colored top and a burgundy Chanel bag. As part of her more casual royal look,
08:58Catherine sometimes opts for wide-leg cropped pants. In May 2019, she wore a pair of khaki
09:04colored wide-legs pants with a pair of Sapurga sneakers and a white button-up shirt.
09:10It seems that Catherine, Princess of Wales, has bid farewell to the halter top. While this
09:15particular style might not be on everyone's radar, Catherine seemed to favor it before
09:20she became a royal. In 2006, she wore a red polka dot halter top dress to cheer Prince
09:25William on in a polo match. She paired the look with small sunglasses, looking every bit
09:30the poster girl of the 2000s. In 2008, Kate wore an emerald green sequined halter top to the Day
09:37Glow Midnight Roller Disco, an event which she helped organize as part of a charity.
09:42She paired the halter top with yellow shorts and knee-high pink socks.
09:46While we have yet to see Catherine in a halter dress as a royal,
09:50we do see her in strapless and sleeveless items, though they're often gowns. In 2016,
09:56she wore a red sleeveless midi dress by Preen when she was in Canada. In 2019,
10:01she wore an off-the-shoulder white midi dress. In March 2022, she wore an emerald green
10:07off-the-shoulder gown by Jenny Packham while she was in Jamaica with Prince William.