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Kate Middleton and Prince William’s first Christmas card as the Prince and Princess of Wales was remarkable for myriad reasons: the couple’s unwavering commitment to spreading festive cheer in the face of a rocky news cycle, the family’s united front, and the former Duchess of Cambridge’s dedication to skinny jeans.
Let’s not beat around the bush: the figure-hugging denim was a curveball for anyone who watched Kate expand her fashion horizons from Zara drainpipes to & Other Stories’ looser fits earlier this year. We all thought the days of spray-on pants were over.
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But as the family girds its loins for more bombshell statements from the California contingency (volume two of Harry & Meghan drops tomorrow), it’s hardly surprising that Kate is surrounding herself with the things that make her feel safe and, in light of everything, like herself. This week, then, was not the time for wide-leg Roland Mouret pants (a recent investment to team with her Chanel bouclé jacket) or Jigsaw tailoring (a high-street buy to offset her Gucci pussy-bow blouses). Putting on her game face required Zara’s high-rise sculpting fits, J Brand’s Alana waist-cinchers, or Frame’s Le High skinnies—all favorite jean styles of the Princess.
Rather than modernizing her Sloane Ranger image—the Penelope Chilvers boot lover and Longchamp bag toter who William fell for at St Andrew’s—Kate embraced it. She teamed her dark slim-cut denim with a favorite M.i.h Jeans Mabel blouse, which she first wore back in 2019 at the unveiling of her Back to Nature Garden at the Chelsea Flower Show and again on Zoom during the pandemic, and the Superga 2750 Cotu trainers that have taken her on state tours and royal sporting ventures alike.
The picture of Kate Middleton holding hands with Prince Louis on a family stroll through their Norfolk estate showed a senior royal who is a girl next door at heart; a woman who prioritizes her home life over her personal brand. With her signature Catherine Walker dresscoats, Barbour jackets, and Temperley gowns, the princess is never going to be a trend-setter, but she knows what she feels good in, and that’s more influential than anyone who blindly follows the fashion cycle.
This article first appeared on British