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2016 has brought us a “new and improved” Duchess of Cambridge, or so her PR would have us believe. Five years into her role as duchess, Kate is supposed to be feeling more comfortable in her royal role. We’re also supposed to believe that she’s successfully transitioned from her mass-market High Street looks to more expensive and sophisticated designer clothes. Personally, I don’t see much of a difference in her style in the past few years other than the price tags. Which I suspect is the point of this piece at the Daily Mail. While Prince Harry is shopping the bargain bins at Waitrose, Kate is spending her father-in-law’s money on undercooked cinnamon bun hats and doily dresses. She was once hailed ‘Queen of the High Street’ for championing mid-range clothes within reach of the average woman’s budget. But the Duchess of Cambridge has been re-crowned the ‘Designer Duchess’ after replacing her trusted Zara dresses and Topshop bargains with haute couture. Once a reluctant style icon, Kate –who famously wore a £50 blue Zara dress the day after her wedding – is now almost exclusively choosing high-end gowns, coats and shoes. And the 34-year-old’s new tastes do not come cheap. Much of her working wardrobe is paid for by the Prince of Wales, who funds William, Kate and Harry’s official activities. Royal accounts published last week show Charles’s ‘other expenditure’, which includes money spent on Kate and his sons, rose 9.5 per cent in a year to £3.2 million – although aides refused to specify how much of that went on Kate’s wardrobe. The transition has come with the help of an in-house tailor and her personal dresser, 29-year-old Natasha Archer, also based in Kensington Palace. The most expensive item Kate has been seen in this year was a £7,000 pale blue Catherine Walker coat dress, which she wore to the Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral last month. While her clothes are now of a better quality, she is increasingly ‘recycling’ outfits she has worn before, including a £2,000 cream-coloured Alexander McQueen coat dress seen at Trooping the Colour in June. And she has finally ditched her trusty £145 LK Bennett court shoes in favour of pumps by Milan-based Gianvito Rossi, costing about £450. ‘Kate is wearing pricier pieces for semi-formal engagements,’ says Susan Kelley, editor of the website What Kate Wore. ‘We’ve seen her in three Dolce & Gabbana lace dresses in the past year which cost more than £6,000 in total. Now, almost all of her special occasion dresses are upscale, luxury labels.’ [From The Daily Mail] I understand that her wardrobe is supposed to be seen as a “years-long transition,” rather than an overnight change from middle-class girlfriend to high-end duchess. But what strikes me about Kate’s wardrobe is that you really can’t tell which pieces are high-end and which pieces are mass market, and I don’t mean that as a compliment. Some women – the Diane Krugers and Cate Blanchetts of the world – can make inexpensive clothes look rich. Some women – like Kate – make high-end pieces look mass-market. One of the biggest issues with Kate’s clothes is how much she’s spending on personalized tailoring, most of which is unneeded. Or worse yet, the tailoring actually screws up the look. And you have to look no further than her absolutely awful bespoke piece at the Battle of Somme centenary event last Friday to see that this is Kate’s (expensive) vision for how she’s supposed to look. All with Charles’ money! Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.