Kate Middleton’s Revealing What She’s Not ‘Able to Say to Us’ With All of Those Pantsuits, Expert Says
2023 might just go down in history as the year of pantsuits for Kate Middleton. The Princess of Wales has spent much of 2023 and the last few months of 2022, wearing menswear-inspired clothing. In doing so, Kate’s told the world a lot about where she’s at in her “new era” of “royal life,” according to a fashion expert.
Kate Middleton’s pantsuits in 2023
“Public engagement, pantsuit” could very well be Kate’s thinking for her 2023 wardrobe. The 41-year-old has made many appearances throughout the year wearing none other than a color-coordinating blazer and pants.
When Kate and Prince William traveled to Boston, Mass., in December 2022, the mother of three wore a burgundy pantsuit. On another occasion in January 2023, and many since, she attended a meeting wearing … a pantsuit.
Kate’s also been known to wear a suit as her clothing of choice for big events. Take, for instance, the coronation of her father-in-law, King Charles III. Although she wore a dress to the Westminster Abbey ceremony, Kate opted for a pantsuit at the coronation concert.
Many times since, she’s worn suits. Most recently, in late September 2023, Kate wore multiple pantsuits in one week.
‘My life is now completely different’ is what Kate’s clothes say, according to a royal fashion expert
Kate’s pantsuits signal a new period of her royal life, according to Bethan Holt, The Daily Telegraph’s fashion director.
“I think it marks a new era in her royal life,” Holt told People. “It shows her confidence is growing. And that she’s willing to take more risks and do something that might not have come naturally to her.”
Holt, who wrote the 2021 book, The Duchess of Cambridge: A Decade of Modern Royal Style, on Kate’s clothing before she became the Princess of Wales, continued. She called the shift in Kate’s choice of clothing a transformation.
“She’s transforming before our eyes,” the expert said of Kate. “She might not be able to say to us, ‘Look, my life is now completely different, me and my husband are one step closer to the biggest job of his life,’ but she is saying that through her fashion choices.”
Referencing Kate’s late mother-in-law, Princess Diana, Holt explained the suits help Kate to look like she means business.
“Diana had her own trouser suit moment in the late 1980s at a time when she wanted to be taken more seriously,” Holt said. “She said to designers, ‘I’m sick of the frothy ball gowns — I want to wear menswear.’ She had these fabulous power suit moments.”
“I think what’s really interesting is how it’s taken quite a serious slant,” Holt said of Kate’s pantsuits. “There’s a lot of very polished tailoring — it’s a very sleek silhouette and quite a controlled look.”
Kate returned to ‘more feminine’ clothes in the summer of 2023
Just because she’s stepped in pantsuit after pantsuit doesn’t mean Kate’s retired the “more feminine” items of clothing from her royal wardrobe. The mother of three spent the summer of 2023 wearing plenty of her old standbys, such as dresses and polka dots.
As Buckingham Palace’s “principal ‘Royal poster girl,’” according to royal fashion expert Miranda Holder, Kate moved away from blazers and pants in the warmer months. Instead of her “more businesslike” looks, Kate’s 2023 “summer style” included “softer, floatier silhouettes in which she is her most alluring.”
Clothes and accessories are thoughtfully selected, per Holder. “We know that every nuance of Kate’s outfit is carefully curated,” the expert said in June 2023 after Kate wore pink on numerous occasions. “Every detail from her jewels to her shoes” is “specially selected to portray a sentiment. So the recent flurry of pink and green will not be an accident.”
