Kate’s Most Daring Fashion Moment Yet?

The below is a longer version of the following article -

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-11770351/Upcycled-Alexander-McQueen-gown-triumph-Kate-Middleton-Baftas.html

The Prince and Princess of Wales tonight ended half-term in a rather more glamorous way than most, attending the BAFTAs for the first time in two years. And since she would be walking the red carpet alongside the President of the British Association of Film & Television, no less (that is, her husband), Kate needed to look the part. In previous years, she has relied upon Alexander McQueen for the BAFTAs - a designer whose minimalist take on glamour allowed Kate to bridge the gap between the refined dressing required by royal protocol and the ‘wow’ factor needed when mingling with A-list screen stars. And tonight was no exception - Kate wore the same McQueen dress (yes, you read that right) she wore to the event in 2019, just changing the dress’ shoulder detail and her accessories.

The result? Undeniably the most fashion-forward of Kate’s BAFTA’s appearances, and, arguably, of her red carpet looks ever. For someone who favours style over fashion, this is a rare catwalk-orientated look from Kate. The oversized bow on the shoulder of her dress nodded to the gloriously gigantesque bows that adorned the dresses at Giambattista Valli and Valentino’s SS23 couture shows in Paris earlier this month, but perhaps most notable were her black opera gloves - a huge trend on catwalks for the past couple of seasons. The edgy gloves combined with the frou-frou white tulle of the dress in a perfect cool-meets-classic synergy that made the look less Cruella, more Audrey. This make-do-and-mend reworked version of an old dress demonstrates Kate’s understanding of the current fashion climate. As Oxfam gave a show composed of solely preloved clothing at London Fashion Week earlier this week and as Net-A-Porter prepares to launch its repair service, Kate showed more fashion flair tonight than any A-lister - without even buying a new dress. Just a new pair of earrings, but we’ll let her off for that - passing by the diamonds at her disposal, Kate debuted a new pair of £17.99 earrings from Zara. A triumphant return to the BAFTAs red carpet if ever there was one.