Most of us don’t facedown a phalanx of press cameras when we head out for a group stroll after Christmas morning breakfast. But the British Royal Family has kept up the long tradition, established by Queen Elizabeth II, of walking together from Sandringham House on her estate in Norfolk to St. Mary Magdalene Church for Christmas morning services. It is a parade of highly tasteful – and inspiring – festive gear. The other highlight of the season is newer: The Princess of Wales’s “Together At Christmas” concert, held at Westminster Abbey. It typically draws a large number of supportive Royal Family members and royal-adjacent guests, all decked out in holiday outfits. And this year, monarchy-watchers got a bonus holiday fashion carousel courtesy of the early December State Banquet thrown by the King at Windsor Castle for the German President. It was a glittering affair held in front of a giant Christmas tree in St. George’s Hall, complete with full-length gowns, sashes and tiaras for the royal women.
Most of us will never have occasion to wear dazzling headpieces, but there are many lessons we can learn from the Royal Family’s female fashion. It all starts with a good base. Chilly, wet weather makes coats the primary item in a royal wardrobe. Think a slim-lined, midi-length coat, and sensible walking shoes or good boots.This is a great lesson: investing in a timeless coat. Royals are also known for recycling, and little updates go a long way to adding to the lifespan of an investment piece. The art of high-low is something Catherine introduced to the royal repertoire, now being emulated by the royals of her generation. With that in mind here are five festive takeaways inspired by royal style for every age.
Lean into a Colourway
Unlike Queen Elizabeth, who wore rainbow brights to stand out in a crowd, Queen Camilla sticks to discreet blues, greens and ivories. But last Christmas on the Sandringham walk, perhaps to symbolize unity within the royal family after a difficult year with cancer afflicting both the King and Catherine, Queen Camilla, the Princess of Wales and Princess Charlotte all coordinated in similar shades of forest green – the colour of regeneration and hope. Nothing is more effective than a colour theme to add cohesiveness to family photos.
Check out this classic version of Queen Camilla’s belted coat, from one of Kate’s favourite high-street brands Reiss.
Add a Brooch
In 2019, the last year she appeared on the Christmas walk, Queen Elizabeth wore an outfit for the ages. Her crisp, apple-red coat and elegant, tall high-crowned fedora was accented with a simple double strand of her signature pearls and a large floral brooch. Black gloves and low-heeled horse-bit loafers completed the look. The Queen favoured the apparently impossible to acquire Anello & Davide shoes, however Gucci has a very similar look. Brooches were the Queen’s trademark and have moved to the runways and boomed in popularity for both men and women since her passing.
Following military tradition, where regalia and honours are worn on the left side, the Queen traditionally wore her brooches there. Left will always look right. But with fashion, anything goes, and we have seen right-side placement, centre collar placement and brooches dotting scarves and skirts.
But if you have been experimenting with brooches, you will know there is a concern about pinning anything to clothing and leaving a pin-hole, or worse, that the weight of the piece might pull the fabric more seriously. According to Angela Kelly, whose book The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe shared her secrets of dressing the Queen, that is the reason that heavy wools were chosen when appropriate. Brooches for the Queen were selected long in advance, and they were often symbolic and related to causes she held close. Examples include a scarab brooch, a gift from Prince Philip on their 25th wedding anniversary, that symbolized the enduring love of their marriage (scarabs symbolize eternity). She also famously had the Queen Mary Turquoise and Diamond Brooch, which she brought out in times of national crisis, and the beloved Diamond Maple Leaf Brooch that she wore on trips to Canada and loaned to Kate on her first trip here after her marriage.
Because the brooches and outfits were chosen far in advance, Kelly had time to have special interfacing or felt supports added to the interior of the Queen’s clothing to stand up to heavy ornamentation and guard against drooping. You can do this too. If you’re not handy with a needle and thread, bring your special garments to a tailor to add in reinforcement with interfacing, or you can buy brooch guards on Amazon. Kelly also kept a regular schedule of inspecting the Queen’s brooches to ensure the pins were straight and free of corrosion. The takeaway? Plan ahead and do trial runs of which brooches might work for which garments and keep your collection in tip-top shape.
For a classic look, this Swarovski brooch is perfect. Multiple brooches are also a fresh twist. Here is an inexpensive grouping of five star brooches from Nordic Noir in Stockholm.
Add Some Frills and Furbelows
Zara Tindall has been making a fashion splash over the past couple of years as she has stepped up to support her mother on some official engagements, and it’s likely that, in King William’s future reign, she will be even more present. We saw her in one of her best looks ever at Princess Catherine’s carol concert: a black lace-trimmed midi dress with a blue-and-black tuxedo coat over top, from Alice + Olivia. The combination of a sharp colour duo for a classic tuxedo style, paired with discreet texture for a feminine counterpoint and her chic, sharp-yet-soft bob, made for an eye-catching, fashion-forward outfit.
Lace peeking out from under a hemline is a great trick to add interest when you’re party-hopping and your outfit is coat-centric. A contrasting lace collar (seen often on the late Diana, Princess of Wales, and more recently on her granddaughter, Charlotte, at the carol concert) can serve the same purpose. With a coat as your main point of presentation, these details count.
British fashion stalwart Marks & Spencer can be trusted to nail this concept. Zara also has an easy satin and lace-edged skirt to throw in your festive mix, and Smythe turns it up a notch with an haute lace pencil skirt.
Rework Your Rewear
The Princess of Wales’s fashion style, abetted by her otherworldly poise, is hard to emulate. But many of her habits are downright relatable. She and her styling team take the time to find clever ways to rework old favourites. She’s done it for decades. She chose a red Alexander McQueen coat for the 2024 holiday carol service that we had seen many times previously, dating back to the launch of her Hold Still pandemic photography project in 2020.
For the concert, she punctuated the piece with a large black bow worn at the collar. Catherine is often seen wearing bows in her hair, and this trend is holding strong in the larger fashion world. The best source for plush ribbons is craft-central platform Etsy. Another quick way to update a coat is as simple as swapping out the buttons – Sterling Buttons has an inspirational supply.
Embrace Novelty
Even the royal-adjacent get into the fashion spirit. Carole Middleton took a page out of her daughter Catherine’s closet by choosing a novelty coat suited to the season. Her blue-and-green tartan coat from Scottish outfitter House of Bruar was fresh, festive and fit the dress code perfectly. This look throws back to one of her daughter’s most resonant Christmas Day and maternity looks in 2017, when she wore a plaid coat (notably a bit shorter than usual) to church services.
It may feel like a patterned coat will give you more limited usage, because the more memorable a piece of clothing is, the fewer times you can recycle it. But a holiday coat is a nice tradition, something you can pull out every year and a fun way to throw back to happy family times of years past. The classic and joyful British brand Boden (started by old Etonian Johnnie Boden) has a less expensive version that is available in Canada, as does Simons.
So in these frugal times, the message is you don’t have to run out and buy new holiday clothes each year. But with a little ingenuity, and applying some of the Royal Family’s tried-and-true repurposing lessons, you can celebrate bringing auld fashion acquaintance to mind.
