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Whether Recycling Statement Pieces or Upcycling Old Favourites, the Royals Have Styling Down to an Art

Whether recycling statement pieces or upcycling old favourites,
the royals have styling down to an art

Royals are the original fashion influencers, even as they have to balance stodgy sartorial traditions. They must be thrifty and sustainable, while remaining impossibly glamorous and modern – a tricky balance. For every public appearance there is a phalanx of long-lens cameras trained to capture the tiniest details. Good news for us mortals, though: Royals are a masterclass in intergenerational style, offering fresh twists on old ideas. Here are a few royally approved tricks for the festive season to pull old favourite items out of the closets and inject them with new verve.

Head of the Class

Tiaras are the signature items in a princess’s wardrobe. But there are ways to take this most formal of pieces and lean into a more modern fashion statement.

Princess Margaret wore the Cartier Halo tiara to her sister’s coronation. This storied piece was commissioned in 1936 for their mother, by their father, King George VI, and then given to then princess Elizabeth for her 18th birthday. Margaret was both a devotee of high fashion – dedicated to Dior – and a noted rule breaker. Women aren’t “supposed” to wear tiaras before their wedding. Margaret, who married in 1960, didn’t care. This is the kind of rebellion we can get behind. The lesson here: Be like Margaret and wear whatever glitter you want, whenever you want. Life is short.

Another fabulous lesson in royal headgear: when Diana, then Princess of Wales, wore the extraordinary 1911 Delhi Durbar diamond choker as a headband, a show-stopping moment on the 1985 Australian tour. She kept the ’80s theme going by pairing it with a very of-the-era one-shoulder emerald dress. Catherine, Princess of Wales, wore the choker to the 2022 Earthshot Prize with a rented neon-green dress – all the better for her sustainable bona fides. Royals are great recyclers, and we can all learn to pull out our old jewelry and wear it in new ways, in fresh contexts.

Catherine also showed how to make formal fashionable at King Charles III’s coronation, with a dramatic jewelry-meets-headgear move. Her response to the updated wardrobe advice – less fusty – for the King’s ceremony. She commissioned milliner Jess Collett to create a headpiece alongside Sarah Burton, former designer of the McQueen label who Catherine has worn for all her major royal appearances, starting with her wedding dress. Collett, along with the McQueen atelier, wove real silver thread over fabric flowers and leaves to create the organic-themed piece.

Take a leaf from Kate’s playbook: Headbands have been well represented on the runways and in designer shops this year, from a crystal bedazzled version at Prada to a logo-bedecked band at Dior and an ’80s-feel acetate piece at Celine. But, happily, you can get the looks for much less, from a leather headband at Coach to an array of fabrics and varying puffiness on Amazon. Add a bit of DIY sparkle à la Diana by pinning a brooch on it.

The Zoomerist

Greensleeves

At the Earthshot Prize last year, William, Prince of Wales, adhered to theme-dressing by busting out a deep-green velvet blazer from Reiss, styled with a black turtleneck. Consider the velvet blazer his signature formalwear move as he wore a black Tom Ford one at the BAFTAs this year. Velvet is racy but a low-key upgrade for William, who tends to follow a basic chinos-kind-of-guy for his sartorial life plan. Indeed, it is a minimal update to his own father’s style. When he was the heir-in-waiting, GQ called Charles a “style legend” in 2016 with “next-level” panache for pulling out a green velvet jacket with a Royal Stewart tartan kilt during a Campaign for Wool event in Scotland, a cause dear to Charles’ heart. Also, an important style point: William has embraced his baldness with aplomb, something so many men could learn from. He keeps his hair short, opting for the modern blending approach.

Go full-on heir: The turtleneck under a blazer is a sleek take on holiday style and removes the tie-or-no-tie debate. Velvet blazers are everywhere on the market right now – from Old Navy to Tom Ford, from H&M to Ralph Lauren. And Hudson’s Bay sells the very same Reiss label that William wore.

After services on Christmas Day at nearby St Mary Magdalene Church, the Royal Family takes a much-loved and -anticipated walk together back to Sandringham. Once home, the games begin.

Bottoms up

Grown-up drinks are the order of the day. Veuve Clicquot is the post-church tipple of choice. Later in the day, King Charles is said to have either cherry brandy or a 50:50 gin martini with dry vermouth. His mother, the late Queen, used to have gin and Dubonnet. Hard cider is often served, fermented from the fruit of a tree on the estate planted by George VI himself, a lovely tribute tradition. While nightly dinners are black tie at holiday time, during the day the Windsors, outdoor sporting enthusiasts with notably competitive natures, will blow off some steam with a game of football. Charades is on the agenda directly following Christmas lunch.

Walk it off

Here in North America, the focus of the day after Christmas is sales. We really could take a page from the British: In the U.K., the Boxing Day Walk is what posh people do, admiring the countryside, airing out their hangovers and having a light gossip about shenanigans of the night before. The royals start Boxing Day with the Big Breakfast Kedgeree. An Anglo-Indian holdover, kedgeree is itself curried rice with smoked fish (the name is a bastardization from the Raj-era dish khichdi). Queen Elizabeth was a big fan, and betting odds are the new King will continue this tradition in her honour.

The dish is accompanied by “the full English,” which translates as all variety of eggs and breakfast meats, beans and trimmings. Next comes the Shoot, which in this day and age means the pursuit of game birds (pheasant, partridge). The ban on fox hunting put a damper on the old-style hunts on horseback. (Diana, then later Meghan, were both known to be anti-hunting; Kate, however, is said to be a keen shot.)

Try kedgeree or use it as inspiration for putting your family’s cultural heritage front and centre. Integrate these old but new traditions into festive meals after the turkey or roast beast has been carved on the 25th.

PHOTO CREDITS: GETTY IMAGES; HELEN TANSEY (DELAP)

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