In the UK, us civilians are just shrugging off our industrial strength macs, but in the world of the super rich, whatever the climate, every month is the season of white, off-white and cream – ideally all worn together.
So, when Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and her plus one Prince Harry, stepped out in Jordan yesterday at the start of another of their ‘treat us as if we’re royal’ visits, no one was remotely surprised to see her wearing all white: a £1,050 ivory tweed cropped jacket by Veronica Beard over a white T-shirt with £448 milk-coloured flared tailored ‘Marbeau’ trousers, also by Veronica Beard, and open-toed mules.
This isn’t the first time Meghan’s worn head-to-toe white.
Critics of her recently cancelled Netflix show remarked that no one who really cooks would hit the kitchen in a crisp white shirt, biscuit-coloured knit or a sleeveless cream cashmere tank – pretty much Meghan’s uniform throughout. And in October she made a surprise appearance on the front row of the Balenciaga show in Paris wearing all-white: a silky shirt and wide trousers with a matching floor-sweeping oversized scarf-cum-cape.
Everyone in the public eye wants a signature look, and Meghan has co-opted the all-white – in the night or day – clean, serene look. And why not? It’s got everything as far as she’s concerned. White/off-white ticks the necessary luxury box. It’s the colour of optimism and hope, and most importantly of purity and incorruptibility.
Meghan wearing a £1,050 ivory tweed cropped jacket by Veronica Beard over a white T-shirt with £448 milk-coloured flared tailored ‘Marbeau’ trousers, also by Veronica Beard, and open-toed mules
On the visit Meghan and Harry took part in a football game at a refugee camp
The Duchess of Sussex stopped to take pictures with staff at the camp
No doubt, discussion of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s situation is out of bounds during this two-day tour – the couple were invited by the World Health Organisation – but that doesn’t stop the Duchess from signalling that she and her husband are in the opposite corner from his disgraced uncle – modern, forward-thinking, outside the orbit of royalty and the shadow that Andrew has cast over Harry’s family.
Even her choice of a jacket and trousers over a T-shirt is significant – proper but relaxed and modern; the outfit of a working woman who’s aware of her image. When you analyse what she’s wearing, and we know she will have given it considerable thought, this should be the perfect choice.
Which is why it’s surprising she has misstepped and ended up looking more like a travel rep for a resort hotel than a Duchess on a fashion mission.
The jacket is neither one thing nor the other – double-breasted but V-neck, cut away at the front and collarless – so way too fussy. It has the fringe details that give a tweed jacket current edge but covered buttons (always cheapening), and the neckline of the vest or T-shirt underneath is slightly scooped, so the effect is messy.
Plus the flared trousers are too big, so what should look modern and fresh has ended up swampy and creased.
Continuing the stealth wealth theme (because you can’t wear all-white all the time), Meghan visited a youth centre wearing a white shirt over a khaki T-shirt and pleat-front linen trousers, which sadly also looked like they were at least a size too large and had been slept in (the trouble with linen). Still, it’s early days in Meghan’s signature-look-establishing period – plenty of time for improvement.
