The Duchess of Cambridge is in town, hairdresser in tow. Smart girl, because as anyone from back East knows, the dryness here can play havoc with even the best head of hair. What she didn’t bring with her was a dresser. Instead, as has been widely reported, she’s wearing a wardrobe selected with the help of personal shoppers from U.K. retailers Harvey Nichols and Selfridges.
(The latter is a sister-store of sorts to Holt Renfrew; both are owned by Canada’s Weston family.)
I’m looking forward to seeing how Duchess Catherine kits herself out (to use a British phrase) during the royal visit, as the woman has yet to publicly make a fashion faux pas. In England her every move is catalogued, dissected and discussed; the clothing she’s photographed in subsequently flies off the shelves. For example, when she takes part in the Stampede Parade today, the blog whatkatewore.com predicts she’ll be wearing a pair of bright-red J Brand 811 skinny jeans that, according to katemiddletonstyle.org, she purchased in mid-June at the Trilogy jeans store on The King’s Road. (In case you’d like a pair, Holt Renfrew carries them for $220.) It will be interesting to see if there’s a dramatic increase in across-the-pond sales of Alberta Boot Co. boots and Smithbilt hats after her visit, as she’s rumoured to be receiving samples of both Stampede-style staples.
Whatever she wears, The Dutchess, whose understated chic verges on demure, will surely bring some class to the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth. Would that it rubbed off on those among her royal subjects who think dressing for Stampede means emulating a pneumatic Cowboys waitress. I long ago gave up trying to figure out the Hootchie Mama sartorial horror show that appears every summer like a recurring skin rash; like the phenomenon that is Snooki, or Nickelback, there is no accounting for taste.
When it comes to Stampede you’ve really only two options. The first is to emulate my very stylish friend MG, whose motto is, “When the hay comes out, that’s my cue to leave town.” Or, to quote my favourite cowboy Yosemite Sam, “if ya can’t beat ’em, join ’em.” To that end, I’ve lassoed a selection of western wear that will put you in the right spotlight, even if, like the rest of us, you’ll be in Kate’s shadow.
Originally published in Swerve magazine July.08.11.
