Kate Middleton: Fashion Icon
{A guest post by Mamie Carlstrom}
On November
thirteenth, 2010, I left the United States with my Mother and brother to visit
Spain. It was a very nice country, but I was very grateful to be with a friend
who can speak Spanish.
A couple of days
later, on November seventeenth, I boarded a plane headed to England.
I learned in the
airport, and also on magazines everywhere, that the engagement of Prince
William to Kate Middleton had been announced just hours before.
I walked into a
country sparkling with the news of their new Princess-to-be.
It
was interesting to hear the buzz of what everyone was saying. It was honestly
the very first time I had ever heard of her. I wish I had paid better attention
to what to locals were saying about this young lady about to become part of their
Royal Family.
William’s choice in a
wife was wonderful. Kate shows promise of being a splendid Queen one day. Though I have of course never met her, she
seems very sweet, kind, and willing to do whatever is needed for her country.
She is a splendid helpmeet for her husband, always by his side.
And of course, beauty
and loveliness incarnate.
The wardrobe of
royalty, especially in Europe and North America, has always drawn the attention
of women. After the tragic death of beautiful
Princess Diana, there has not been a young lady in “The Firm” for us to look to
for fashion sense. Queen Elizabeth of course always had impeccable queenly
clothes, but she is of a different era then the wife of her son or grandson
would be.
Enter Kate Middleton.
One of the things
that draw us to Kate even more is the
fact that she is a commoner by birth. We place ourselves (be “we” I mean us
females…I doubt any males are reading this) in her shoes. She was not born with
royal blood coursing through her veins like almost all of the other Princesses
before her. She possesses elegance that she developed herself.
Which means any one
of us can be as poised as she. Cue the excitement!
(I kid you not; Kate
is improving my posture a great deal.)
Kate
focuses on natural beauty. Not excessive make-up or gaudy outfits. The fact
that she was blessed with an extra dose of God-given physically beauty is a big
help to her of course. When she was younger, she used this in a few ways that I
do not believe were right, but now that she has matured, she seems to have seen
this gift as something to be treasured and not completely exposed. Other than
the occasional low cut neckline, I am very pleased with the way she uses her
beauty now that she is the Duchess of Cambridge.
(Don’t
get me started on how angry I am at the Paparazzi. In France.)
She
does not ruin her prettiness with a bunch of decorations. It is real. Even the homeliest face can be made beautiful
with the right taste in adornment.
She combines modern
and timeless fashion.
This is one of my
favorite dresses that she wore on their recent Royal Tour.
It was demure and yet
radiant. She looked so attractive in the simple dress and color. I could very
much see myself wearing a similar style.
She not only looks
lovely in skirts, she pulls off pants quite well too.
<3
My sister has made
the point to me on more than one occasion. “But her clothing is all designer!
They are all super expensive!” And maybe so. She is royalty now after all. But
I for one, watch her style, not to make myself desire exactly what she has been
blessed with (I honestly don’t even pay much attention to the names of the
designers,) but instead to get ideas about what looks classy and stylish, and
find ways to emulate the quality of elegancy she brings to the world.
This brings me to the
crux of what I’m trying to say in this article:
I love Kate because
she is fully alive in her femininity.
She has accepted her role as a woman. She is not trying to push ahead of her husband or the male
gender in general. This is such a breath of fresh air in this era of feminism,
don’t you think?
I was reading a blog
the other day, and someone made a remark about how they appreciate that Kate
does not push for the spotlight. She knows that it already on her, so she does
not try to draw more attention through flashiness. Her grace and poise speak
for themselves.
What kind of style
will you portray as a woman? Whether you wear a skirt or shorts, shop at a
Thrift Store or Harrods, everyone can develop a sense of style that portrays
elegance, classiness, and flair.
Let us learn from
Kate that femininity is not lost. It
is still fashionable to be ladylike.
Let us glory in our
womanhood in just such the way that God created us to be.
Mamie Rose Carlstrom is an eighteen year-old young woman
seeking to devote every area of her life to Christ. She loves reading, writing,
family, the color gray, music, the cupid shuffle, movies, travel, modest
fashion, Adventures in Odyssey (don’t laugh), photography, the Green Bay
Packers, meeting famous people, and healthy smoothies. Not necessarily in that
order.
And her Pinterest page can be found here
