Kate Middleton and Prince William are in India. They have visited Mumbai, New Delhi and are currently in Assam. They have met with underprivileged kids, chatted to Bollywood celebrities and business icons, visited Prime Minister Narendra Modi and fed orphaned rhinos. However, the most important thing they didn’t do was pay more heed to Kate’s style.
Writer Shobhaa De is clearly not happy with the Duchess’ style. She has something to say about almost every outfit that Kate has worn.
On her “chaka chak” Jenny Packham gown
Kate would look gorgeous in a sack. Does that make the dress gorgeous? Nah. Honestly, there is a busy gali right behind the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, which is crammed with beaded, chaka chak outfits much like this one. It has always catered to Arab tourists and used local embroidery-walas to create glam abayas that made sure the ladies stayed appropriately covered up. Perhaps Kate’s stylist mixed up the destination. Honey, the Duchess was in Mumbai, not Abu Dhabi.
On her “FabIndia-inspired” Anita Dongre dress
Earlier, she had shown off her “patli kamar” to advantage in a weather-appropriate, hand-block-printed summery dress. Not Anita Dongre’s most inspired look. More Anokhi and Fab India; a bit of Fashion Street too. But she looked fresh, carefree and young.
On her Emilia Wickstead outfit
While the blue, peculiarly shaped and caped gown aged her by 20 years, she looked ready to wow young entrepreneurs in a smart, white Emilia Wickstead outfit. It was the sort of dress any “take me seriously” working female professional would opt for when she goes schmoozing with the boys to local pub during happy hours.
On her “successful” Alice Temperly gown
So far, her most successful fashion outings have been in very Brit, very today dresses – like the perfectly tailored black-and-white Alice Temperly dress she wore to the British High Commissioner’s garden party in Delhi. I wish it had been more flirty, though. Kate does severe very stylishly, but she does floaty chiffon even better.
Kate’s “pheeka” Alice Temperly dress
Narendra Modi’s pristine white, smartly fitted ensemble, stylishly set off with a baby pink bundi jacket made a bigger statement than Kate’s pheeka wishy-washy aqua dress. Her expression was equally listless. There wasn’t a touch of saffron in sight. It was so theek hai as to be boring.
And Kate’s “worst” dress by Alexander McQeen
But by far, the worst dress on display so far, has to be the Alexander McQueen. Excuse me – what was that? Those paisleys and kairis and what nots going all over the place. The bright red background which made Kate look rather pale, and the strange cuts and contours!
De ended her article saying:
Khair, let’s count our blessings, ji. Kate has skipped wearing a saree. Her waist is perfect for crinoline ball gowns from “Gone with the Wind”. But a saree needs curves. A saree demands a derriere. Kate has none. Thank God, some misguided fashion guru has spared her and us so far.
You can read the complete article here.