Friday 16 September 2011

Liz and Kate

Today, the Mail's Liz Jones asks:


Yes, why does the fashion world 'hate' Kate Middleton?

Perhaps some previous columns written by former Marie Clare editor Jones can help explain?

On 17 November 2010, for example, Jones admitted Kate's style 'showed promise' but:

Kate will have to ditch, overnight, much that she loves: the long, scuffed boots and woolly or fishnet tights. The sequins. The awful, ubiquitous baseball cap. The skinny jeans and wedge shoes. Wearing a Topshop dress on her birthday. The wraparound shades — we need to see her eyes.

She will have to do more with her hair other than simply dousing it in what looks like Pantene Pro-V. Kate shouldn’t lose too much length, but a Scarlett Johansson-style chignon would be good for big occasions.

Most of all, she will have to stop not being too bothered and simply pulling on something nondescript in black from Next....

Kate will need to be prepared for near-constant critique.



Indeed she will.

On 11 February, Jones questioned whether Kate had 'the right look for lunch':

Kate does her own make-up, which is commendably frugal, not to mention brave, considering her status. But in my opinion, she is hiding behind a little too much slap on this occasion, which serves to make her look old beyond her years...

The dress is a lovely choice... although I’d rather Kate wore British...

I’m afraid I don’t go for this jacket...Oh, and sorry to sound so picky, but a jacket done up over a dress is just wrong...

The thick black tight has become something of a Kate signature and one I wish she could be weaned off.

Two days later, she was doing it again, offering what she called 'constructive' criticism:

why the monochrome outfits and black accessories?...And why the dreary shapes?...

Kate is being badly let down at the moment in the fashion stakes
.

Just before the wedding, Jones had more:

I want Kate to make a splash. To make us gasp at every turn. Yes, in order to do this she is bound to make mistakes along the way...But at least she won’t be boring...

My main problem with Kate’s shopping spree last week is not her choice of labels, so much as that she shouldn’t be picking up clothes piecemeal, on a whim or, worse, in a last-minute panic. It is all so casual...staggeringly, mind-bogglingly cheap and disappointingly pedestrian.

When the Obamas visited Britain in May, Jones thought Kate 'blew Michelle out of the water' but:

My only gripe with Kate is her hair, which is now a little too long, and too flicked at the ends.

Then today, Jones talked of those who are critical of Kate's style:

they were queuing up not to praise her but to slate her...‘She’s a very ordinary girl’ one fashion editor told me dismissively; ‘she needs better make-up’, added another.

Wherever I turned, the sentiment was the same. Why such enmity?

Why indeed.

She does at least admit:

I, too, have criticised Kate’s fashion sense in the past (she wears navy court shoes and American tan tights, after all.)

But she also adds a thought that reveals more than perhaps she intended:

for all their sneering at Kate, style-setters tend to have gaping holes in their personalities.

(UPDATE: Shouting at Cows has also blogged on Liz Jones' views on Kate.)

1 comment:

  1. If only we could all be more like Liz Fucking Jones! Hundreds of thousands of pounds in debt because we blew all our money on shit designer clothing we only wear once.
    Not to be horrible but what right does a boot-faced, debt-ridden, unloveable hag like Jones have to judge other people on what they wear? I know who I think looks better out of Kate and Liz.

    ReplyDelete

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