Royals wearing denim shouldn’t come as too much of a shock. Princess Diana was known for wearing jeans with everything from sweatshirts to baseball hats. The appeal of seeing a Duchess in a pair of distressed skinnies no doubt has to do with how relatable it feels, to see someone who regularly wears custom couture in something you might also have in your closet.
In the short time Markle has been a part of the royal family, she’s made a handful of style statements with denim. What makes her approach to this wardrobe staple so refreshing is how she keeps it simple, sticking to the essentials and styling them in ways that are easy to recreate with pieces already in your closet. Which makes her the perfect shopping guide.
If you’re looking to add some Markle-inspired denim pieces to your collection, see four of our favorite of her jean looks below—and the best styles to recreate them with.
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Wearing the Fantasy Bra is one of the highest honors for a Victoria’s Secret Angel. It’s like earning valedictorian status, or Beyoncé asking you to take out her trash: It doesn’t happen often, so, when it does, embrace the hell out of it.
Last year, Lais Ribeiro walked down the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show runway in the Champagne Nights Bra, valued at $2 million. And in 2018, the look—a bustier-and-body-chain style made with over 2,100 diamonds from Atelier Swarovski, according to Vogue—will be modeled by Swedish Angel Elsa Hosk. You might not be able to purchase is, but starting on November 29, Victoria’s Secret will be selling a crystal-embellished Dream Angels Fantasy Bra online for $250—a relative bargain, compared to the millions associated with Fantasy Bras.
As it happens, a couple of thousand diamonds is chump change compared with some of the more expensive Fantasy Bras of years past. (The 2018 bra is valued at $1 million, according to People—but a previous one was priced at $10 million.) That’s more than my life, your life, and Aaron Carter’s life! Hosk is just one of many Angels to wear the Fantasy Bra: Tyra Banks! Alessandra Ambrosio! Heidi Klum! Heidi Klum again! The Fantasy Bra Club is a who’s who of supermodels/future reality-TV show hosts. Once you’re in, you’re pretty much set. So, rest easy, Tookes: You have a long modeling career ahead of you, followed by an offer to host the 184th cycle of America’s Next Top Model. Dreams do come true.
All jokes aside, this is a big effing deal. Maybe seeing the full list of models in the Fantasy Bra Club will convince you.
1996: Claudia Schiffer
Schiffer wore the very first Fantasy Bra, which was valued at $1 million. Unfortunately, however, it didn’t appear in the fashion show. Perhaps executives were too afraid of letting a 100-carat diamond bra loose on the runway?
1997: Tyra Banks
One of the earlier fantasy bras shows more satin than diamonds, but hang tight—we’re just getting started.
1998: Daniela Pestova
Pestova’s $5,000,000 “Dream Angel Fantasy Bra” featured a dazzling display of rubies and diamonds.
1999: Heidi Klum
Klum’s first-ever Fantasy Bra was blue with silver stars, and is valued at a casual $10 million.
2000: Gisele Bündchen
PHOTO: Evan Agostini
This $15 million bra-and-panty set was the Guinness Book record holder for the most extravagant and expensive underwear ever at the time, with more than 1,300 rubies and diamonds.
2001: Heidi Klum
Klum wore a diamond-encrusted demi bra valued at the time at $12.5 million.
2002: Karolina Kurkova
This $12 million set echoed the romance of an English garden.
2003: Heidi Klum
Klum, back at it again with the multimillion-dollar bra! The style she wore in 2003 is valued at $11 million.
2004: Tyra Banks
PHOTO: Marion Curtis/StarPix/REX/Shutterstock
Banks wore the Heavenly 70 Fantasy Bra in 2004, which featured a 70-carat pear-shaped diamond embellishment—on top of the 2,900 pavé-set diamonds set throughout the 18-karat white gold. The price tag: $10 million.
2005: Gisele Bündchen
The Brazilian bombshell wore a Fantasy Bra with a 101-carat fancy-cut diamond drop hanging from the sweet bow detail at center. Like Klum’s, it was valued at $12.5 million.
2006: Karolina Kurkova
Diamond jeweler Hearts on Fire created this $6.5 million sparkler, which has more than 2,000 diamonds.
2007: Selita Ebanks:
Just a bra? No way. Ebanks’ $4.5 million lingerie set by Mouawad included a bra, thong, garter, cuff, and barrette, all coated in diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and yellow sapphires.
2008: Adriana Lima
Lima went to the next level in 2008, when she wore a $5 million style with 3,900 black-and-white diamonds (that’s 1,500 carats!) interspersed with rubies.
2009: Marissa Miller
This $3 million harlequin-inspired brassiere had 2,355 diamonds and a 16-carat heart-shaped diamond pendant at the center.
2010: Adriana Lima
Lima wore the Fantasy Bra for a second time in 2010. This $2 million one had 60 carats of diamonds in addition to blue topaz and sapphires.
2011: Miranda Kerr
The Aussie babe wore a more classic look with yellow and colorless diamonds, citrines, and aquamarines, which was then draped in strands of pearls and finished with a pearl tassel. The value? $2.5 million. Chump change.
2012: Alessandra Ambrosio
Ambrosio’s $2.5 million style was covered with amethysts, sapphires, rubies, and diamonds—not to mention, a removable 20-carat white diamond at the center.
2013: Candice Swanepoel
This baby was nicknamed “the Royal.” It has more than 4,200 stones, including rubies, diamonds, and yellow sapphires. The price tag: $10 million.
2014: Adriana Lima and Alessandra Ambrosio
Diamonds are great and all, but when you and your bud get some? Even better. Lima and Abrasion wore these gem-drenched suits valued at $2 million each.
2015: Lily Aldridge
PHOTO: Michael Stewart
This stunning bra is valued at $2 million.
2016: Jasmine Tookes
PHOTO: Pascal Le Segretain
Tookes became the third model of color to don the Victoria’s Secret Fantasy Bra—and her Bright Night style had a cool $3 million price tag.
2017: Lais Ribeiro
PHOTO: Dimitrios Kambouris
Brazilian Ribeiro modeled the Champagne Nights Fantasy Bra, which is valued at $2 million, at the 2017 show.
2018: Elsa Hosk
Swedish model Elsa Hosk will wear the Fantasy Bra at the 2018 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show—a decadent lingerie creation made with over 2,100 Atelier Swarovski diamonds. “My body was violently shaking,” she told People. “And it wasn’t because I was nervous, I was just excited. It was a cool feeling that I’ve never felt before. And it was definitely a moment that I’ll never forget.”
It seems surprising, but Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, has only worn a tiara seven times. The first was the Cartier halo style she showed off on her wedding day, the second was a diamond-and-pearl creation originally worn frequently in the 1920s, and was loaned to Kate by the queen for the annual state reception in 2013, then she wore the same tiara again in honor of the U.K. visit from China’s president, Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan. She’s borrowed the Cambridge Lover’s Knot tiara, given to Princess Diana as a wedding gift from the Queen, for diplomatic functions—most recently, for a state banquet welcoming ing Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands to the U.K. We were thrilled to see another sparkly princess moment, but it does make you wonder—why doesn’t Kate wear tiaras more often?
First, let’s discuss the tiaras Kate has worn…
Her wedding tiara has nearly 1,000 diamonds in total and was initially purchased from Cartier in 1936 as an anniversary gift from King George VI to his wife. Eight years later it was regifted to the current queen as an 18th-birthday gift (possibly becoming the best regift of all time).
Here’s a fascinating tiaras-worn-down-the-aisle fact for you: While it’s not typically observed anymore, a bride would historically have worn a tiara from her family’s collection on her wedding day before moving on to using her new husband’s family pieces afterward. Kate didn’t observe this, of course, but Princess Diana did, wearing a Spencer tiara when she married Prince Charles. Post-nuptials, it was all royal family jewels for Di.
The second style, which you can see more clearly on the below shot of Princess Margaret, is commonly known as the Lotus Flower or Papyrus tiara. It originally belonged to the Queen Mother and lived life as a necklace before being turned into a tiara.
She then paired the same Lotus Flower Tiara with a red Jenny Packham gown and a stunning updo for for a state banquet at Buckingham Palace.
Middleton repeated the same red gown with the iconic tiara also known as the Cambridge Lover’s Knot, originally worn by Princess Diana.
In July 2017, the Duchess attended a state banquet at Buckingham Palace on day one of the Spanish state visit again wearing Princess Di’s Cambridge Lover’s Knot tiara.
PHOTO: Max Mumby/Indigo
She once again wore the Cambridge Lover’s Knot tiara in December 2017 while attending the annual winter party at Buckingham Palace. This time Middleton paired the piece with matching diamond and pearl drop earrings and a diamond necklace.
PHOTO: Mark Cuthbert
Kate Middleton attending a diplomatic reception at Buckingham Palace.
In October 2018, Middleton donned the Cambridge Lovers Knot tiara once more, for a state banquet at Buckingham Palace in honor of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands’ visit to the U.K. She paired it with an Alexander McQueen gown.
PHOTO: WPA Pool
The Duchess of Cambridge attending a state banquet in honor of the King and Queen of the Netherlands.
So, why doesn’t Kate wear tiaras more often?
There’s no firm answer as to why Kate doesn’t wear the glamorous accessory more often. Official rules about when they’re to be worn don’t exist (though they’re common for white-tie events and state occasions held in the evening). Many have suggested that the duchess’s aversion to the bling might be another facet of her love for high street style and dedication to making the monarchy feel modern and approachable. Others have speculated it’s a thoughtful choice in order to distinguish herself from Princess Diana, who was a controversial royal for the family and loved a tiara moment.
Meghan Markle is expecting a baby, but she’s also celebrating another royal first: She and Prince Harry have embarked on a royal tour of the Commonwealth halfway across the globe. From October 16th through the 31st, the couple will visit Australia, Fiji, the Kingdom of Tonga, and New Zealand, with an education- and serviced-based itinerary centered around environmental conservation, youth leadership, and rehabilitation for servicemen and women. And, as we know from previous royal tours, that means there are a lot of photo opps.
With several days of appearances and events lined up, we’re gearing up for two straight weeks of Duke and Duchess of Sussex moments—from PDA to, yes, fashion. And from the moment she touched down in Sydney, Markle has delivered. (Not that we expected anything less from a woman who can wear tuxedo dresses and fast-fashion blouses with equal finesse.) Early outfits have included looks by Karen Gee and Brandon Maxwell, which has only raised the anticipation for the rest of her travel wardrobe. So we’re gathering them all in one place: Check out every single ensemble Markle has worn on her 2018 royal tour so far, with plenty of updates coming throughout the next two weeks.
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Like many others on the Internet, I can’t stop thinking about Lady Gaga and her new movie, A Star Is Born. When I wake up in the morning, my first thought is to check how it’s doing on Rotten Tomatoes. (It’s at 96 percent, BTW.) My second thought is to see what the last entry is in Gaga’s slay-worthy press tour wardrobe. “Oscar season” hasn’t even officially started. I’m not sure I’ll make it until February.
Mother Monster’s currently on a worldwide tour promoting A Star Is Born,, and her outfits—no surprise—have been stunning. The pale pink Valentino Haute Couture gown she wore in Venice, even as it started to rain on the red carpet; the veiled Armani Privé moment that made for a dramatic reveal in front of photographers in Toronto; the Jonathan Simkhai body-con dress she wore to make an entrance riding on the side of a boat: Gaga is giving us old Hollywood glam with a dash of pop flair in every country. And the result? Hyperventilation. Tears. Spontaneous sweating. Gaga’s red-carpet outfits will end my life, I know it. (Which is a shame, because I really wanted to see A Star Is Born.)
Don’t understand why I’m freaking out? Allow these lewks to do the talking.
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Gemma Chan, who plays Astrid in the hit Crazy Rich Asians movie, is having a red-carpet moment right now. It’s perhaps to be expected—Astrid is, after all, arguably Crazy Rich Asians‘ most stylish, couture-obsessed character—but Chan is using her platform in front of the cameras in a uplifting way. She’s focused many of her red-carpet outfits around creations by Asian designers and those of Asian descent. Like when Emma Watson used her Beauty and the Beast press tour to educate followers on sustainable fashion via Instagram, Chan’s tracking each outfit she wears for her own on her ‘gram, giving fans insight on the designer’s heritage while letting them peep the incredible outfits. Click through some of her best looks of the press tour so far.
