Kate Middleton's Edgy Dress Has an Amazing Connection to the Queen — and the Harlem Jazz Scene!
Kate Middleton‘s latest ensemble comes with plenty of royal ties — and it happens to have been inspired by Queen Elizabeth herself!
For Wednesday’s solo visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum to tour its new Photography Centre, the royal mom of three sported a new off-the-shoulder fitted tweed dress by Erdem from their Spring 2018 collection that featured a burgundy belt, button detailing and a flared skirt.
In addition to being a favorite brand of Princess Eugenie — the bride-to-be even chose a floral dress with a pleated skirt by the British deigner for her engagement photos, and Erdem has been tossed around as potentially being behind her wedding gown — Erdem looked to the monarch for creative influence. Specifically, the Spring 2018 collection that Kate’s dress came from was inspired by the Queen’s 1958 meeting with American jazz pianist Duke Ellington.
“Her father [King George VI] had been a huge fan of his music, and when they met, he was so enamored with her that he wrote a piece of music called ‘The Queen’s Suite,’ ” Erdem Moralioglu said following a London fashion week show last year, according to The Telegraph.
“Thinking about The Cotton Club, and Harlem, and Dorothy Dandridge, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday,” he added. “What if she went to New York, and what if Dorothy Dandridge ended up in Buckingham Palace?”
As a result, the Erdem collection included reimagined floral dresses, gloves and ruffles.
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Of course, Princess Kate added her own touches to make the outfit her own, including matching Jimmy Choo velvet heels and a clutch. She styled her hair in her signature blowout and wore $1,220 crystal and pearl embellished hoop earrings from Erdem.
Kate returned to royal duty last week after being on maternity leave since the birth of Prince Louis in April.
