How to do ‘The Meghan’ in seven easy pieces

Meghan Markle put on a typically stylish display this weekend when she joined Prince Harry at the Salute Polo Challenge this weekend with her trademark SoCal chic we have come to expect from the Princess of Montecito.

Donning a £650 dress from Heidi Merrick, she paired the white sundress with her One Stud White Leather Maison Valentino crossbody bag (£2,650), which is a favourite of hers.

While she may have got it wrong when it came to her relationships with the wider royal family, when it comes to her style she is still very much getting it right. It is why when she wore a small cream sweater-blazer to the Invictus Games, it caused the J Crew website crash last year and why her fashion stock is still rising.

When you break down the anatomy of Meghan’s post-royal wardrobe, it’s not so surprising. Released from duchess dress codes, Meghan gets to undo the metaphorical top button and wear what the hell she wants.

Of course, it’s all styled with huge intent. There is, after all, very important messaging to get across – for example, possibly: “We’re actually very successful in our own right, thank you very much.” There is also the imminent arrival of her lifestyle website American Riviera Orchard, so she’ll need to be her own best advert for very good taste. If last year’s J Crew crash is anything to go by, she’s set to make millions.

While the Princess of Wales must still attend to strict dress etiquette, with waist-cinching, crowd-pleasing gowns, and structured and rather formal suiting, The Meghan is a tight signature look that works in the real world.

It’s a quietly luxurious capsule collection of classic staples (the husband shirt, the white tee, the blazer, the cashmere knit, the trench, the tailored trousers, the silk blouse), all in strong yet neutral colours: cream, navy, black, taupe. It’s stealth wealth, but it’s also “power-casual” – ie, that soft power that’s straight out of a female-led SoCal boardroom – monochrome, minimal and modern. Crucially, it’s all eminently copyable (unlike Kate’s wardrobe) and there are just seven things you need to know.

Ballet flats

It’s almost as if Meghan Markle has crafted a moodboard entitled “Expensive, off-duty model looks that won’t seem dated in five years’ time”. Among the slouchy, Goop-vibes cashmere and gold-rimmed Victoria Beckham aviators will be Chanel’s lambskin ballet flats. You see, while Meghan could be having a lot of fun with the It-shoe of the season – something head-turningly fashionable like Bottega’s leg warmer sock-boot, Rick Owens’ cantilevered thigh-highs or Loewe’s house clog – her eyes are on the long game. That might not look particularly directional now, but it won’t look ridiculous either in years to come (or now, come to think of it); it won’t alienate any potential fans or customers. Meghan is not here to win hardcore fashion points, she’s here to be taken seriously, to appeal to the masses. Chanel’s elegant ballet flats will help with that, and what’s more, her fangirls get to choose from plenty of cheaper options, from Mint Velvet’s Gigi pumps to M&S Collection’s bow flats to Asos’s Locket flats.

The JRD* (*Just Roomy Enough Dress)

A key rule of soft-power dressing is that if you’re showing thigh, it wouldn’t do to expose other expanses of flesh as well. Those keen to wield soft power have agendas and causes, and therefore their frocks must not be frivolous or flesh-exposing because that would undermine their very important message. Meghan’s dresses are minimal and demure and, best of all, roomy enough for a proper lunch. It’s masterful solution-dressing, and thus a key staple of The Meghan. The duchess nailed this look with Banana Republic’s shirt dress at the end of last year, and seems to have a particular penchant for Valentino’s cream shift dresses, but should you be lacking the £3,000-plus required, Boden can also help.

The Meghan Palette

Neutrals are core to the power-casual look and the Duchess’s go-to-palette for public dressing. Because of course, there’s a softness to cream and fawn tones that signals its wearer might – just might – be warm and good-natured, yet this palette also hints at high-status and seriously high-maintenance. They’re not grasping, but ensure an understated presence. Meghan has said it herself – it’s a strategy (for, don’t forget, all this is strategic) that she learnt during her time in the royal family.

“Most of the time that I was in the UK, I rarely wore colour. There was thought in that, to my understanding, you could never wear the same colour as Her Majesty if there’s a group event, but then you also shouldn’t be wearing the same colour as one of the other, more senior members of the family. So I was like, ‘Well, what’s a colour that they’ll probably never wear?’” Neutrals, especially cream, are her signature – and critically go with everything – even Harry.

The Burberry Trench

It’s British heritage, it’s classic yet always on the catwalk, it’s incredibly expensive (about £1,800), it’s iconic – the Burberry trench is bang-on brand Meghan, whispering quiet luxury as well as being something that goes with everything. In fact, it’s almost everything she would have us say about her. She knows she’s in excellent company – the Queen would wear one, as has everyone from Audrey Hepburn to Kate Moss to Michelle Obama and the Duchess of Cambridge.

What’s key is how you wear it, though, and while Princess Kate is very much of the buttoned-up camp, post-royal Meghan’s look is altogether more relaxed, more “so living my best life these days”. The Burberry trench also sits perfectly within The Meghan’s neutral palette, so it goes with any colour – so long as it’s cream, black or navy. The good news for the rest of us is that, with trench season incoming, it’s easy enough to find high-street dupes, for example, Jigsaw, River Island and Cos.

The High-low

It’s all very well looking super luxe, but it’s not very relatable, not very People’s Princess. Teaming high-end with high street is a sure-fire way of looking down to earth and endearing yourself to the public. And of course, while we would be wrong to think that Meghan could actually be “one of us”, we can dream that we could be a little more Her (as evidently many are already trying, again judging by J Crew).

At last year’s Invictus Games, the duchess mixed laidback jeans with a navy Celine jacket, a plain white tee, and Chanel ballet flats, which I took to mean: “Even you could (partially) nail this look!” In fact, with this season’s Marks & Spencer’s tweed collarless jacket with brass buttons, you could be a dead ringer. At this year’s Games, she opted for a black, eminently affordable Banana Republic dress, and of course, that J Crew Blazer. It’s just so very thoughtful of her.

The Californian-cool ‘pantsuit’

If you ever wanted to know what executive women wear to their SoCal board meetings, you can imagine it looks a little like this. The laidback iteration of the suit says in no uncertain terms that the wearer means business (as if we didn’t already know in this case), but – and here comes the Cali part – but in an undone, loose-fitting version of more formal tailoring.

For example, the wide-legged Gabriela Hearst trousers as sported by Meghan when she went to meet Nato officials at this year’s Invictus Games, with a tucked-in L’Agence silk shirt – and always, please – a nude Manolo Blahnik heel. The key point about the SoCal pantsuit is soft, feminist power – something that Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton and even Victoria Beckham have been onto for yonks (it’s surely no coincidence that The Meghan hints of first ladies and female politicians at the highest level). Fortunately for us, so now is River Island.

Discreet gold jewellery

How to set yourself apart from a family that has access to some of the biggest, most expensive rocks in the world? Meghan, clearly, has realised that the most classy route out of what could become a pretty crass competition is to sidestep it completely with something totally different. No tiara dramas here – just a steady parade of subtly symbolic gold bracelets, earrings, necklaces, her beloved gold Cartier Tank Française watch, believed to have once belonged to Princess Diana, and, as seen at this year’s Invictus Games, a gold Cartier Love bangle (one presumes as a gift from Harry).

These pieces are a (sorry) golden opportunity for some discreet public relations. For example, in the Netflix series, Harry & Meghan, the duchess is often seen wearing a Sophie Lis “Love Pendant” necklace, inspired by a line from the French poet Rosemonde Gérard: “Every day I love you more, more than yesterday, less than tomorrow.” Just in case the PDAs were not sufficient in communicating just how perfect the couple are together, the jewellery is there to follow up the messaging.