Kate Middleton's wardrobe is in an international mess: she won't be able to stop saying which brands she wears

BarcelonaKate Middleton wanted to practice feminism and we have not let her. Together we have managed to ensure that the Princess of Wales has not been able to get rid of the aesthetic pressure to which she is subjected every time she appears in public, a pressure that, after it was revealed that she had suffered from cancer, has been corrected and increased, since apart from her clothes, people now also pay attention to more. She has tried but she had the whole world against her and she has lost. It was an impossible battle. But it says a lot about her that she wanted to face it.

The chronology of the events of this controversy begins on February 1, when the Sunday Times Kensington Palace said it would no longer report on what Middleton wears. Citing an anonymous source from Palau, the London Sunday paper said: "Kensington Palace will no longer give details about Kate's clothes because it wants to concentrate on substance rather than style." The article, headlined Princess of Wales: Focus on my work, not my wardrobe, also explained that from now on information about the clothing of Prince William's consort would only be released "on rare occasions." It added that this was already being done even though it had not been announced because, since the aristocrat returned to work after cancer, Palau had not reported more on the matter. Obviously, after the publication of this article, the bomb exploded...

This information, as expected, was automatically transferred to the rest of the media in the United Kingdom and, by contagion, to many others outside the country. Nobody could believe that theKate effect had just died without warning. No one who follows the steps of the future British queen could imagine that information would be left unreported about those responsible for her outfits When she appeared at some public event with a look absolutely premeditated, beautiful, careful, timely and magnificently executed. It seemed incredible that a person who makes everything she wears sell out in stores – not just once but every time she wears it – could cause a news blackout like this. It didn't seem possible that someone who multiplies the sales of the clothes she wears by five – which is, strictly speaking, heKate effect– could say that enough was enough. But, contrary to what I might have imagined, it seemed that Middleton had decided to run the double risk of suffering a significant loss of media share and of creating a controversy over the decision.

Adverse effects

After a long week of opinion columns and digital news speculating on the matter, it had become clear that Palau's decision had been counterproductive and that Middleton's public events were being buried by this controversy. fashion. Not only was her work no longer being discussed, but her clothes were still being discussed but now in a critical and negative tone due to the lack of transparency to which everyone had become accustomed. That is why, finally this week, Kensington has decided to react to cut short this information crisis that they alone had created.

They have issued an unofficial statement in which they acknowledged that this information had come from Palau but not from the mouth of the princess, who they assure would have nothing to do with this show. "During the last week, we have received several questions following an article about the wardrobe of the Princess of Wales and about how Kensington Palace shares information about the clothes she wears," began the text, picked up by media such as People. "To clarify the situation: the comments that appear in this article – adds the Kensington worker in statements to People– "These comments are mine and not the Princess's." "The comments cannot be attributed directly to The Princess of Wales. To be fair, there has been no change in the way we share information about The Royal Highness's fashion," the statement concludes.

Punctured balloon probe

It is obvious to everyone that there was a desire to change direction in that typical and old consort presence that has accompanied Kate Middleton until now, an image from another era in which the appearance of a future queen is more important than the causes in which she is involved. But it did not go well. It was a trial balloon and it has burst. After her illness, an opportunity opened up to make that change, which Palau has wanted to take advantage of, but which has not been successful. It could be expected that people would be more understanding with a change of media direction for the princess after the disaster that such a serious experience as the one she has gone through represents... but not even then! They have had to deceive the spokesperson's guilt and make it seem that nothing has happened here while they have to reluctantly maintain the same information policy as until now.

It is really difficult to assess to what extent they have learned from the lessons of the past. When Kate Middleton was missing and Palau spent three months without reporting what was happening to her, they could have learned a basic rule: "silence is filled." If there is a gap in official information, it is filled with unofficial information. As long as people want to know more about an issue, there will always be some media or social media personality willing to talk about it. And this is worth noting that they have not responded to the Sunday Times immediately and let the ball get too big and also to believe that if people want information about the looks Middleton, no matter how much you don't give it, the subject will not stop being talked about. They should be smart enough to understand that if they don't give information about the princess's clothes, someone else will. There are plenty of people eager to collect clicks who will do everything in their power to find out where each thing Middleton wears came from. The possibility of stopping this does not exist. I would say that not even reducing it...

Making politics through fashion

Unfortunately, the only way for Middleton to stop being in the news for this issue is to choose a uniform and wear it everywhere. As her husband and father-in-law do, in practice, who never make the news for their clothes. As long as she uses fashion to offer the best version of herself, there will be an issue. Therefore, the smartest option is not to declare war on fashion. It is to use it to her advantage. Because fashion is political, like almost everything in life. I wish we were such an absolutely rational and mature society in which aesthetic issues had no relevance, but that is not the case. And it will be even less so, since the new generations are even more visual than the previous ones.

Kate Middleton can use her relevance in the fashion world to promote British firms abroad, since she is the Windsor with the greatest international projection. She can practice feminism, being sand with designers who are just starting out. She can wear clothes sewn by women who have decent working conditions. She can be an unofficial champion of environmentalism by wearing clothes that have not been made on the other side of the world. She can dress in contravention of certain established and sad rules of etiquette such as wearing heels... The possibilities of using the tandem created by fashion and her to improve her environment and position herself as something more than just a pretty figure are endless! To some it may sound conformist, to others a very intelligent option, but as they say in her language: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.