4 things the Vogue shoot taught us about the Duchess of Cambridge

Vogue magazine served up a visual feast for their centenary issue recently, combining two of our favourite things: Britishness and style.

Because in collaboration with the National Portrait gallery, Vogue secured a photo shoot with the Duchess of Cambridge, who also happens to be a patron of the National Portrait Gallery. It doesn’t get more British than that.

So we whizzed out to get our hands on a copy. What vibe would Kate, sorry Katherine, be rocking? What brands would she be wearing?

Here’s what we learnt.

Kate is a fan of casual

Not only did Kate turn up with her hair in rollers, the shoot took place in a field in Norwich. Brilliant, no standing on ceremony required.

“She didn’t want to be dressed as a fashion plate and was not keen to be shot in gala gowns and tiaras,” the accompanying article told us.

The Duchess backs Britain

Kate was keen to choose a British photographer for the shoot, and settled on Josh Olins who took an Art Foundation course at Middlesex University. Olins’ Business of Fashion biography describes his images as:

“…possessed of a naturalness that transcends setting and props, and consistently imbues his work with unaffected elegance.”

To you and me, that means he takes natural, elegant pics. And he certainly did a cracking job with the Duchess of Cambridge.

She likes a mix of brands

Of course we were hoping the Duchess might wear one of our duffle coats (well, if it’s good enough for Doctor Who…), but sadly it was not to be.

So we looked closely at what she was wearing. Would all the brands be British?

Her checked shirt was courtesy of Burberry, one of the skirt’s was Le Kilt and another shirt was by Cabbages and Roses. So far so British.

But what’s this? Jeans by 7 for all Mankind? Dungarees by AG jeans? Clearly the Duchess is happy to cross the pond when it comes to finding a signature style.

And do the dungarees mean that it’s ok to wear dungarees again? We may have more on that soon.

Only one set of wheels will do for Norfolk

The Vogue article describes a relaxed day with the Duchess who was welcoming, accommodating and generally lovely to be around.

She played with the family dog (Lupo) gave a quick natural history lesson on the feeding habits of local seagulls and when the day was done, headed off in her car.

Well, we say ‘car’. More of an iconic, British 4×4 beast really.

Yep. The Duchess drives a Land Rover.

Respect.

If you’d like to see the centenary issue of Vogue, here’s how you can get hold of it.