For their first meeting yesterday, Kate wore a simple but stylish £175 bandage dress in fashionable ‘nude’ from Reiss, one of the few truly British fashion brands left on the planet.
She looked every inch the modern and fashionable style icon she has become. As soon as Kate’s dress was identified, it promptly sold out, crashing the Reiss website into the bargain, which just shows how powerful she is.
Queen of the High Street: Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, with First Lady Michelle Obama
Second outfit: Mrs Obama’s £815 dress by London designer Roksanda Ilincic, left, was an improvement on her 'too prom and girl' Barbara Tfank creation, right
My only gripe with Kate is her hair, which is now a little too long, and too flicked at the ends.
Michelle Obama, on the other hand, looked like a little girl in a too short pink bolero (I hate boleros – and only six-year-olds should wear pink!) that my fashion spies tell me is not even vintage, it’s just old. Ouch.
The pale blue floral Fifties gown by Barbara Tfank, a Los Angeles-based designer who dresses everyone from singer Adele to Vanessa Redgrave, is just too prom and girly for the wife of the President.
Tfank’s dresses retail at around £1,400 – almost ten times what Kate’s dress cost. But this one is so exclusive that it is not even available online.
Something borrowed: Sam Cameron in the £2,360 dress by Peter Pilotto and she also wore £455 python print Jimmy Choo heels
And as Michelle’s was customised especially for her – a bow was removed from the Resort 2011 collection gown’s waist – it would be worth considerably more.
But does the First Lady not realise that volume (ie, a puffed-out skirt) has become as unfashionable as snow-washed denim, while teaming a print with a bright colour has been a little overdone of late.
On the grooming front, I like Michelle’s sleek new bob, but it is getting a little too helmet like.
In the afternoon, Britain brought out a big gun that has, to be honest, not been firing on all cylinders of late: Samantha Cameron, who looked far too casual at the royal wedding.
But yesterday Sam borrowed a crisp graphic print dress by Peter Pilotto (£2,360), a half-Italian, half-Austrian designer now based in London. Sam gained marks for her groomed hair but lost others for not wearing stockings.
First couples: The Camerons greet the Obamas in Downing Street
Michelle Obama rocketed up the British style stakes by choosing a purple Roksanda Ilincic dress, £815, with its pretty draping, beneath a blue Narciso Rodriguez coat.
Roksanda is a London designer who is so snooty and ‘society’ (for that read Eurotrash), she always bars me from her fashion shows.
She is expensive, but loved by the fashion press, particularly for her use of colour (lots of pink), and her often difficult-to-wear shapes.
Michelle always gets her heel height just right, making Sam Cam’s £455 Jimmy Choo grey python print shoes look a little too gimmicky.
Both women looked smart, but I think Samantha wins by an aristocratic nose, given she looked more summery on such a lovely spring day.
So far, Britain: 2. The United States: nil. Special Relationship be damned. It’s fashion war!
Prudent princess in £175 dress shows wife of President and PM that style doesn't need to cost a lot
BY LAUREN PAXMAN
British High Street chain bosses must be ecstatic that the Duchess of Cambridge is back from her honeymoon.
For 10 long days there were no new pictures of Catherine in Zara, LK Bennett, Whistles or Warehouse items that caused the chain's websites to crash within hours.
But, while the Duchess did not disappoint - stepping out in a £175 Reiss dress for her first post-wedding engagement - both Michelle Obama and Samantha Cameron decided to show off their style credentials in designer items that cost more than six times that amount.
High Street vs designer: The Duchess of Cambridge in Reiss and Michelle Obama in Barbara Tfank (left). The U.S. First Lady then changed into Roksanda Ilincic to meet Samantha Cameron who was wearing Peter Pilotto
On sale, but not for long: The £175 Reiss dress Catherine was wearing is bound to sell out soon, so many people tried to buy it this afternoon the website crashed
Catherine's beige Shola dress from Reiss proved so popular, the High Street chain's website crashed this afternoon as so many people were trying to buy it.
By contrast, Michelle Obama's Barbara Tfank dress is so exclusive, it is not even available online.
Los Angeles-based designer Tfank's dresses retail at around £1,400 - almost 10 times what Catherine's dress cost. And as Michelle's pale blue floral Fifties gown was customised especially for her - a bow was removed from the Resort 2011 collection gown's waist - it would be worth considerably more.
But, despite the extra expense, Mrs O. was still, perhaps unsurprisingly, upstaged by the svelte young royal - showing that even money cannot compete with youth.
Sartorially similar: It's never a good idea to dress like an 85-year-old but Michelle Obama and the Queen both wore pale blue floral print dresses
Another windy moment: Michelle Obama must have been remembering her Jedward moment yesterday as the Queen's outfit fares better in a gale
It certainly didn't help Mrs O.'s style credentials that the Queen had also opted for a blue floral motif. It's never a good idea to dress like an 85-year-old - even one who holds her own in the style stakes.
Nevertheless, Michelle clearly learnt from her mistakes over lunch
She changed into a smart but simple £800 plum shift dress and long blue jacket by London-based designer Roksanda Ilincic before going to Downing Street to meet David and Samantha Cameron.
First couples: Michelle changed into Roksanda Ilincic dress, while Samantha Cameron wore Peter Pilotto
Close friends: Michelle Obama's dress had a beautiful neckline and Samantha Cameron's had unusual white panelling
The First Ladies clearly think very highly of each other, both beaming as the met on the steps of 10 Downing Street.
The Prime Minister's wife looked more summery, as she stood in the sunshine, than her American counterpart.
Samantha Cameron was very on trend, wearing a blue dress by Peter Pilotto with white panelling over the bust.
The dress which was loaned to her will have set the owner back about £1,000 and is the perfect inspiration for Catherine should she ever choose to abandon the High Street and opt for a designer dress.
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