Princess Kate’s best vintage fashion moments, according to a royal style writer

The Princess of Wales finally made an appearance on day four of Royal Ascot in 2023, dazzling onlookers in a ruby-hued dress by Alexander McQueen and a wide-brimmed hat designed by royal-favourite milliner Phillip Treacy. 

The royal was also armed with a rare vintage handbag; the ‘Rio’ clutch from Hermes which was most popular between the 1980s and 1990s but has been discontinued for decades. 

When Prince William and Princess Kate touched down in Jamaica as part of their Caribbean to honour Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022, the royal made sure she wasn’t missed with her vibrant rainbow-hued wardrobe. 

The Princess of Wales chose to wear a pre-loved dress hailing from the 1950s. Featuring a wonderful striped palette of turquoise blue, coral, and yellow with a black filigree pattern, the striking dress was purchased for £369 at William Hilson Vintage.

Princess Kate favoured vintage dressing during her Jamaica trip, of which her colourful tour wardrobe included a tangerine-hued woven raffia bag from the 1960s. 

The bag was originally designed by the now-defunct label Wayne Taylor and manufactured in Japan.

For her departure from Belize to Jamaica, the Princess of Wales sported a chic vintage Yves Saint Laurent jacket in a radiant strawberry red hue, white palazzo trousers, a white Mulberry handbag, white pumps and accessorised with some earrings from Anthropologie. 

At the time, it was reported that Kate’s ravishing ruby-hued jacket was a vintage purchase she made during her university years at St Andrews. 

Prince William’s wife cut a seriously elegant silhouette at a Buckingham Palace garden party in 2022. 

The mother-of-three wore a coral coat dress, a striking headpiece from Jane Taylor with salmon pink shoes from Emmy London. She paired her look with a striking vintage accessory – a beautiful beaded clutch bag believed to be from Bags by Josef, an iconic designer most popular in the 1930s to 1950s.

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Instantly recognisable as a Josef handbag, Kate’s hand-beaded clutch features a French embroidery known as a ‘Point de Beauvais’ achieved using a Tambour hook. The delicate beading is a signature embellishment on many of the Josef bags from the 1930s.

In one of her most talked about vintage fashion moments to date, Princess Kate stepped out in a double-breasted Chanel tweed blazer, dating back to the luxury French label’s 1995 collection.

In 2020, during a three-day tour in Ireland with Prince William, the Princess of Wales wore one of her most fashion-forward vintage pieces to date – a striking polka-dot Oscar de la Renta dress from the luxury label’s autumn/winter 1979 collection.