Kate Middleton Just Wore This Season’s Most Controversial Trend

If you watched the recent runway show through your fingers, cringing as the return of peplum tops — of all things!— occurred right before your very eyes with the help of brands like Brandon Maxwell, Tory Burch, and Christopher Kane, you aren’t going to be too happy with Kate Middleton’s latest look. The Princess of Wales is like the British royal version of Bella Hadid, with the power to influence fashion trends with just one look, and recently, she has been throwing her weight behind the peplum.

On Monday, Kate and Prince William attended the annual Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey, an event held to celebrate the 56 countries and nations which make up the Commonwealth. For the occasion, Middleton once again embraced monochrome dressing, wearing a navy jacket and skirt set from Erdem. Covered in white flowers, the suit featured a fluted mini skirt and a structured jacket, which mimicked the silhouette of the skirt with a pleated peplum. A blue, wide-brimmed fascinator, Emmy London clutch, and suede Gianvito Rossi completed the ensemble.

Middleton added sparkle to the look in the form of diamond and sapphire double drop earrings. The pair previously belonged to Princess Diana, but they’ve become a favorite of Kate’s lately. On her jacket, the Princess also pinned the Prince of Wales feathers brooch, another piece that once belonged to Diana, though the late-Princess used to wear it as a necklace.

Peplums have been slowly creeping back into fashion, though often they’re showed with a bit more finesse than their 2010s counterparts. Florence Pugh embraced the peplum in a Robert Wun spring/summer 2023 dress at the London Critics' Circle Film Awards in February and Deepika Padukone brought it to Cannes with the help of Louis Vuitton last May. Even Middleton has prior peplum history, as the princess wore a blue, polka dot Alessandra Rich gown with the added waist detail to the Wimbledon men’s finals in August. These days, hardly a red carpet can occur without the trend being represented on at least one celebrity, with Mindy Kaling championing a more subtle peplum at the Oscars over the weekend.

That doesn’t mean you have to embrace the trend yourself, this is just a warning to prepare yourself for the onslaught of added waist fabric.