When Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, walked into the U.N. General Assembly in July, something was different. Shoulders back, head up, Meghan looked radiant and ready to do business on the arm of a suited and booted Prince Harry.
Perhaps it was her Givenchy workwear that made her walk a little taller. The duchess’s luxed-up version of a classic tee and pencil skirt, a black take of the forest green set she wore in Ireland in July 2018, was simplicity refined. Accessorized with classic pieces that spoke volumes—Cartier’s Tank Francaise watch and Love bracelet, a Mulberry Bayswater, and Manolo Blahnik BB pumps—the royal looked comfortable in the can-do image she was portraying.
Since stepping down as a senior member of The Firm in January 2020, we’ve seen Meghan in three modes: Santa Barbara mom, Hollywood businesswoman, and exiled royal on a mission to tell her side of the story. Either at home in her trademark skinny jeans and boyfriend shirts, growing the couple’s Archewell empire in slick Armani dresses, or reluctantly digging out her posh dress coats to head back to London, the duchess is always ready to face the watching world.
Her recent trip to New York saw Meghan loosen up a little. She packed a hardworking wardrobe of summer tailoring and minimalist eveningwear, but, most important, she looked like herself. Less trussed up than we have seen her in the past, Meghan, in navy wool Christian Dior Bermuda shorts and heels (another pair of BBs), showed off a more playful side to her slick public-facing wardrobe while lunching with Gloria Steinem.
Her monochrome Gabriela Hearst jumpsuit, which she wore to dinner with friends, meanwhile, came with a pair of bow-flecked Aquazzura stilettos and a wonderfully tactile Bottega intrecciato pouch. The whirlwind trip left the overall impression of a woman who had absolutely nailed it in terms of personal P.R. (See: Amal Clooney, who also toes the line between on-trend and timeless, and knows how to work and play hard.)
Glimpses of this more confident and laid-back duchess have been emerging for a while now. At a Santa Barbara polo match in May, Meghan Markle dabbled in the Bermuda shorts look again, this time by way of Khaite and a courtesy of Celine. Days prior, and again at polo, she wore Frame denim cutoffs—the kind that harked back to the ripped-jeans fan that first caught Harry’s eye back in 2016—and louche Anine Bing shirting.
These are subtle shifts (a whiff of distressed denim here, an artfully crumpled linen button-up there) but enough for eagle-eyed style watchers to pick up on and note that it’s a shift away from the protocol dictated by the royal institution. No amount of boyfriend shirts or Cartier status symbols can buy self-assuredness, but for Meghan Markle, it’s all part of her armor against the world. It will certainly be interesting to see where this calm, cool, and collected fashion phase takes her next.
This post was originally published on Vogue
