Being a a senior royal woman means more than looking pretty in a ballgown and jewels and bearing children to secure the future of the monarchy. (Much more.) Kate Middleton is out and about several hundred times a year, visiting community centers, launching initiatives, cutting ribbons, crawling around with scouts in forests, and pressing the flesh — whether working solo or with her husband, Prince William.
Naturally, that means she needs some fabulous work clothes to round out her wardrobe and make sure that she is both comfortable and looks polished when meeting a wide array of professionals. Unsurprisingly, the Duchess of Cambridge's business casual clothes are just as amazing as her glittery dresses, only these clothes are versatile and interchangeable, in a way that a satin cape dress just cannot be.
Ooh, there's a lot to love about Kate's business casual style, because here's the thing: The settings in which she does her work are so varied that virtually any woman can look through the boatloads of pictures of Kate and see something they can emulate, whether they work at home or in an outdoors setting, in a school or in an office.
When it comes to work, Kate Middleton has it all and worn it all. Blazers in solid colors, plaid, short, long, with buttons and without? Check. Pants in both long and cropped lengths, wide or tight? Check. Dresses to pull on and go? She's got'em. An array of blouses that go with everything? Yup. Sensible but cute shoes? Ya betcha. Mini-skirts that are somehow appropriate for an office? Uh-huh.
Kate is not just good at picking good pieces, she's great at putting them together to make a whole cohesive outfit that comes across as professional. She (and her stylist, no doubt) know the trick to upgrade a pair of leggings into work pants, the best way to dress for waist-up video meetings, the surefire thing we can do when all we have energy for while working pregnant is a plain shirt and pants, the tried-and-true timeless French look that works every time. And or course, the best shoes to wear with everything.
So without further ado, here are Kate's 20 best business casual looks. Each is a treat worthy of emulating.
Zoom-Ready Sweater
Who isn't Zoom-ing these days for work meetings? Kate definitely is, but unlike us, she's not showing up in a bathrobe and mom bun. She chose a Zara sweater in a bright color (it helps one stand out in a Zoom gallery view crowd!) and further kept her look professional and simple with a half-up, half-down hairstyle and pretty earrings. Work rules are different nowadays, and we love how Kate adapted.
Blouse & Wide Leg Trousers
When Kate wore this gorgeous purple blouse and trousers, she made headlines. Not only was she wearing pants, which she never used to do, but she was wearing her Gucci blouse backward. Meanwhile, we were more interested in how effortless and professional the outfit was, worthy of emulating in for our own real work lives. At the end of the day, it's as easy as picking pretty blouse (at T.J. Maxx or the like), and our workhorse basic black pants or jeans. Kate's tiny briefcase-like handbag also helps set the tone.
Plaid Blazer & Colored Pants
If this doesn't scream business casual to y'all, we must be looking at different dictionaries. Kate looks like she's ready for business with a slim-fit jacket that pulls together two pieces that are perennial work basics: a white shirt and straight-leg pants. (She smartly chose wine-hued ones to give the look an unexpected pop of color.) Sensible-but-still-cute thick heel pumps complete the look.
Short Jacket & Nautical Pants
Here's Kate Middleton looking like a casual Friday boss, doing a walk-and-talk while on an official outing to a marina. The outfit is perfect for it, of course. The shiny gold buttons, and perfect tailoring on the cropped pants give it a dressed-up look, and she wisely kept things simple with a trim white jacket and shirt. And those serious tweed kitten block heels — yup, they're very boss-like, though surely comfy.
Dress With a Pop of Color
Kate loves kids and in this picture from her trip to the Solomon Islands, she's giving off some serious elementary school teacher vibes with a pretty yellow eyelet dress that would be the envy of any teachers' lounge. It's cool and yet designed and cut so well that it doesn't look like just another summer brunch dress.
Paired with comfy wedges, it gets an A+ from us.
All Black With a Touch of Gray
Here's a way to dress up basic black skinny jeans, and make them work-worthy. On an outing to a sports center where Kate and Will's Royal Foundation trains kids to become sports coaches, she kept the overall look black — a quick trick that instantly makes any outfit more formal — and threw on a shapely gray and black plaid jacket with a black collar and short boots. It's a go-to autumn look that works for both a business lunch or after-work drinks.
Tweed Mini
Who needs a power suit? Kate commands attention from editors at HuffPost, where she was guest editor for a day, with a great combo of pretty blouse and A-line mini-skirt. Yes, mini-skirt. What makes it work appropriate? Well, the fact that it's made out of tweed doesn't hurt, and neither does wearing dark tights.
All in all, a great everyday work look.
Work Culottes -- Yes, We're Calling Them That
Somebody please tell this dude to stop mansplaining to Kate! She's got a lot to say. In terms of her work style, her outfit here is doing all of the talking, and it says, "Wear me for informal business meetings." This sweater is so pretty with the knit details on top, but it's still pared down enough for business, as are Kate's wide leg trousers — or culottes, a word we never thought we'd say willingly! — with a thick front seam. Seriously, can anyone think of anything easier to throw on during a work week?
Double-Breasted Jacket
Wearing a double-breasted jacket to work — or anywhere, really — seems like the most formal style move one could possibly make. (Not necessarily so!) It all depends on the fabric and cut, of course. Kate wore hers, a nautical version in navy with gold buttons to a field hockey game in Scotland. Paired with her famous but now-retired wedges, and some dark skinny jeans, it looks like it would be at home at a job fair or work seminar.
Eyelet Dress
Hey, life could be much worse than having a work event on a beach surrounded by Speedo-ed dudes, amiright? And no one is doing that in a business suit and heels. Nope. Eyelet dresses in purest cotton were made for those times. Kate Middleton knows this, and expertly chose white version to keep cool and presentable in the Australian summer sun while on tour Down Under in 2014.
Dress to the Rescue
Kate has worn this dress twice in public, in London and the Australian outback — two wildly different work settings for her. It's easy to see why it's a go-to choice. With a built-in belt, it's a great pick for looking dressed enough for work, instantly. The light gray check pattern is business-y yet not too serious, as are the cap sleeves and boat neck.
Polka Dot Wrap Dress
Is there a piece of clothing more versatile than a wrap dress? We think not. They're especially great for work. We can wear as is with flats and boom! business casual, or dress them up with work jewels and a blazer for a more dressed up look. Kate wore this playful one while pregnant with Charlotte. She knows as well as anyone how stretchy wrap dresses usually are, for maximum comfort and professionalism for working moms-to-be.
Patterned Pants
Casual Friday, here she comes! Kate toured the Isles of Scilly, in Cornwall, in these cute pants which are a great work option because the pretty ikat pattern doesn't bring focus to how tight the pants are. Paired with one of her many work casual short jackets, it's the kind of outfit that would work if one's meeting clients on their boat. Ya know, if we had that type of cool job.
Jumpsuit-ish
Ya know what we've never seen Kate Middleton wearing, and we probably never will? Like EVER? A jumpsuit — although that would be so cool. This outfit is the closest she's ever come, and that's honestly probably because her hand is hiding the waistband of her cropped palazzo pants, which separates them from a similarly forest green-hued shirt. She wore this to an indoor sports event, with perfectly white sneakers.
Just a casual day at the office.
Blouse & Jeans
We wish we had a job that involved playing pingpong from time to time. But alas, we're not employed by Google, so a lunchtime pingpong session on an app will have to do. Kate, on the other hand, gets busy physically on many of her official outings, and this outfit featuring stretchy black skinny jeans and a black and white polka dot button-up blouse is perfect for the day.
Animal-Print Skirt
Now this is how ya work from home, looking fab coming out of a "she shed." (Just kidding.) This is a picture of Kate at a children's community center, and it showcases yet another one of her great business casual outfits. She rarely wears animal print — at least in public, 'cause for all we know she's got a whole sartorial menagerie in her me-time closet — but this cheetah-print skirt is classy because of its bronze tone. All that is needed for a great outfit is a black turtleneck and heeled boots.
Just a Shirt & Some Pants, Please
Proof that even Kate Middleton has days when she just can't be bothered to think long and hard about which outfit to wear to work. She wore a print shirt hanging over some black leggings and threw on a cute jacket over the whole thing. Kate was pretty pregnant in this picture, and her feet look swollen — so we don't blame her one bit.
Do what makes ya comfy, working-while-pregnant, boo!
Comfy Jacket & Leggings
That's a really nice military-style jacket that Kate is wearing (and expensive!) but it's also super stretchy — like the black leggings she's rocking — making it a great choice for a casual day at work. We have to wonder just how many jackets and blazers the woman owns. The answer is probably as many as evening gowns.
What can we say? She works hard and plays hard.
Waist-Up Work Sweater
Before video calls became the norm for her and William, Kate was already showing us how to dress for work even when all that's visible is the top we're wearing. When she did a rare interview for a podcast, she wore a cream-colored thin knit sweater with minimal adornments. It lit up her face but didn't distract from what she was there to do: Talk about her work on the well-being of children.
Seaside Outing
Kate almost always matches her outfit to the surroundings when on a seaside outing. Time and again, she chooses a French nautical theme, as in this picture, in which she went for a sharp Breton striped sweater and wide-leg sailor pants with ivory buttons. The great thing about a nautically inspired outfit is that it can be as casual as this, but still look polished, in any setting.
