For those who don't know, Meghan Markle is known for being outspoken and having strong opinions about everything from gender roles to climate change. But whether as a senior royal — or now as a former working royal — she hasn't always vocalized her thoughts, but simply let her clothes speak for her.
Oh, yes. Meghan has always dressed with intent.
Whether she wears a label with a strong mission to empower women or a color that's associated with royalty or value, a pattern with an important history or a style that breaks with tradition, she has often made her purpose clear. To decipher the meaning behind her clothes, we only need to look a bit closely. Thankfully, there is no lack of pictures of Meghan's comings and goings to help out.
We all make statements with our clothes, whether we choose to rock sweats at home or dress to impress at a wedding. Fashion, is after all, one of the easiest ways to communicate who we are and what we think is important.
So what has Meghan communicated through her clothes? Well, it depends on the setting and the occasion. She's made social statements, she's made personal statements, she's paid tribute to important people in her life, and time and again, she's underscored her very modern and very strong values — and even a cheeky hint or two.
So it turns out that Meghan's minimalist, elegant, and unfussy style is not only iconic, but it's also meaningful. Through her newest, post-royal videos and pictures, it's thanks in large part to her style that we're starting to get an idea of what her new life and priorities look like, and through the many pictures of her past appearances, we can deduce what her intentions and messaging was.
Here are 20 times that Meghan sent a message through her outfit choices. We think y'all will agree that Meghan does nothing by accident.
Check out our Meghan Markle page for all the latest news about Meghan, Prince Harry, and their growing family.
Husband Shirt & Ripped Jeans
September 25, 2017, marked the first time that Meghan and Harry went out in public together as a couple after dating in incognito for several months, and her style was on full display. The shirt Meghan chose for the occasion (the Invictus Games)? The Husband shirt by her designer friend, Misha Nonoo. (Coincidence? We think not!)
Two months later the couple announced their engagement, so what if Meghan wore it as a subtle way of saying they were already engaged? But the shirt was only part of the story. She also wore ripped jeans, which, knowing that cameras would be on her as the possible future wife of Prince Harry, was clearly a conscious way to communicating that she meant to be herself, no matter what her future held.
Tribute to Scotland
On Meghan's first trip to Scotland, she showed that she had nailed the art of fashion diplomacy by wearing a coat with a blue and green tartan pattern that has special meaning there — the Black Watch pattern, named after an infantry battalion in the Royal Regiment of Scotland. She also chose a distinctive handbag by Scottish brand Strathberry, one of the many times she'd highlight local designers while on duty.
Veil That Honored The Commonwealth & California
For one of the biggest moments of her and Harry's lives, Meghan chose a wedding dress that was extremely simple and elegant, and at first glance, her dramatic 16-foot cathedral-length veil seemed to follow suit. But the silk tulle piece was actually incredibly intricate, bordered with hand-embroidered flowers that represented 53 Commonwealth countries. It also also featured an English rose, Scottish thistle, Welsh daffodil, and flax flower from Northern Ireland. But perhaps the most intimate of details was a poppy, the flower of Meghan's native California.
That Green Cape Dress
Meghan wore a green dress when she and Harry stepped out to announce their engagement in a photo call and video interview, and she wore a green dress again to her last official engagement as a working royal at Westminster Abbey. But it wasn't just any dress. It was a bright emerald green one by a British designer (Emilia Wickstead) with a dramatic side-swept cape that caught the wind and made Meghan look almost like a superhero. The wind also caught Harry's suit jacket and revealed that its lining was the same shade as Meghan's dress.
It was a subtle show of unity and hope.
Red Cape Dress
When it came to attending her last handful of royal engagements, Meghan Markle made a big impact through fashion. One spectacular example was the red cape Safiyaa dress that she wore to the Mountbatten Music Festival. It was nothing short of magnificent — from its color to its sleek train — and it seemed to proclaim that Meghan was regal even without the life and the HRH title.
Pants!
Meghan wore pants throughout her entire run as a senior working royal: wide leg, cropped, floor-sweeping, tight, loose. All kinds. That wasn't exactly against the Queen's rules — which merely require that the person dress appropriately — but it was a huge departure from what every royal woman had done before. Here, she wore them to her first overseas official trip, to Ireland, and she looked chick and normal and very much like a grown woman who wants to make it clear that she doesn't mind pushing the envelope a little.
Her Entire Wardrobe for Her Southern Africa Tour
Eagle-eyed Meghan watchers noticed that the duchess's clothes for the trip sent a series of subtle messages. One of the most noticeable was that about half of her outfits were clothes she'd worn before, like this striped maxi dress by Martin Grant, which she wore on her Australian tour in 2018. She also wore local designers, sustainable, and ethically sourced fashion — as well as affordable looks. Meghan's spent just under $5,000 on clothes for the trip, disproving critics who have said she is an extravagant spender — as if becoming a working royal basically overnight didn't require new clothes.
'Fourth Trimester' Dress
When was the last time one of us saw a Hollywood celebrity show off a post-baby body that wasn't miraculously back to normal? Not never, that's when. But like Kate Middleton before her, Meghan chose to not hide her postpartum belly, which was still stretched out and bulging from months of extreme use. Meghan, wearing a custom trench dress, even tied a belt up over her belly to accentuate the shape. It's as if she were saying, I fully accept myself as I am.
A Second, More Powerful Meaning
There was a deeper, even more subtle meaning behind Meghan's Wales Bonner trench dress. Like Meghan, Bonner, an award-winning young British designer, is biracial — born to a Jamaican father and a white British mother — and Bonner has used her designs as a way to comment on black representation and gender roles. Meghan's choice to wear Bonner's dress seemed like a powerful underlining of her own identity (and Archie's) and their place within an ancient family and institution.
Positive Vibes Necklace
Meghan is a big believer in #positivevibesonly. She's worn several types of talismans but none as big and obvious as the one she wore on a Zoom call with a client of Smart Works, a nonprofit that prepares and outfits women who are going for job interviews. The $170 piece, which Meghan wore over a wine colored sweater but which was really her default outfit, featured an evil eye in topaz, set in a gold disk.
"The Visionary Necklace bears a blue topaz evil eye to protects its wearer from negative vibes. It's got your back," the Edge of Ember brand website says. After leaving royal life and getting flak for it, we're sure Meghan needs it more than ever.
Jeans With Impact
It was a subtle message with big impact. When Meghan stepped off a plane in Dubbo, Australia, wearing a pair of simple black jeans, she was also making an unspoken statement about the female empowerment. The jeans were by Outland, an Aussie company that offers sustainable employment for women who have been exploited. Outland dedicated an entire page on its website to the impact that Meghan's simple choice had: The jean sold out in less than a week, and they were able to hire 46 more seamstresses and promote existing employees.
White Wedding Dress
There were people who thought that Meghan should not wear white to her wedding, since she had been married before — including, reportedly, Queen Elizabeth. So, in true Meghan style, she wore a dress made of blindingly white silk that gleamed whether she was inside St. George's Chapel or outside in the sun. The idea that only virgin brides should wear white is hopelessly outdated, and clearly, the feminist Meghan couldn't agree more. Her dress sent the message that she was modern and knew herself to be as worthy as any bride.
Post-Royal Simplicity
In her first interview after exiting royal life — about her narration of the Disney Plus documentary, Elephant — Meghan wore a relaxed-fit white button-front shirt, a couple of dainty necklaces, and loose, long hair. It felt like a return to her laid-back California roots after a couple of years of continual dressing up. This is probably how Meghan dressed while hanging out at home in Frogmore Cottage between events, but now, she's doing it in public, and it feels like she's letting everyone know that she's gonna be Meghan 100% of the time.
Wearing Short Shorts
Meghan doubled down on California casual style — underlining once again that she's done with royal style rules — in the Save the Children video in which Meghan Markle and Archie are reading a book. Oversized chambray shirt and white shorts that showed featured most of her leg are a far cry from the full-on sweaters and dresses that Kate Middleton and other royal ladies have worn in their own quarantine Zoom videos. Archie's plain white onesie was also a different look from the traditional doll-clothes vibe of royal children's clothes.
Two Powerful Colors
When fashion watchers breathlessly report that Meghan or Kate are channeling Princess Diana with a particular outfit, it's usually a stretch, and we're sure both the duchesses roll their eyes internally. But there have been times when the connection is pretty clear, and Meghan's purple and red outfit, which she wore on a visit to Birkenhead in the north of England.
Diana wore a couple of very memorable, very regal purple and red outfits, including one she's wearing in the iconic Taj Mahal picture. A pregnant Meghan followed suit, creating a connection to famous mother-in-law she admires but never met, and whose grandson she was carrying.
Working Woman Outfit
Meghan made the simple choice to wear separates on official outings, and created a whole new meaning to the phrase working royal. Royal women have typically worn dresses on official visits, but Meghan's effortlessly elegant pairing of a fluted green skirt, Victoria Beckham cashmere sweater, and Mackage coat on a surprise visit to Northern Ireland in March 2018 marked a new approach. Carrying a Charlotte Elizabeth handbag with top handle and turn-lock, she seemed to say that she was ready to work, not just wave and look pretty.
A New Idea of Royal Elegance
When Meghan and Queen Elizabeth went on their lone official trip together, Meghan chose a custom nude Givenchy dress with caped shoulders that was at once thoroughly elegant and modern and so different from the Queen's own traditional coatdress and flowered hat. The messaging here is pretty clear: Meghan, who wore neither hat nor fascinator nor a chignon bun, clearly felt that that there was room in the royal family for variety.
That Pricey, Totally Not Sheer Engagement Dress
For her and Harry's official engagement portrait, Meghan wore this gorgeous Ralph & Russo gown featuring a ruffly skirt and faux sheer top part that was clearly lined with a nude fabric — just look at the sleeve hem, people. Though critics were scandalized at the nude look of the top as well as the price tag ($75,000), Meghan had once again made a statement about how she would carry on, fashionwise, as a royal: with an unapologetic, modern sensibility.
Blue for Baby Boy?
When Meghan and Harry went on their tour of the South Pacific in the fall 2018, she was a bit more than three months pregnant. She wore this blue Safiyaa cape dress to a dinner in Fiji, and we can't help but wonder if she did so on purpose. Had she already had a test to determine the baby's sex — or were she and Harry just hoping for a boy? We'll probably never know, but it's an intriguing prospect.
An Earthy, Muted Look
Meghan's go-to neutral colors are navy blue and nude, but we've rarely seen her in another: brown. The only two occasions that come to mind are the Christmas Day walk to church in Sandringham — the first public family event for the then-engaged Meghan — and the day she and Harry announced that they were stepping down as working royals. (Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not.) While the Sandringham outfit marked her entrance into royal life, her brown satin skirt and turtleneck sweater she wore to the Canada House in London in January marked her exit. Wonder if that was on her mind when she chose the look.
