11 Times Kate Middleton Altered a Runway Outfit

This 2006 gown hit the runway in cream with black beaded straps and a beaded belt. It's designed by British fashion designer Amanda Wakeley, who is particularly known for her eveningwear and cocktail gowns. Usually, Kate doesn't wear anything strappy, but in her early duchess days, she took more protocol-breaking risks.

When Kate wore the dress — in silver and white instead of black and cream — it had a much higher waistline than the original gown. She wore it for her first solo royal event in 2011, making the 2006 gown several years old at the time. It still looks great on her, though.

British designer Matthew Williamson created this sleek gray peplum dress with jeweled cuffs. It originally cost about $1,500, so it makes sense that Kate has reworn it a couple of times throughout the years. That's a lot of money to spend on a one-time-use outfit.

Before she added it to her closet, Kate had a jeweled neck piece added to match the sleeve cuffs. The switch-up was smart, because it makes it look like she's wearing a necklace even when she's not. She looks extra dressed up. We wonder if designers ever get annoyed that Kate improves upon their original looks.

Erdem is one of Kate's favorite brands, and she wears a lot of items from the design house. This flowy, patterned dress cost nearly $3,000 and sold out soon after Kate wore it in 2018. That high price tag didn't deter some people who wanted to replicate the duchess's look.

Just because she loves Erdem doesn't mean she's also not afraid to improve on what it originally sold. Kate had this dress turned into a maternity dress for The Commonwealth Fashion Exchange Reception in 2018. She also had it made significantly longer, so it was a more appropriate length for her.

Alexander McQueen has long been a favorite of Kate's. She even wore the brand at her wedding, but she also changed this dress not once but twice to wear to different occasions. Originally, it came with thin straps and an accentuated bra bodice. That wasn't going to cut it for the royal family dress protocols.

For the 2017 BAFTAs, the Duchess of Cambridge needed a red carpet worthy gown, and she turned to this McQueen frock — but she had the spaghetti straps widened and changed to off-the-shoulder straps. The bodice was also modified to a more streamlined look.

We all know Kate loves to recycle her outfits, but she made some small changes to this dress to keep things fresh when she rewore it in 2019. Kate added cap sleeves in place of the shoulder straps. Perhaps she felt like she needed to be more covered up for the National Portrait Gallery.

This olive green Beulah midi dress has so many cute details, from the bell sleeves to the buttons up the skirt. It costs about $830 and is still in stock in a variety of colors. Fans can nab it in Kate's green shade or navy, pink, and sage. Maybe it hasn't sold out yet, because Kate changed it — and fans don't know this is the same dress she wore.

For a Family Action Charity event in early January, Kate picked the Beulah dress, only without the flared sleeve cuffs. She kept things sleek and no-nonsense — although she did add a green snakeskin belt, because she likes a fashion risk every once in a while.

Indian designer Saloni Lodha created this $595 outfit, which ended up being perfect for Kate to wear to an event ahead of her tour to India. But, for anyone thinking that the plunging mesh neckline would be a problem for the duchess … yep.

The big change Kate Middleton made to this garment was adding a panel of fabric underneath the mesh front so it was no longer sheer. It looks like she might have done the same to the sheer sleeves, so that all of those gauzy panels would match. It's an innovative way to take a dress and make it royally appropriate.

This dress, from the British brand Glamorous, is one of Kate's more inexpensive outfits. It cost just $70, which is definitely on the low end of her closet. We love when the duchess dresses in something we can actually afford. Of course, Kate's might have cost a little more since it was customized.

The Duchess of Cambridge sported this outfit while in India, pairing it with some nude flats. To balance the red tones of the dress, she had a navy waistband added — as well as a thicker navy band at the bottom of the skirt. Once again, her updates helped elevate the look.

Contrary to how this appears, this isn't a dress — it's separates. The skirt and blouse combo were created by Elie Saab, a Lebanese fashion designer. The top alone cost $1,625, and the skirt cost $2,350. So when Kate wore the whole set to Royal Ascot, she was wearing almost $4,000 worth of clothing.

For her purposes, Kate wanted the outfit to be long-sleeved, so she had the fluttery, short macrame sleeves changed. That may have been a protocol thing, since she was attending a formal event with strict dress codes. (The men even have to wear top hats at Royal Ascot.)

Famed Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana created this green dress, with chic gold buttons, a bow at the neck, tufted sleeves, and for some reason, a gigantic pocket watch appliqué. Three guesses as to what change the Duchess of Cambridge made to the garment when she got it…

That's right, Kate ditched the clock design so fast so she could wear this look to Wimbledon. Dolce & Gabbana definitely have a unique vision for their outfits, and sometimes, it really works. Other times, it doesn't. Kate made the right call to nix the watch on this $3,500 dress.

Emilia Wickstead is another repeat designer for Kate, and the duchess also loves a tartan — so this pleated dress basically had her name all over it. That is, once she made some slight modifications to those sheer sleeves.

We didn't get to see the full dress on Kate, since she was just pictured in her car on her way to Christmas lunch with the Queen. But even from the small glimpse we got, we can see that she changed the sheer dress sleeves to be solid like the rest of the tartan gown. See-through is just really not Kate's vibe.