In her 40 years (she celebrates her milestone birthday on August 4, 2021), Meghan Markle has learned a lot about good fashion. Every time she steps into the public eye, whether for an event or just when she's spotted by the paparazzi, she looks amazing. And the Duchess of Sussex does that without a whole lot of variety in her wardrobe. Meghan basically relies on 14 clothing items and two accessories to build all of her outfits.
Meghan's capsule collection has all the staples you need, from great tops to wear-with-anything pants to statement dresses and coats. And most of what she wears is easy to replicate with any budget, because she's wearing super basic items. She's just making sure they fit super well so she looks chic and put together. A tailor can be a girl's best friend.
Here are Meg's most-worn fashion items in her minimalist closet.
The Classic Black Suit
Meghan wasn't on a show called Suits for nothing. Spending seven seasons in the best tailored suits probably helped Meghan to feel comfortable taking the style into her real life as well. The suit she wore to this event featured a cropped jacket for a little extra splash. Sorry Prince Harry, but you need to up your style game if you're gonna stand next to Meghan in a suit.
Blazers
Sometimes the duchess doesn't want to wear a head-to-toe suit, though, and that's where her wide collection of blazers comes in. She's worn them with short dresses, long dresses, and jeans. Of course, she has her classic black blazers, but we've also seen her in white, navy, and gray depending on what works with the rest of her outfit.
Pencil Skirts
This look probably also goes back to her days on Suits, when her paralegal character Rachel Zane wore pencil skirts on a regular basis. The duchess owns this particular leather Hugo Boss skirt in both green and maroon. Queen Letizia of Spain has the same one also in maroon, so Meghan is in good fashion company.
White Blouses
There are no frills here, just effortless style. A chic, well-tailored white blouse doesn't need to have a print or a color to stand out. It makes a statement all its own, and it goes with everything from jeans to tailored pants to skirts. This is what Meghan wore to her first official public outing with Prince Harry and it made quite an impact.
A Good Pair of Jeans
Meghan's denim collection didn't get a ton of play when she was going to royal events, since most of those tend to call for more formal clothing. But now that she's back in Cali, she's been able to break her jeans out again. From jeans with frayed hems or rips at the knees to this more sleek look she wore at Wimbledon, Meghan has an array of jeans to choose from in her closet. She tends to pair them with more tailored tops, like a button-down or blazer, for a pulled together look.
Pleated Skirts
When the duchess wants a little more movement from a skirt, she tends to opt for a pretty pleated one — usually in a chiffon material so the pleats don't feel too stiff. She wore this colorblock skirt to a wedding, and we've seen her in pleats at Wimbledon, while on a tour of New Zealand, and more.
Turtlenecks
The duchess is one of those people who believes a turtleneck is an all-seasons garment. She's worn long-sleeve ones, sleeveless ones, bulky turtleneck sweaters, and turtleneck dresses. Like white blouses, turtlenecks are no-nonsense tops. But when Meghan pairs one with her favorite skirt or pants, she looks effortlessly stylish.
Shirtwaist Dresses
During the Sussexes' tour of South Africa, Meghan wore not one, not two, but five different shirtwaist dresses. They came in a variety of colors from this sky blue one to white, green, black, and olive. The shirtwaist dress is really just an extension of Meghan's love for button-down blouses, but even easier and breezier.
Capes
To be fair, not everyone would consider a cape a "staple" item in their wardrobe. But when Meghan was a working royal especially, she wore capes on a fairly regular basis. She had little capelets like this red one, longer more dramatic ones, high-low capes, and asymmetrical capes. She was basically a full-time superhero.
Trench Coats
What's so fun about Meghan's style is that most of her basics are also super attainable for everyone. We can all own a chic trench coat like the duchess. She owns several, mostly in this tan color, bit we've also seen her in a more greenish-olive trench as well. As with most of her fashion items, these coats go with absolutely everything.
Sleeveless Trench Dresses
You better believe that Meghan has a warm-weather option for her beloved trench coat. Meet the sleeveless trench dress. Meghan owns this style in khaki, white, and blush pink. Notably, she wore her white one when introducing baby Archie to the world in his first photo shoot. She looked amazing, of course.
Long Wool Coats
For colder weather, Meghan tends to opt for a long wool coat that she wears open so you can still see the rest of her outfit. She owns these in all her favorite neutrals of course — gray, tan, black, navy — but then every once in a while she'll pull one out in a vibrant color like red. Too bad these won't get much use now that she's in Los Angeles.
Wide-Leg Pants
Meghan Markle's fashion legacy in the royal family is that she appears to have introduced Kate Middleton to the wide-leg pant. After Meghan wore them on several royal outings, notably Wimbledon with Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge tried the look out for herself in late 2018. While she still tends to opt for dresses over pants, Kate has worn wide-legged pants on a regular basis ever since.
Shift Dresses
Shift dresses aren't too fitted, can be sleeveless or have short sleeves, and the skirt usually hits at the knee. Meghan owns them in just about every color from blue, pink, white, green, and even yellow. Throw on a pair of heels and add a structured bag and you have an outfit. No frills necessary.
Slingbacks
When it comes to shoes, Meghan has her share of nude pumps just like every other royal woman, but her favorite shoe style seems to be the slingback. She has these strappy shoes in stiletto and flat form, in multiple colors. But you can't go wrong with classic black when you're looking to get a staple shoe.
Cat-Eye Sunglasses
Meghan's not loyal to one specific sunglasses brand like Kate Middleton is — the Duchess of Cambridge wears mostly Ray-Ban — but Meg does love the cat eye shape. Most of the sunglasses she owns have a similarly large cat-eye frame, and they almost always come in black. It's such a staple sunglasses color to have.
