Outfit repeating runs in the British royal family. This week, it's Princess Beatrice who repurposed an old look with exciting new results.
Princess Beatrice and her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, stopped by a Wimbledon after party at London's The Twenty Two restaurant, co-hosted by tennis star Maria Sharapova, on July 3. While Mozzi dressed in menswear classics (a white button-down, trousers, and driving loafers), Princess Beatrice opted for bold—and familiar—colorblocking.
The royal layered a black leather jacket over a turquoise long-sleeve top and a coordinating crepe midi skirt, punctuated by oversize polka dots. Gray heels and a black top-handle bucket bag completed her colorful going-out look.
It didn't take much sleuthing to figure out Princess Beatrice's Easter egg-colored shirt and skirt came from Roksanda, a woman-founded label known for its bold use of color and sculptural shapes. Unlike the royal's recent floral midi dresses and business casual patterned dresses, this particular look isn't available to shop—because it's almost nine years old.
Princess Beatrice first wore both her top and skirt to the 2015 installment of the Royal Ascot. At the time, she matched a black Nereida Fraiman fascinator to one of the oversize dots on her skirt and completed her outfit with geometric black heels.
In the present, Princess Beatrice opted for much more relaxed styling. Her leather jacket toughed up the sweetness of the skirt's color, while her grey heels grounded the full look. There also wasn't any sign of headgear—unlike the Ascot, hats aren't a dress code necessity for a Wimbledon get-together.
Outfit repeating is a common practice throughout the royal family, championed even by the late Queen Elizabeth II. The most recent royal to dip back into her own archive was Princess Kate, choosing to modify a white Jenny Packham dress she already owned for Trooping the Colour on June 15—her first public appearance since revealing her cancer diagnosis earlier this year.
The dress and coordinating tilted hat by Philip Treacy weren't just a sustainable move according to a royal insider. They were chosen for a specific reason. "There was a hint of discretion, or maybe a desire to not upstage, in the way Kate’s hat brim was tilted to partially hide her face in the carriage,” body language expert Judi James told The Sun.
There's one more notable difference for royal style watchers: Unlike Princess Beatrice's archival outfit, Princess Kate's is available to shop in a similar form.
