Kate Middleton Is Devoted to This Casual

By Emma Spedding

Last week, the Prince and Princess of Wales made a rare appearance as wedding guests in Amman, Jordan, as Crown Prince Hussein and Rajwa Al Saif tied the knot at Zahran Palace. Now Kate Middleton is back to work in London, visiting a community project in Windsor—and she's traded Elie Saab gowns and Jenny Packham sequins for a more casual look.

Kate Middleton in a cheerful gingham blazer for today's engagement.

For more relaxed engagements, Kate Middleton tends to rely on a tried-and-tested uniform—a blazer (usually from Zara) paired with skinny jeans or slim-fit trousers. Today, she wore a gingham double-breasted tailored jacket and high-waisted navy-blue cigarette trousers.

Instead of her signature heels, she opted for a pair of midnight-blue suede flats—specifically the Lulu style by the brand Emmy London, based in South Kensington. It's a practical and comfortable choice for sitting cross-legged on the floor with children. As Sarah Harris, deputy editor and fashion features director at British Vogue, recently pointed out, such considerations are key to all of the Princess's styling decisions: "What she wears has to be practical. Working royals endure long days and so the clothes have to work, from being comfortable, to weather appropriate, to magically immune to wrinkling. Nothing can be too fussy, so forget a slit that's tricky to navigate, or a collar that needs tending to."

The Princess of Wales wearing Boden pumps to visit a Baby Bank in Windsor.

Although Kate is known for her nude court shoes, she was wearing flat pumps long before their recent resurgence on the runways. In her early royal days, she was often spotted in French Sole flats, and in April of this year, she opted for a pair of black pointed pumps by Boden to visit another Baby Bank in Windsor.