Kate Middleton has raised some eyebrows regarding the dress she chose to wear to the Order of the Garter ceremony last week.
The Princess of Wales wore a brand new polka dot Alessandra Rich dress which cost north of £1,000 but many initially mistook it for a very similar dress she wore to the Ascot last year.
The 41-year-old royal has been criticised for wearing such an expensive new dress that was almost identical to her frock at the races last year amid the cost of living crisis as her husband Prince William announced his new campaign as part of his lifelong aspiration to end homelessness this week.
Royal commentators Michelle Thole and Rachael Andrews said they are a fan of Kate and thought she looked 'beautiful' but deemed her choice of outfit to be a "mishap", the Express reports.
Speaking on the latest episode of their podcast, Keeping Up With The Windsors, Ms Andrews said: “This was a bit of a flop, not the outfit, the circumstances under it. It just didn’t sit well.”
At first many were pleasantly surprised to see Kate had chosen to repeat the outfit she wore to the races last year with a different pair of shoes and fascinator.
However, upon closer inspection they noticed that last year's dress had larger brown polka dots on it as opposed to this year's smaller black dots.
Ms Andrews said: “And this year she had on shoes that looked very similar to ones that she’s previously worn before but again its a different designer but they look almost the same…
“She’s obviously got her favourite designers but why [is she] picking a dress that’s so similar?
"Why not bring out the dress you’ve previously worn? Last year the dots were a bit smaller or this year’s were, and that was about it, and the colour. Come on!”
Kate's stylist Natasha Archer should have been more aware that the Princess of Wales did not "need" that dress Ms Andrews opined.
Ms Thole added that the ignorant decision “made no sense to her” as she noted that Kate's dresses are far from cheap and would have been tailor-made to fit the royal especially, which racks up the expense.
However, some fans seemed to love the dress as they took to Instagram to gush over how 'beautiful' the Princess looked.
One fan wrote: "Kate is just stunning! She looks fabulous today, well every day, to be honest!"
Another opined that her wardrobe choices have gotten even better since she received her new title as they commented: "She always looks stunning, but her formal look has gone up a notch since becoming the Princess of Wales."
Ms Thole, who agreed that Kate looked great, argued that while she looks the part, her outfit "seemed like a big waste of money".
She added: “We’ve got a cost of living crisis here, it does not look good.”
Kate's "mishap" comes as research by Opinium showed that over 50 per cent of mortgage holders say that the impact of the cost of living would make payments a struggle with six per cent saying they would need to consider selling their houses if rates continue to rise, the Independent reports.
According to the Department for Work and Pensions, there are an estimated 14.4million people living in poverty in the UK.
This week, the Prince of Wales has launched a five year campaign to put an end to homelessness in the UK by providing innovative new housing in six locations across the country.
Ms Andrews said: “As she’s Princess of Wales now, it is like she has a certain uniform and I think we are seeing that but she had so many outfits that she could re-wear to an event like this.
"How many coat dresses has she got that she hasn’t worn more than once to a church service? Bring that out.
"Bring something out that you haven’t worn in eight, [or] nine years and everyone would be like ‘wow, she’s doing a re-wear, that’s so cool’...
“We absolutely love Catherine and we’re normally all hot on what she wears but it just felt like a mishap this time and a lot of people felt the same.”
Ms Thole criticised the 41-year-old royal for her careless decision as she added this "does not look good" given the fact her husband has just began his campaign to end homelessness in Britain.
She continued: “If it was a completely different dress, a completely different style, we wouldn’t be having this conversation but because it's something that’s in her wardrobe already, it just seems like a big waste.”
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