Girl Crush

This post is dedicated to Joan Himmel Freeman.  Stylish, spirited and kind- and my forever girl crush.

I don’t get crushes on my own sex often.  But when I fall, I fall hard.  And right now I’ve had a coup de foudre about Kate Middleton.  AKA The Duchess of Cambridge.

“Sweet Kate, gentle Kate” to quote her other lesser-known fellow Brit, Will Shakesomething.

I haven’t been this over the moon since my beloved Audrey Hepburn left us too soon in 1993.

How do I love her?  Let me count the ways.

1.  Her face.  Those fabulous baby blues and that gorgeous Pepsodent-white smile. (Although the on dit has it that both she and her mama had their veneers done in Paris right before the wedding.)

Je m’en fiche.  She looks dazzling when she smiles and she’s always smiling.  Pourquoi pas?  If I were Her Royal Highness I’d always be smiling, too.

2.  Her figure.  Perfectly beautiful.  Tall, willowy, lovely posture.  And custom-made to show off the clothes.

3.  Her wardrobe.  OMG.  Volumes can- and will- be written about her fashion sense.  She seldom goofs.  From the off-the-rack blue dress chosen to compliment her engagement ring, to that too-die-for wedding gown, to just shopping in jeans at the local market in Wales to her triumphant tour of New Zealand and Australia, Kate never puts a foot wrong.  (Even when her red Catherine Walker coat flies up and shows us more of the Duchess than HRH Queen Elizabeth II is happy about.)

This tour down under was all about the coats. But the dresses were a wow, too. Alexander McQueen and Jenny Packham were Kate’s go-to designer favorites.  The McQueen periwinkle blue belted dress, and the Erdem emerald green coat dress with the full-length zipper down the front were to swoon over.  And I just love her cricketeer’s kit- a gorgeous cherry red suit with black buttons and high heels.

And we have to mention the black Jenny Packham frock with the silver fern – a New Zealand national symbol- embroidered on the shoulder.  So chic- and a nice tribute to boot.

And her hats?  That Gina Foster red pill box killed me.  (BTW, most of the time, the Duchess and I share the same hatter- Lock- in London.  Their hats are so fabulous one could wear their white hat boxes and be en vogue.  Come over some time and I’ll show you my fascinators.)

4.  Her adorable personality.  I know you can’t judge a mother of a future king by its cover, but she seems so nice.  Down-to-earth, normal, happy, athletic, close to her family and not conceited at all.

How she manages to keep her head from getting swollen with all the idolatry, fabulous new digs in Kensington Palace and hunky Prince William to (Lobb) boot is beyond me.

She is a lesson in modesty and charm.  Come on.  I know people who are stuck up just ’cause they have a condo in Naples, Florida.

5.  Last but in no way least, she has crowned all her achievements with HRH Prince George- the cutest baby on the planet.

I don’t even like babies, but not only is he adorable and his wardrobe divine, but it’s just better all ’round that he’s a he.

I’m well aware that Parliament has changed the laws of primogeniture making it possible for a first-born princess to ascend to the throne.  But this way- with George arriving first- Princess Catherine has made the smooth succession just perfect.

Just like my Kate.