Kate Middleton vs Michelle Obama at fashion Olympics

While the Duchess of Cambridge has kept her wardrobe subtle and safe at the London Games, the First Lady of US has opted for bold sartorial picks. So, who gets the gold? Shara Ashraf reports.

She has topped Vanity Fair’s best dressed list yet again. But, the zing’s somehow missing on the field. The Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, has kept it quite restrained at the London Olympics, opting for a grey-blue palette and recycling outfits. No surprise, she’s facing tough competition from US First Lady Michelle Obama, who’s out sporting her freewheeling spirit and bold sartorial picks that include peplum, colour block and her much-talked about $6,800 (R3,80,000) J Mendel armour jacket that she rocked recently.

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The Duchess played it safe in a fitted powder blue Christopher Kane coatdress at the Olympic opening ceremony. For her husband’s cousin Zara Phillips’ equestrian cross country race in Greenwich, Kate went for a simple navy blue Smythe blazer teamed with a white shirt. She wore the same blue blazer along with a striped T-shirt and jeans to watch Phillip win a silver medal. The jacket has become a uniform of sorts for her. She wore it yet again while attending Men’s Singles Tennis on Day 6 of the games.

No doubt, Kate earns a gold for keeping her look chic, recycling clothes, mixing high street labels with designer wear and yes, for not having a royal dresser. But style gurus wonder why they don’t see a little more experimentation in her grey-blue dominating wardrobe. “Kate is young and has a body that can pull off the most daring styles. While she looks elegant, her choices are often too mature for her age. We would love to see bold colours and cuts in her outfits,” says designer Kapil Arora, adding, “She could seek some inspiration from Michelle, who’s gone bold and adventurous with her choices.”

Designer Rina Dhaka, too, hails Mrs Obama’s style. “She’s being a true sport at the Olympics, experimenting with style. It’s great to see a public figure not shying away from making bold fashion statements,” she says. Designer Anupamaa Dayal says, “Michelle is uber confident and that reflects in the way she dresses up. Kate’s been too restricted. It would be lovely to see her take more risks,” she says.