There are a lot of recent articles about the Duchess of Cambridge’s styling. And very few articles about what she’s actually been up to, or her plans to be keen in the future. Kate is all style and no substance, I think that’s been well-established, but the vibe these days is that the only thing worth talking about is her styling. And to be fair, she has made recent improvements. Since her two month “summer holiday,” Kate has come back to work looking refreshed and nice. She’s not covered in buttons and lace. She’s not wandering around in new bespoke coatdresses. And most importantly, she’s changed up her hair. She let her hair grow over the summer, and she’s now eschewing the wiglets, extensions and hairpieces she used to need to make her hair look fuller and full of sausage curls (a notable exception: that rat’s nest tragedy of budget hairpieces at the No Time to Keen premiere). All of which means… we’re getting another Daily Mail article about her hair.
Kate Middleton’s brunette locks have long been her crowning glory, and her bouncy ‘Chelsea blow dry’ is as intrinsic to her look as the Queen’s famous Launer handbags. However, the Duchess of Cambridge unveiled a new twist to her hairstyle this week when she visited Kew Gardens for an Earthshot Prize event with Prince William. The royal’s hair cascaded around her shoulder in looser tonged waves, with the emphasis on sleek and natural rather than voluminous and bouncy.
Following her appearance, celebrity stylist Tom Smith told FEMAIL Kate had opted for a ‘newer, fresher look’ which had ‘modernised her public image while getting ready for her future role within The Firm.’
Tom explained: ‘It’s important as a senior Royal to minimise how much she divides opinion and so Kate is not likely to ever embrace strong trends in hair, beauty or fashion. The bouncy blow dry she is known for is a modern classic, a style that has become timeless, traditional and classic. It shows off the bouncy healthy vibrant nature of the hair and gives the feel of luxury and health. Kate’s newer style to me is a more modern interpretation of her usual waves. We see the ends of her hair are a little straighter and ‘piecier’ which is definitely more in line with what is commonly asked for in salons these days.’
He continued: ‘She naturally has a fantastic head of hair and so this look still has the luxurious and healthy feel to it. But it’s clear she is more open than ever to embracing a more modern looking wave. It has a confidence about it and shows her in a more fashionable light.’
I often think to myself that other than Kate, the only woman who is more defined by her hair is Jennifer Aniston. And that’s sort of what Kate’s hair reminds me of these days, the soft waves, a bit more piecey and beachy. Dare I say, a bit more California? LOL. Anyway, because Kate is constantly infantilized, we do feel the need to do positive reinforcement whenever something goes right for her. So… her hair looks good, I do like her current style. I think it could be a few inches shorter, but overall… one of her better hair eras.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
The curls are a little looser and wavier but it’s not really a significant change IMO – no, we’re not seeing the tight sausage curls of years past, but she didn’t always have the tight sausage curls, sometimes her hair was looser and more blown out like this.
I think the bigger difference is that it doesn’t look like she’s wearing a wiglet in these pictures.
Guys, Katie Keen is copykatting our beautiful Angelina Jolie. The styling, the way it curls, the way it falls, the color, just tries to be Angelina in her glorious Hollywood past. That is their strategy: if meghan goes hollywood, then we will go hollywood too: who is the most beautiful Dame of hollywood with a life of service, who loves children? ANGELINA! Let’s cosplay ANGELINA! And just like that, they had a plan.
In that first profile image in the golden slush-fund dress that wore her, she looks like Violet from Private Practice. Of course, when Violet was in Private Practice, she was in her mid-40s, several years older than Kate. So this is basically saying she looks like an old matron…
She is still using wiglets.
I agree. She is still using wiglets. They’re just less thick than the ones before and blend in better with her hair. So she upgraded the wiglets.
Her hair looks fine and normal to me. Not exactly OMG amazing levels though. A whole article about it seems really over the top.
I can’t see it anymore! and her hair looks a lot flatter than it does with a wiglet. Maybe her stylist got better and blending it in though lol.
She’s using the ones that you clamp on at the bottom of your hair in the back at the nape of the neck. It’s just she’s toned them down from big thick ones she wore before. People usually add them so that they can pull her hair forward to make it look full in front without having no hair in the back.
I have no issue with hair extensions. We’ve seen photos which suggest Meghan probably uses them too. I use them. Due to stress and poor health, my hair has really thinned out and clip-in’s give me a bit more confidence.
To be honest I find her hair style boring. It’s always variations of the same and so many women have long wavy hair now. Kate’s is like a mature version of that. She’s fitting in with a certain crowd here in the UK. You see it constantly with her styling. It might not translate to American audiences, but there is a social set here who dress and present themselves just like Kate. You’ll find a lot of them in certain parts of London and much of North Norfolk. Same clothes, cars, hobbies and even dogs. They even dress their children in the same way.
All you have to do to get an idea of that style is look at a British catalogue for Barbour’s everyday wear, or Joules.
Soooooo….her biggest accomplishment to date is her hair? That’s tragic.
I was just going to comment this. It’s really sad how the only thing people can “discuss labour Kate is either her hairstyles or how she recycled her outfits (after like 6 years but whatever)
How do you expect her to carry out an exemplary role as Queen consort. Look at the other queens: Rania, Maxima, Letizia, Sheikha Moza. With all of these queens, yes they have amazing sense of style but more than that they’re are all eloquent, they are intellectual and articulate. Even Crown Princess Mary has taken the necessary training from the beginning and by the time her husband takes the throne she’ll fit into this list as well.
Can anyone honestly say that about Kate? Yes she’s the future future Queen but still how long is it before Charles takes the throne. He’s already essentially taken up role of regent.
Stop trying to compete with Meghan and focus on your role. Get out more and get the necessary training to fit into your role. You have so much money. Instead of spending them on bespoke dress Marie Antoinette style maybe use it more wisely to improve yourself.
As British taxpayers, were not paying for your tennis courts and kitchen renovations.
Besides being lighter and longer i think it looks the same as always.
That was my reaction! Oh my, Kate has become the forward thinking royal as she premiers a new hairstyle!! How forward thinking, original and 21st century of her!!! The Monarchy will surely be saved by Kates hair!! No need to worry about not having petrol, food or other necessary supplies to survive day to day, Kates hair will save us!!
🤢
British Celebitches: is it just the people they get quotes from for Kate or is it a British thing to repeat yourself?
“The bouncy blow dry she is known for is a modern classic, a style that has become timeless, traditional and classic. It shows off the bouncy healthy vibrant nature of the hair and gives the feel of luxury and health.”
British Celebitch here: I haven’t heard anyone constantly repeat themselves expect for in the tabloids. It’s the writers they just don’t have the material and it’s beginning to show
There was one the other day that was like:
“Katie Nichols thinks it would be “unfortunate” if the Sussexes don’t christen Lili in Windsor. “I think it would unfortunate if the Sussexes don’t christen her at Windsor,” Nichols told blah blah.”
One sentence after the other with the exact same words.
Yes, it’s been driving me crazy for a while now. I was wondering if it was a word count thing cuz it’s almost in every excerpt.
I repeat myself, but that’s usually because I’m constantly distracted and forget what I’m talking about.
In an article, there is no need for it. It’s just because they have no real story and are trying to fill it out as much as possible. They say the same thing in multiple ways. I think psychologically it can play tricks too. If you hear or see the same thing repeated enough, you’re more likely to start believing it.
Are they paid by the word?
Yes.
Always… They always repeat themselves.
Not a British CBer, have noticed how they repeat everything a lot in the same story. The whole article dedicated to Kate’s hair is just really entertaining to me. Are these bouncy looser tonged (I’ll be honest-I don’t know what that means in regards to hair) waves going to be what bounces the monarchy into mondernity? Is a head of hair now the lynchpin/savior of the monarchy? So many questions.. To me, the hair doesn’t look much different. If celebrity stylist Tom Smith? is telling this to the DM, it must all be true.LOL
I hate how for over a decade, they’re talking about her “getting ready to be queen/for a new role.” FOREVER GETTING READY. Just do something.
She’ll be Queen Consort and 80 years old and they will still say “she’s just getting into her role”.
I swear to god, at her funeral, they’ll probably lament that she had just come into her own and became secure in her role.
Yeah, that’s what kills me, too. Then again, when you’ve got someone who presumably thinks hair care is part of the prep, that’s what you’re going to get I guess.
I wonder how long they are going to beat this dead horse. “She’s preparing for her future role”. Yes, we know. But what is she actually DOING?
Getting her hair done and drinking martinis because apparently the latter is more important than we realized lol.
It looks the same to me and please, enough with the future role nonsense. Chica will be about 60 if she makes to the crown.
Can you imagine this hairstyle when she’s 60? She probably will, given as she’s being told how royal & queenly it is.
I only liked her updos, the elaborate things she did when she wore hats and fascinators, and sometimes with dresses and gowns. Not the rat nest in No Time to Keen premiere. Her hair down almost always looks similar. She should really try straightening her hair once.
“It’s important as a senior Royal to minimise how much she divides opinion and so Kate is not likely to ever embrace strong trends in hair, beauty or fashion”
Interesting. So she could have gone with older fashioned clothes and hairstyles but suddenly she is embracing modernity because a modern Duchess revolutionized royal fashion 🤪
First they say this: “…so Kate is not likely to ever embrace strong trends in hair, beauty or fashion.”
THEN they say this: “…which is definitely more in line with what is commonly asked for in salons these days.”
So…which is it? Not embracing “trends”, or doing what is “commonly asked for” which IS a “trend”.
Khate does what Khate does best: COPYING. And “PREPARING FOR…” fill in the blank.
Shame didn’t come with a gift receipt so the Brits could return her. You sure aren’t getting bang for your buck with her.
@ Jan90067, very well thought out and certainly to the point!!! My, the RR’s are certainly digging up clams in search of another ridiculous excuse as to why KKWeen is always in preparation mode, but not actually working mode!
My apologies to all of those that must pay taxes to support this twit of one working brain cell, as the other one was used for 10 years of blissful dating period, (aka forcing a proposal) with Willy.
When I saw that hairstyle (the NTTD one) my first reaction was a burst of laughter. But then after that I couldn’t help but remember Meghan when she attended the New York film Festival tribute to Cate Blanchett in 2013. If you search that up there’s a slight similarity in the style. (Or maybe it is just me) but I think she nailed that look.
Nttd premiere tho, I’m sorry but it was a masterpiece in awful
The link to the reference of Meghan:
https://images.app.goo.gl/fU3A85pAhDmuuRok9
@Layla, you’re right! Kate’s updo last week was ridiculous and Meghan totally pulls off a similar one! Meghan always manages to look like she didn’t spend the entire day getting ready, and she’s not concerned about it being 100% perfect, without a single hair out of place. We all know how long it actually takes to make it look so natural, lol, but Meghan does it so well.
Her hair looks OK, I wouldn’t say it’s new. She’s had the same styling for a couple of years and I think she’s finally settled on what works for her.
I don’t know which is worse, DMs ‘looser tonged waves’, or the stylist’s’, ‘while getting ready for her future role within The Firm.’ It’s just hair!
Best horse hair, perhaps?
How in the hell does a standard blow & go prepare someone to be the future future queen? What a vapid existence she leads…
I would respect her more if she said “enough” and opted to be a stay at home mom who just showed up with her husband at events vs forcing us to pretend that she’s preparing to be prepared…whatever that actually means.
@ Rai, YES!! Stop trying to make her into someone she is not, never will be and has NO desire to be, except for all to fawn over her!!!
Hahaha @ Rai. The standard blow and go probably held a different meaning during W & K’s St. Andrew’s years. Maybe that was the prep to get to be future future queen.
JFC, I’m 37 and if the only things people who work with me can talk about is my hair and wardrobe I’m failing at my job in a serious way lol
I would love to see her suddenly break out with a bob or a pixie cut. That would be adventurous and trend setting, taking her same old long hair and curling it to the left instead of the right is not.
She is a woman who has said she will never change her long hair as “William likes it long”.
Don’t forget Cam, “Charles likes my hair like this”, who has had the same style since the 70s.
Even Ol’ Brenda never changed her hairstyle since her 20s because Phil “liked it”, and it held a tiara well. Oh, wait, I think she did the occasional updo, but the front always had that comb back and the two side wing/waves at her temples.
These women won’t do shit without approval from their men.
It really is weird, the royal women never change their hairstyles. Diana did change hers slightly, and changed how she styled it, but it was still pretty similar for her royal tenure. The Queen hasn’t really changed hers in decades, neither has Camilla, or Anne. I feel like Sophie does change hers as much as most women do – sometimes its shorter, sometimes she grows it out more – nothing drastic, but its not always the exact same.
I guess Kate did get bangs once so there’s that? I’m not really one to judge bc my hair has been the exact same for 12 years now, I don’t even get it highlighted anymore. Sometimes I do cut off 2 inches and sometimes just one though. lol.
But when you look back at someone like the Queen, who has been in the public eye since she was a child, and her hair has ALWAYS been the same….its a little weird, right?
You’re right that most of the Royal women tend to keep the same style, and it’s generally fine, but with Anne, it’s out of control. If she was my mom I would have dragged her to a salon decades ago!
Arghh!!! I cannot take one more picture of this woman laughing maniaclly while everyone around her just looks puzzled, like they’re wondering what the hell is so funny. She must practice that wide open smile/laugh in the mirror every night before bed.
I don’t know where you get piecey or beachy out of Kate’s hair…that’s a stretch to try to call it California. I would clutch my pearls if girlfriend showed up with a piecey lob, extra points if styled with a flat iron instead of a 2 inch barrel.
It’s a good head of hair, not particularly spectacular but good hair. It is also not full of the ‘wiglets’ but that’s an easy swipe for the less hair endowed.
I’m sure she uses some pin in’s for the elaborate up do’s to make it thicker to hold shape and the rare tiara thing.
So she wears fake hair. Cool story.
I totally understand why you feel that way
Lmao @ ‘ sleek and natural rather than voluminous and bouncy’. My hair is naturally curly with volume. Shoutout to my hairdresser for getting me into balms. Ever since I started using Shea Moisture my hair has gone from dry and wavy to hydrated and full on curly with ringlets.
Kate has nice hair imo. I just don’t see how it’s more natural now because it’s just as styled. Even I’m sure I couldn’t afford him anyways but based on his commentary Tom is only a good hairstylist if you have straight hair.
Sidenote to this: SAME! Once I started using Shea Moisture (Moisture Retention Conditioner for me) my curls went from soft and wavy and dry to actual curls that feel amazing and garner compliments all the time.
@ MarcelMarcel , @ BlueNailsBetty, thanks for the info on Shea Moisture Retention Conditioner as my wavy/curly hair is fried!! I don’t curl it, but I do blow dry my roots. But getting moisture into these curls is like trying to put out a house fire with one bucket of water!! I haven’t been able to have my hair cut in the last 9 months and I was so tired of how dry my hair looked, I took 5 inches off in one cut!!!
I’m a curly gal and Ecoslay products are my jam! It’s a black woman-owned small business and their Rice pudding leave in, and Orange Marmalade Gel are my holy grail products for juicy bouncy curls!
Just took a look at their stuff and placed an order. My husband is going to be a little weirded out that I’m keeping hair products in the fridge but he should be used to weird by now. He thinks it’s super gross that I cowash.
@orginallala Ooo thanks for the recommendation! I’m going to check Ecoslay out. I’m trying to wash my hair less frequently so I want to more try more leave in products to help it look nice in between washes. Has anyone tried silk pillowcases? I’m considering getting one but they’re expensive.
@bluenailsbetty I love them so much I got my mum hooked on Sheamoisture. My holy grail product is their hibiscus hair smoothie.
Do any of these articles mention hair products or styling tools to achieve hair like Kate’s? Or is just praising her for having nice hair. I guess I’ll never know because I refuse to read the daily mail.
Marcel, I’ve done some research, and SATIN pillowcases are better than silk for hair and skin. They have some reasonably priced on Amazon.
Funny, I remember my mom used to wear a satin hair bonnet over her “do” to keep it lasting the week until the next hair appt.
@MarcelMarcel are there other Shea Moisture products than the Hibiscus Smoothie have worked for you? I have curly hair and a shaggy bob, and if I let it dry naturally it just ends up looking like a curly mess with lots of frizz (and takes forever because my hair is extremely thick). If I dry it myself (gently, in scrunched up bits with lots of product), it is curlier but still ends up with too much frizz. I’ve tried many products but nothing worked — to keep things simple I just blow-dry straight, which I hate doing because I like my curls…but I can’t deal with the frizz.
Every time I see the header pic of her with the child I wonder if he’s frightened or appalled. Is he thinking should I run? He looks genuinely confused, doesn’t he.
I must be missing something – how exactly is good hair preparing her for her future role in the Firm?? And for the love of everything holy, how is she not yet ready for her role?
It’s because she misunderstood William being the “heir” and thought they meant “hair”, so she thinks having good hair will make her a good queen consort.
LOL the sad part is I kind of would believe that story 🙂
Her hair looks fine. I do think it’s not going to age well, at some point she is going to have to chop it or do updos more consistently, or it’s just going to look incredibly unnatural. If hair was really part of preparing for the future queen consort role, wouldn’t she be working more towards a style that would still look good at 60?
Her hair is her hair and I don’t know how it has anything to do with preparing for the future. Kate will do anything other than just work I guess.
Am I the only person who sees gray and much darker brown roots in the green sweater?
Kate has always had nice hair. It’s not shampoo commercial hair without her additions but if all of her “achievements” her hair is number one. Please don’t let anyone say that about me.
She has had grey hair for years now. However she tends to do few enough events to get touch ups so that it isn’t very noticeable. Makes me wonder if she was a last minute attendance to the greenshot event with William.
Kate has hair that can be achieved by almost anyone who goes to a hairdresser, and it doesn’t even have to be a super expensive one like she goes to. It’s ridiculous that her hair is being praised as future Queen consort preparation. But it shows just how little substance there is to this shallow woman.
Yeah I would think she has a fair amount of gray at this point, there was a picture from a few years ago where she had not gotten her hair touched up and there were a lot of gray roots, so by this point probably even more.
I am not shaming that, I have found my first few gray hairs over the past few months and i’m trying REALLY hard to stick to my younger self’s resolve to not dye my hair to cover the grays…..but its an easy promise to make at 30 and a harder one to keep at 40, lol.
My mom said “I can’t believe you have a gray hair already!!!” meanwhile her sister went completely gray by 35 (but has always dyed her hair blonde so people dont realize it.)
And that’s my gray hair saga of the day.
@Becks you’re so lucky that it took so long for you to get any! I first got them during my first year of law school, and I’m convinced that I actually had them for a lot longer, but it was the LIGHTING in the bathroom there that made me notice them, because I saw a few on like the first or second day of school. It was horrifying!!
So I’ve had to color it for years. It’s such a pain, but most of the time I just use the L’Oreal stuff at home —it would be sooooooo expensive to get it colored professionally every time, and my hair is just plain brown (I wouldn’t attempt highlights or anything on my own!). I’ll get it professionally colored a few times a year, because I’m sure I miss spots when I do it myself, lol. And I use that brown spray stuff to spray on the gray roots when there are enough to be noticeable, but I’m too lazy to color it. One of my friends is 45 and has never had so much as a single gray hair…I’m so jealous of her!
Men are so lucky 😒
It’s whack that the DM has a section called “FEMAIL”. Like women aren’t interested in regular news, just frills and makeup and Kate lol.
“No Time To Keen” 🤣😭😂
She’s nearly 40, has three children, and is the future future Queen Consort. She brings nothing to the table but hair and a wardrobe paid for by her father-in-law. There is nothing else for the tabloids to talk about as she has no presence, even when she is nearby. People love her bc she brings no controversy and that is bc she has nothing to say about anything. Vapid is the word of the day.
And her wardrobe isn’t even interesting!
She has brought controversy–with the way she behaved with Meghan. IMO.
My first thought tw hen they compared Kates hair to the queens famous Launer Handbags? But aren’t those handbags always empty? Basically they contain a void…
Always with the ‘future role’. Given what she costs us it might be nice if she could do a job now but clearly that would be asking for too much. I’d get angry but I’m not feeling well so she’s just getting an exasperated sigh today.
Is Kate defined by her hair? I associate her more with waity-ing and laziness. With respect to her hair, she needs to update her color. She also needs some leave in conditioner to hydrate that dry hair and give it some shine.
Only the DM would praise her hair. Kate isn’t even in the top ten of best hair for female celebrities.
And I’m not surprised they don’t talk about the laziness right now, but they may go back to that soon if William is so inclined to turn the media against her.
‘It’s important as a senior Royal to minimise how much she divides opinion and so Kate is not likely to ever embrace strong trends in hair, beauty or fashion.’
If she did good work she could shave her hair or have a backwards mullet (like Kate plus 8 did) and who would care? So it’s the hair and clothes that divide opinion? That’s what’s important?
Defined by her hair….how keen of her
If I say yes, would she just shut up and start becoming a mature, working adult?
Sorry to make this a whole diatribe (“hair is *everything*”) but I do wish women could just… you know, have hair? And not style it? Her hair looks perpetually done up, as do so many celebrity women’s hair and I just… it’s exhausting. Do we even know what her natural hair texture is? No blow-outs, no heating, just her hair? Does it HAVE to be styled constantly?
I hate that styling hair is seen as hygienic or more put-together or basic grooming. It’s not. I have been wash and go forever (I had a pixie cut for ages) and now I have my natural hair texture which is…. tight ringlet curls. (So yeah sometimes the comments about how ringlets are ugly bother me but that’s a me thing.) Anyone with curly hair knows you can’t brush it so I just… don’t do anything to it in the morning and go about my day and it’s FINE but I hate feeling insecure or less-than because my hair is frizzy or unbrushed but that’s my hair! I know it’s seen as unprofessional and I don’t like it. I guess I just wish natural, not-styled hair was more normalized and accepted.
Honestly Kate has hair that any hairdresser can provide. There is nothing unique or special about it.
@Nic, yes, but one would need a sh!t-ton of both money and free time to spend hours at the salon every few weeks. Luckily that’s pretty much all that Kate has on her schedule and she has Chuck’s unlimited credit card, so.
@ Calypso I totally agree. I’m a White woman and have the finest, thinnest, softest hair in the world. And I can’t do a damn thing with it, nor can hair dressers give it volume or curl that lasts beyond 1 hour. I look unprofessional no matter what I do with product and styling. And that totally impacts how I’m perceived at work unfortunately. I’d make more money wearing wigs. I know that Black women have it way worse than I do when it comes to hair workplace standards, but I do have some understanding of their impact.
It’s just hair. You cut, color,and wash it. Her hair looks like her hair. Sometimes it’s styled well, sometimes it isn’t. Don’t know why it’s a big deal now. This sounds almost like a sponsored ad for the stylist in the article.
Kate’s greatest achievement is that she has nice hair and the irony is half of it isn’t even hers. Classic Kate.
Meh. Her hair always looks the same to me. Sometimes longer, sometimes shorter, but basically the same.
I absolutely LOVED her hair the *one time* she wore it natural, after she gave birth to George. It was gorgeous and effortless. I guess she thinks that’s unprofessional or something because she’s never worn it like that since. https://www.popsugar.com/celebrity/Kate-Middleton-Prince-William-Marathon-Pictures-31468488
@Candy ita, it did look good that day, but I remember she got some criticism because I guess if you zoom waaaaay in, there were one or two visible grays, and god forbid she walk out the door without literally every head on her hair being perfect 🙄.
I get anxious even *thinking* about living with that level of scrutiny.
Pathetic in every way.
So she will be a Great Queen (actually consort) because of how her hair looks. The stories get more and more absurd.
It will be funny if survey was made by non british media for women with most beautiful hair and the 1st place goes to meghan.
Omfg! Haven’t read the comments yet… sadly bc I’ve been busy…but I’ve been saying there is something just slightly diff w the hair and it is just slightly, very slightly, more Cali, or “piecey.” Peeps said I was seeing things, and maybe I was or still am, but idk…?
It is truly bizarre how low the bar is set for this woman. Picture someone who has been at a job for over ten years and they basically do nothing. (Of course, in any normal job, that person would have been fired within a week.) Then, the person has a “new” hairstyle. “Oh my God! That person is amazing! She is really coming into her role!” Or, the person wears a glittery gown with an alien hairstyle. “Oh my God! She has arrived! What dignity! What power!” Talk about grasping at straws. Don’t these “pro-keen” journalists realize that they just make Kate look even more foolish?
Dammit copykate,
I need everyone to see this meghan’s wella hair commercial.
https://youtu.be/t1HGo_hVTuQ
Did kate copy the style😂
Her long hair is pretty. However, I think her hair at the premiere was bad. It was so old fashioned…..almost old lady. At least to me.