The Duchess of Sussex has been wearing a lot of J.Crew pieces this week. Her v-neck sweater at LAX (as she headed to Germany) was J.Crew. Her first appearance at the Invictus Games featured Staud shorts and a J.Crew cardigan, white with black piping. When she changed on Wednesday, she pulled out another J.Crew piece – a sleeveless black knit top, paired with Frame jeans (and Aquazurra heels and Hermes sneakers). Well, the Duchess of Accessible Mass-Market Fashion basically crashed the J.Crew site for hours. That cardigan in the specific white-and-black combo is now sold out (although other colors are available). Not only that, but those Hermes sneakers sold out in a flash and I think Staud probably got a huge bump in interest and sales.
J Crew has updated the description for the “sweater-blazer” Meghan Markle wore at the Invictus Games, after her appearance caused the retailer’s website to crash.
On Wednesday, the couple arrived at the Merkur Spiel-Arena for a wheelchair basketball match between Australia and Ukraine, before meeting members of the Nigerian and American contingents at the arena. The 42-year-old opted to style a pair of linen shorts and black tank top, with dainty gold jewellery, Chanel flats, and the oversized J Crew sweater-blazer for her first official appearance, as fans praised the effortlessly chic look online.
Shortly after Meghan’s appearance at the event, the J Crew website went down. The fashion brand confirmed the site was down and cited the reason as “planned maintenance”.
Fans have now spotted that the website is promoting the ivory and navy “Tipped Sweater Blazer”, which retails for £221, as “the perfect polished layer for the office, coffee dates…and sporting events”, apparently to reflect the duchess’ outing at the games. The description previously ran without the “sporting events” suggestion.
Meghan was also seen wearing a J Crew black sweatervest the same day, completing the monochrome look with a pair of smart black trousers and pumps. She later changed into £633 Hermes sneakers, which are currently out of stock.
I mean… everything Meghan touches turns to gold, especially when it comes to fashion and jewelry. I’ve been obsessed with Catbird jewelry ever since Meghan wore some pieces, and J.Crew knit pieces are pretty high-quality and accessible for most consumers. Victoria Ward at the Telegraph has repeatedly claimed that Meghan is, like, making a special effort to look and seem low-maintenance, that Meghan is doing her own hair and makeup and going out of her way to wear mass-market pieces rather than couture. Personally, I don’t think Meghan is making any kind of special effort – she’s wearing pieces which were already in her closet and she’s dressing however she wants without being barraged with rage from the Royal Protocol Police.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.
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- Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, watch a wheelchair basketball game between fans from Ukraine and Australia at the 6th Invictus Games at Merkur Spiel Arena. The Paralympic competition for war-disabled athletes is visiting Germany for the first time in Duesseldorf, Germany, 13 September 2023,Image: 804967839, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO / Avalon
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- Invictus Games 2023 in Duesseldorf Prinz Harry, Duke of Sussex gemeinsam mit Ehefrau Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex im Publikum bei den Rollstuhl Wettkaempfen in der Merkur Spiel Arena bei den Invictus Games 2023 in Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, 13.09.2023 Duesseldorf Nordrhein-Westfalen Deutschland *** Invictus Games 2023 in Duesseldorf Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex together with wife Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex in the audience during the wheelchair competitions at the Merkur Spiel Arena at the Invictus Games 2023 in Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, 13 09 2023 Duesseldorf Nordrhein Westfalen Germany,Image: 804971414, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO / Avalon
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- Dusseldorf, GERMANY – The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, were spotted uplifting spirits during the fourth day of the Invictus Games 2023. Held at the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Dusseldorf, Germany, the couple looked genuinely happy as they interacted with athletes and fans alike. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 13 SEPTEMBER 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Dusseldorf, GERMANY – The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, were spotted uplifting spirits during the fourth day of the Invictus Games 2023. Held at the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Dusseldorf, Germany, the couple looked genuinely happy as they interacted with athletes and fans alike. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 13 SEPTEMBER 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Düsseldorf, GERMANY – The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, were seen in high spirits during day 4 of the Invictus Games 2023 at the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Dusseldorf. The royal couple was actively engaged in the day’s events, adding a touch of glamour and attention to this international adaptive multi-sport event. Pictured: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 13 SEPTEMBER 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Düsseldorf, GERMANY – The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, were seen in high spirits during day 4 of the Invictus Games 2023 at the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Dusseldorf. The royal couple was actively engaged in the day’s events, adding a touch of glamour and attention to this international adaptive multi-sport event. Pictured: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 13 SEPTEMBER 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Düsseldorf, GERMANY – The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, were seen in high spirits during day 4 of the Invictus Games 2023 at the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Dusseldorf. The royal couple was actively engaged in the day’s events, adding a touch of glamour and attention to this international adaptive multi-sport event. Pictured: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 13 SEPTEMBER 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Düsseldorf, GERMANY – The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, were seen in high spirits during day 4 of the Invictus Games 2023 at the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Dusseldorf. The royal couple was actively engaged in the day’s events, adding a touch of glamour and attention to this international adaptive multi-sport event. Pictured: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 13 SEPTEMBER 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan Markle attend day 4 of the Invictus Games at the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Dusseldorf Featuring: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Meghan Markle Where: Dusseldorf, Germany When: 13 Sep 2023 Credit: Dutch Press Photo/Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE NETHERLANDS OR FRANCE**
Can’t stop or beat the Meghan Effect.
The Meghan affect is real and if I were a designer or retailer, I would beg for a sit down with her ASAP to have her imput with a product design. A scarf, a sweater, trousers…maybe an entire capsule wardrobe.
^^ Of course, Meghan has already done two capsule fashion collections for Reitmans (a Canadian retailer), well before she ever met Harry — her second collection coincidentally debuted just before or soon after M&H’s relationship was leaked by British tabloid media.
So, Meg has been there, done that. In early 2017, Meg turned down another contract offer by Reitmans, in order to focus on nurturing her committed relationship with Prince Harry.
I think the j crew website was undergoing maintenance already. This isn’t my favourite look tbh
Lol, why do you think it was undergoing maintenance? Either way, all the headlines have been that Meghan crashed the site.
jcrew did an advert on their instastories about the sweater-blazer after they got the site back up and hinted at her having worn it. so yes, it sold out because of her and the website also crashed because of her.
It does say in the article that J. Crew claimed it was down for planned maintenance, but I’m sure the enormous surge of traffic after Meghan appeared didn’t help! The Meghan effect in action 🙌
I bet someone on salt isle screamed like a banshee when she couldn’t get to the site to order everything Meg had worn from them.
Maybe she’ll buy them in other colours so that it’s not too obvious.
Some pieces are easy and timeless, no matter who makes them. I’m reminded of Sharon Stone’s white Gap button-down at the Oscars.
Yeah, I’ve already searched retail sites for some of the things she’s wearing this trip. Not gonna lie.
I bet most of us on here have : )
I managed to order the JCrew sweater before it sold out and am looking forward to wearing on my trip to Santa Barbara/Montecito next week!
Lucky you! Enjoy.
(And if you ever need the $$ for some reason, you can *definitely* resell it on eBay or wherever for a tidy profit. Win/win!)
Great classic pieces… I def would love the Meg effect once I launch my affordable
Luxury line of footwear! Hopefully I will be lucky !
Love everything she has worn so far !
But she’s not popular AT ALL. Riiight.
I don’t think she’s trying to dress down in terms of price – I think this is a very Meghan style of dress, mixing high and lower end pieces. I mean she’s wearing Chanel flats, for crying out loud lol. I think she’s looking for things that are comfortable for her as she’s both moving about and sitting for long periods, so it makes sense she’s not going for couture. I think when she was at the last IG, she didn’t attend as many sporting events since she was there for more of the official kick off events, so it makes sense that she was a little more dressed up then. And I feel like more of her events were outside in the Hague, so something like the jeans and blazer she wore (the cuffed jeans) were more practical than a sleeveless sweater. her staud shorts look like they were around 150-200 depending on which specific ones she got, which isn’t cheap for a pair of shorts in my book, LOL.
“Personally, I don’t think Meghan is making any kind of special effort – she’s wearing pieces which were already in her closet and she’s dressing however she wants without being barraged with rage from the Royal Protocol Police.”
Agreed.
Please explain why Kate has started to dress like Meghan?
Meghan is dressing like Meghan. She literally wears Jcrew irl. Imo, this is her superpower. She makes casual dressing look so good. Like I want to buy so many pieces that I see her in. Not necessarily every single one but sooo many. Her sense of style and editing is modern and on point.
Agree with all the points in the post and by commentators, with one exception: the black shirt dress. It’s by banana Republic factory and it’s a polyester blend. Don’t get me wrong, I own “factory” items from the gap, JCrew, BR etc bc I’m not a millionaire and sometimes need to fill a wardrobe gap on the cheap. But these items aren’t the quality she usually gravitates towards for essential pieces like a black shirt dress. Something fun and throwaway like a cheap accessory maybe. Idk I was a bit confused by that.
Agree, the Banana Republic dress is from their outlet store brand. I love both BR and Factory, you can get some great deals with their Factory line(I was able to get a simple and classic white cardigan from Factory for $10 before). That BR factory dress is also sold out as of yesterday. Only the off-white color was available.
Kate, was that you?
I had forgotten all about JCrew until I saw Meghan wearing it. I actually went on their site last night and bought a couple really nice pieces – nothing she wore….but I wouldn’t have been there but for her. The influence is real!
Some years back I bought the pale grey J. Crew Juliette long sweater blazer she wore to some casual (sporting?) event. Really nice piece, no buttons, but similar in a way to her current piece, same patch pockets, simple style. They still carry it, so still popular. For anyone who likes the black ankle strap pointed toe flats she has on for the volleyball game, hers are Aquazurra as per WMW, but J. Crew has a pair for under $200 (I love them but they wouldn’t work with my feet!)
Thanks for the tip!!
I want the black wide legged trousers she wore at LA airport. They are perfect.
Unfortunately way out of my budget. 😢
@PrincessK, I’m not sure about that particular pair of pants, but Ulla Johnson is carried at lots of department stores that often have huge sales. I’ve gotten some UJ tops from Bloomingdales, Nordstrom, and Saks— and I’m pretty sure anything I got from UJ were on sale, because they’re so insanely pricey. Also, Shopbop carries her designs, but you can get them via Amazon since they own Shopbop. So keep looking— you might luck out at some point!
(For an item like this that’s in high demand because of Meghan, if I really loved them, I might *buy* them at full price if I happened to luck out enough to see them in my size, BUT leave the tags on, and keep checking and checking until they eventually go on sale, then promptly return them and buy them right back at the sale price.
It’s embarrassing and, uh, “frowned upon,” but they can’t stop you as long as you’re within the return window. Can you tell I’ve done this a few times, lol.)
I remember J Crew from Michelle Obama days (not an American, so have never bought anything from there, although I know about Lyons).
Meghan is like a lot of professional women who mix high and low, and is relatively diplomatic in that style of dressing. I have been liking her polished wardrobe so far. It’s comfortable and doing a lot of the heavy work.