Kate Middleton Just Broke With Tradition and Wore the Chicest Mismatched Shoe-and-Bag Combination

After many years spent monitoring and reporting on Catherine, Princess of Wales’s wardrobe, I’ve become rather familiar with her tried-and-true styling formulas. Chief among them? Her signature accessory move: matching her bag to her shoes. It’s a subtle trick that adds instant cohesion, and it’s a template she returns to time and again.

So when a new set of images of the Princess landed on my desk today, I was surprised to realise that Kate had broken with her own long-standing tradition, stepping out in the chicest mismatched shoe-and-bag combination for an engagement in London today.

Wearing a custom Emilia Wickstead houndstooth dress in soft powder blue, Kate kept the look streamlined with a pair of slate-grey mock-croc heels. Then, instead of echoing the tone in her handbag as she usually would, she introduced contrast with DeMellier’s chocolate-brown Hudson bag (£415).

Crafted from sumptuous suede and finished with refined belt detailing, the Hudson bag’s rich espresso shade brought warmth and dimension to the cool-toned ensemble without straying from her signature sophistication.