Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton's flying hemline woes

Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton's flying hemline woes

The Duchess of Cambridge has suffered a couple of embarrassing wardrobe malfunctions recently involving windy weather and flying hemlines.

The German tabloid Bild published revealing photographs of the Duchess during her Australia trip in which her billowing summer dresses revealed her bottom in all its apparently unclothed glory.

British magazines and newspapers refused to publish the pictures, so they were sold to the German press. This is not the first time the royals have faced the publication of revealing pictures. Most famously, in 2012, a French magazine published photographs of Kate topless during a holiday at a Provence chateau.

But there is actually a simple solution to her flyaway hems, one used by no less than Queen Elizabeth II herself.

A Daily Mail article published in April revealed that the Queen's favourite couturier Stewart Parvin sews circular lead curtain weights into her hemlines. The weights are sourced from Chelsea department store Peter Jones (£1.50 for a pack of four).

Of course Parvin is not the only savvy tailor to understand the use of weights to make sure a garment hangs right.

Most famously, designer Coco Chanel redesigned a man's jacket in the 1950s and turned it into a collarless classic for womenswear. The secret to the perfect silhouette in a Chanel jacket? A thin gold chain sewn into the hem which keeps it hanging perfectly.

Perhaps the Duchess of Cambridge should tell her favourite designers to start customising her hemlines with weights from now on.


This article was first published on May 27, 2014.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

This website is best viewed using the latest versions of web browsers.