How to dress like a royal — on a rubbish budget

Want to look like you have pedigree when the only member of your family with breeding is your dog? From posh boy pants to sensible shoes, here are six style rules the Royal Family follows.

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Want to look like you have pedigree when the only member of your family with breeding is your dog? From posh boy pants to sensible shoes, here are six style rules the Royal Family follows.

1. POSH BOY PANTS

Prince Harry has a stash... Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

As does his older brother. Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Royal chaps wear a uniform — polo shirt, crisp shirt, expensive sweater and posh boy pants, aka chinos. Often in stone or a strange mustard colour, the smartly-pressed chino is the go-to trouser for the upper-class man in the summer, swapped with a moleskin in the winter. They go for brands such as Barbour, Hackett and R.M. Williams. Prince Harry likes reasonably-priced Dockers, $109, shopstyle.com.au

2. SENSIBLE SHOES

The Duchess of Cambridge in heels you can actually walk in. Picture: AFP Photo/William West

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, is single-footedly keeping the wedge in fashion as they are heels you can actually walk in. She even ran through the sand in a pair at Manly Beach in 2014. And while controversially, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, rocks a spiky stiletto, she has a trick of wearing shoes half a size too big so they don’t hurt her half way through an event and see her staggering about like a Randwick Races casualty. Both women usually choose neutral tones including the dreaded nude colour, so the shoe is never the focus. Brands the duchesses adore are Aquascutum, Manolo Blahnik and Christian Louboutin for Meghan and Jimmy Choo, L.K. Bennett and Russell and Bromley for Kate. For a budget option, choose plain pumps and keep the heels immaculate.

3. SHEER TIGHTS

Catherine likes tights that come with grips on their feet from johnlewis.com.

Much has been written about the Stepford Wife-style sheer tights the ladies of the Royal Family sport and how Meghan appears to have been sucked into an insidious hosiery harem. But before we get our pantyhose in a pickle, there’s no actual rule that royals must wear American tan tights and the younger women do go barelegged sometimes. In order to combat the slippy-shoe issue, Catherine likes tights that come with grips on their feet from johnlewis.com. There are even toeless sheer tights, should you need to up the glamour — like Voodoo’s version, $10, davidjones.com.au

4. GOOD HAIR

One’s hair is of vital importance. This writer once passed an interview with society publishers Conde Nast UK, where the head of H.R. noted, “Good hair”. Royal men keep it cropped and clean — you literally never see a hair out of place on their heads, even if Prince William doesn’t have many left. Similarly, there are no way-out hairstyles for the ladies, who are a neat and tidy glossy posse. Think Catherine’s newsreader blow-dry she’s had for years, compared to Meghan’s error in not tying her hair back when she accompanied The Queen to Cheshire in June and got in a complete flap when the wind blew.

5. DEMURE DOES IT

Princess Diana caused a scandal in 1981 with this dress not long after she became engaged to Prince Charles. Picture: Tim Graham/Getty Images

Ladies of social standing dress demurely — especially for their own weddings. That’s why Catherine and Meghan both had wedding dresses with sleeves, no strapless gowns for them. Diana, Princess of Wales fell foul of this on her first outing with Prince Charles post engagement in 1981, when the then quite buxom blonde wore a strapless black Emanuel ball gown that showed so much cleavage it caused a scandal. Despite Diana wearing many strapless frocks throughout her life, nowadays Catherine and Meghan tend to keep relatively covered up — Meghan was even accused of showing too much skin with an off-the-shoulder Caroline Herrera dress at Trooping the Colour in June. They follow the rule of revealing legs or cleavage — such as last week when Meghan wore a mini tuxedo dress from Judith and Charles, $583 — bargain hunters can get a version for $21.60 from boohoo.com

6. GOOD TAILORING

Savile Row. Picture: LifeStyle Channel.

From The Queen’s frocks and coats to Charles’s morning suits, William and Harry’s day suits and Catherine and Meghan’s dresses, it’s all down to the tailoring. Charles, William and Harry like tailors Gieves and Hawkes, but you can fake the Savile Row effect by simply getting your off-the-peg suits taken in. At the very least make sure the trousers are the right length — bunched up material on the legs is the ultimate style faux-pas. Similarly, for women, forget the size on the tag, make sure your clothes fit well. A blue-blood never has bulges or bursting-buttons - if in doubt, buy bigger and take them to a tailor.