Kate wins over the fashion gurus

Great expectations were heaped on the Duchess of Cambridge when she embarked on her first Royal overseas visit to Canada.

Fashionistas were poised to watch her every sartorial move, sizing up her choices and the statements she made with each dress, hat and bag she wore.

It was a fine line to tread, with Kate expected to showcase both British and Canadian labels; to look the part while avoiding appearing too flash.

The verdict from style critics was broadly positive, yet in some corners it was whispered there was room for improvement.

The Duchess boarded the plane at Heathrow wearing a navy blazer by Toronto-based Smythe les Vestes, a gracious nod to her host country.

After a mid-air wardrobe change, she landed on Canadian soil wearing a dress by Erdem Moralioglu, a Montreal-born designer.

Canadian fashion experts applauded this diplomatic overture.

But some had hoped she would stepped out in a few more Canadian labels during her stay.

Mosha Lundstrom Halbert, associate fashion news editor at Canadian fashion magazine Flare, said: “I thought she would wear other Canadian designers.

“I think there was this appetite for her to wear more Canadian stuff than she has.”

But the Duchess could not be accused of ignoring local sentiment: On Canada Day she dressed in the country’s national colours of white and red.

Her red Sylvia Fletcher hat was even decorated with the national emblem of maple leaves.

Her decision to pair this with the draped Nanette Reiss dress she wore for her engagement photos last year raised eyebrows in some quarters however.

Ms Lundstrom Halbert said: “I get that she recycled, but you don’t re-wear a dress like that. It shouldn’t be part of her everyday wardrobe.”

She expressed similar feelings about Kate “recycling” the Issa bird-print dress she wore the night before her wedding, although she admitted it showed she was no out-of-touch royal.

“I think it’s something that makes her more modern,” she said. “The idea of having a different outfit for every single day might come off too showy and obviously she prefers to wear things that are more tried and tested and true.”

But she had not simply thrown outfits together with little thought, she said.

Instead, she showed awareness that photos of the visit were likely to be reproduced for decades to come, Ms Lundstrom Halbert suggested.

“I think a lot of her fashion choices are informed by not wanting to wear things that are going to date,” she said. “Repeating classics means her look is instantly timeless yet iconic.”

And she congratulated the Duchess for using fashion to her advantage while avoiding being a fashion victim.