I so wanted Meghan to be fulfilled. But these NINE outfits made me realise she was going from Duchess to D-List

I so wanted Meghan to be fulfilled. But these NINE outfits made me realise she was going from Duchess to D-List
Clothes, of course, are a window to a woman’s soul.

So, one wonders, what on earth is Meghan trying to tell us with her new style direction?

A fortnight ago, the Duchess of Sussex turned up on the red carpet in an overly revealing Carolina Herrera U-neck – I prefer to call it a U-bend – split-hem dress that was truly surprising in its dishevelment and inappropriateness for a children’s charity gala event.

And it wasn’t just her ill-fitting dress: Meghan’s hair looked wet and tangled, and her toes were exposed in skimpy sandals.

It was such a turnaround from her old chic, together style – so determinedly ‘look-at-me’ – that even I, a staunch advocate ever since Meghan entered public life, could no longer sing her praises.
A children’s charity event hardly seemed the place to flash quite so much flesh.

Meghan and Harry left the UK and their public duties in January 2020 and, it seems, as her royal life unravelled, so has her dress sense, writes Liz Jones

A piece I then wrote in this newspaper saying as much received over 4,000 comments and started a Twitter storm.
So many readers agreed with me that Meghan’s look was a disappointing low.

When she was part of the Firm, don’t forget, we had sleek up-dos, discreet simplicity, couture and closed toes (toe cleavage is frowned upon in a cathedral, at any royal occasion or palace).
But she and Harry left the UK and their public duties in January 2020 and, it seems, as her royal life unravelled, so has her dress sense.

I strongly believe Meghan’s fashion choices reflect how she feels more accurately than any solemn interview or gobbledegook speech.

So, for a woman who said she was so keen to ‘find her voice’, what does this gaping, overly-revealing red dress tell us?

To my mind, it seems she’s trying to be sexy, instead of dignified or chic. She desperately needs a good stylist, and a stable of straight-talking designers who will rush to her aid. When Diana was making mistakes with sheer skirts, over-exposed décolletage and droopy polka dots, British Vogue’s Anna Harvey stepped up and helped transform her.

Now Meghan needs someone of the calibre of Anna Wintour, Vogue’s Editor-in-Chief, to guide her. Because I can only see the outfits getting worse if not. And that’s no good for her, for Harry or for the fashion industry. I hear several big brands are wary about lending her clothes.

Also – why the frequent red carpet public appearances? Perhaps she wants the British public to believe she’s busy, that her life has meaning. Sadly – and it is sad it has come to this – we are all thinking, ‘Oh no, not another red carpet, not another charity gala!’

I so wanted Meghan to be fulfilled – not this thin, haunted-looking woman, who’s doing teapot poses in front of yet more photographers.

She once seemed set to break the mould, but as the wheels have come off her post-Royal life – the failed commercial deals, the lost goodwill from those crowds of fans – these photographs charting Meghan’s fashion journey prove she’s no longer conveying that early promise. That upbeat, modern, empowered woman is, sadly, no longer to be seen.
Looking back at Meghan’s key fashion moments, you can see this slow, creeping metamorphosis from Duchess to D-List.