Kate Middleton.Photo: Samir Hussein/WireImage
Kate Middleton’s most vibrant Caribbean tour outfit yet is a vintage find — with a personalized twist.
“It’s a dream come true, and I can’t stop beaming,” Willow Hilson, the founder of the Cheltenham-based independent boutique, tells PEOPLE. “I’ve been doing this since I was 21, and all I ever wanted was someone like Kate to wear a dress of mine!”
Hilson bought the 1950s dress from the original owner and describes it as having an “iconic New Look silhouette that cinches in along the waistline and a wonderful wide skirt.”
“Kate doesn’t often wear spaghetti straps, so they used the shawl to widen the straps,” explains Hilson. “I think it’s a great adjustment — it looks amazing on her.”
Willow Hilson dress - the original design.Courtesy Willow Hilson
“It was so apt, because it’s got all the great Caribbean colors, it’s such a reggaeton kind of dress in its color palette – she looks like she is having a whale of a time!” says the vintage expert.
Kate Middleton wearing Willow Hilson Vintage in Jamaica March 2022.Pool/Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty
It’s not the first time Kate has chosen to wear vintage on the couple’s ongoing tour of the Caribbean. Departing Belize on Tuesday, Kate teamed a white pair of trousers with a red vintage Yves Saint Laurent jacket that had been in her closet for more than two decades — she bought it while studying at St. Andrews, where she and William met.
Kate Middleton departing Belize - March 2022.Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty
“Sustainability in fashion is a big conversation right now,” says Hilson, who opened her original boutique in 2012 before moving to Cheltenham in 2019. " I hope it will be ongoing. I think getting someone like Kate on board with that is really good, because it shows people that it’s okay to wear second hand and it’s okay to wear vintage."
Although Kate has recycled (and on occasion upcycled!) her outfits for many years, it’s the first time she has worn vintage looks in such quick succession. It’s also the first time she has worn an outfit from the 1950s. (She wore a pink-and-black polka dot vintage Oscar de la Renta dress in 2020 that is believed to be from a more recent era.)
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Kate Middleton in an upcycled dress in India 2016.Chris Jackson/Getty Images
Hilson, who has been inundated with calls from around the world since Kate wore her vintage find, says she couldn’t be happier that the dress found such a high-profile home: “I think every vintage shop owner dreams of someone likeKate Middletonwearing one of their dresses. It’s quite unexpected but just amazing.”
source: people.com
