When I read in Grazia today that Vivenne Westwood had criticised Kate Middleton's style it did get me thinking. Apparently, having criticised her eye-liner, she then went on to refer to her image as being that of an "ordinary woman" as opposed to that of an "extraordinary woman". Really, I just thought that it made her sound a little pathetic and I felt a bit uneasy about the whole thing but I wasn't sure why. I don't have particularly strong views on VW, and whilst I think that Kate is pretty I wouldn't say that I am obsessed with her in a kind of crying/screaming/where's my Kate scrapbook kind of way.
However, I tried to think of some kind of analogy to see whether my response to VW's comments about Kate was unreasonable. So I thought about the Grande Dames of the acting world, the equivalent of VW if you like, but in their own field. Would Judi Dench or Helen Mirren criticise a young actor in the same way? I doubt it. Surely they would nurture young actors, giving them encouragement and words of wisdom when they set out on their journey. And anyway, Kate has never held herself out to be a style icon, a trend setter or anything along those lines. She just married her chap, who happens to be the future King of England, which means that she is very visible. So if the girl wants to wear tan tights and nude shoes just let her. If she likes her eyeliner and her long hair who is VW to say otherwise. If she likes to do a bit of fashion re-cyling and wear a fascinator good on her. I am sure that she has her own views on VW's style.
My final conclusion was that men wouldn't behave like that towards other men and that's why I felt uneasy. So much for sisterhood and all that - which is why, if I criticised VW, I wouldn't really be advancing my own argument very much. So this is all that I will say about the matter - she should "button it". It can be tartan if she likes, and she can sew it on herself , but if she can't say anything positive she should spend her time doing something constructive instead like (insert your own thoughts). Alternatively, as my son says, Kate should just say " Off with her head." Right, I will now get off my soap box.
