{"id":138858,"date":"2023-10-07T10:23:35","date_gmt":"2023-10-07T10:23:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magdelaine.net\/?p=138858"},"modified":"2023-10-07T10:23:35","modified_gmt":"2023-10-07T10:23:35","slug":"leather-can-be-chic-for-mid-life-royals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magdelaine.net\/lifestyle\/leather-can-be-chic-for-mid-life-royals\/","title":{"rendered":"Leather can be chic for mid-life royals"},"content":{"rendered":"
I have a pair of chocolate brown leather leggings that I love to wear in the winter with a huge sweater \u2013 long enough to cover my bottom and top of my thighs \u2013 and wellies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yet every time I wear said leggings, my father is baffled.<\/p>\n
My sisters unfailingly ask, \u2018where\u2019s the Harley Davidson?\u2019, but my father\u2019s confusion comes from an entrenched view among people of his age that they just can\u2019t shift: leather = dominatrix.<\/p>\n
But as I am trying to prove, and a bunch of senior royals, it would appear, leather can be chic – impossibly so.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, 58 in a black leather ensemble when she visited Brooklands Innovation Academy this week<\/p>\n
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Queen Letizia wears one of her many leather skirts in Madrid this year, She finds a balance between leather and fabric to perfect the look<\/p>\n
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Queen Maxima has colour blocked perfectly. Leather burgundy culottes are worn with a pussy bow blouse that immediately makes the outfit more feminine<\/p>\n
Queen\u00a0Letizia of Spain is a huge fan of leather midi skirts and culottes, and possibly the most elegant of royal leather wearers.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Sophie\u00a0proved that even us stuffy Brits can get on board by stepping out two days ago for a visit to the Brooklands Museum in Surrey in a leather midi skirt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And this is an ageless trend \u2013 leather, worn correctly, looks great on those in the 50-plus age bracket as much as it does on 20-somethings.<\/p>\n
Sophie is 58, Letizia 51.\u00a0Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, 52, loves her burgundy leather culottes. Queen Rania of Jordan, 53, regularly wears a black skirt.<\/p>\n
Modernists like to say that \u2018fashion rules are dead\u2019. Leather is undoubtedly the exception.<\/p>\n
It is possible to make black leather skirts and trousers look good, but for the newcomer to leather, burgundy, forest green or chocolate brown are easier to style without venturing into Pretty Woman (pre-makeover) territory.<\/p>\n
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Queen Rania seems to take a leaf out Letizia’s fashion book on a 2019 visit to Madrid<\/p>\n
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Queen Mathilde in a burgundy leather skirt and matching silk blouse at a conference in Belgium in 2021<\/p>\n
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Princess Diana was ahead of her time in a leather pencil skirt at a Eurythmics Concert in 1986<\/p>\n
If the leather skirt is pencil in shape or the trousers anything near to form-fitting, it is better to pair with a looser top (a silk pussybow shirt is always a safe bet, as the royals know) to balance out proportions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Culottes and A-line midi skirts are safer bets again for the new-to-leather than more tailored options. Tight leather, especially black, paired with a tight top half is never going to look elegant. Silk or cashmere drapes beautifully and provides a nice contrast of textures \u2013 head-to-toe leather is for motorcyclists only, please.<\/p>\n
Princess Diana was naturally ahead of her time, wearing a leather pencil skirt to a Eurhythmics concert at Wembley Arena in 1986. And if she dared to wear leather in 1986, I\u2019m determined my leather leggings can make themselves at home in 2023 \u2013 even on a farm in Norfolk.<\/p>\n