Princess Kate was out in London yesterday for the opening of the Young V&A and she rewore a Beulah dress for the occasion and it’s pink and while pink dressing isn’t new for Kate – we’ve seen her in her fair share of pink over the years – right now when it comes to pink clothing, the immediate association is Barbie, given that the movie is opening and there’s been so much talk about the looks.
Let’s not pretend that Barbiecore hasn’t been a trend in the year since the movie went into production last summer and right up to its release this summer. So I’m not saying that Kate is doing Barbiecore intentionally, but it can be considered Barbiecore – Royal Barbiecore?
你会认为她是一个很好的候选人Barbiecore. And yet… I’m not sure this is a strong addition to the Barbiecore catalogue. Because Barbiecore isn’t just pink. Pink obviously is one of Barbie’s signature colours but it’s never, um, boring pink. Barbiecore is very much a modern trend. Barbiecore is not Barbie of the past but Barbie set in the time of this movie, Barbie for the 2020s, which means Barbiecore is bold and vibrant – the tone of the pink is bright, it’s extra, it’s over-the-top. Barbiecore, in general, rhymes with more.
And Kate’s Barbiecore is, well, it’s not more, it’s less.
Like this dress, even taking it away from Barbiecore, is a snore. The shade of pink is dull, the length is dull, the fit-and-flare cut is basic AF, and the white pumps are frustratingly nothingburgers which… that’s the word I would use to describe her style: frustrating.
I mean of course I get it, she has limitations and a thousand rules she has to follow and the MiniVan Majority to keep onside so there’s no world in which she could really actually do Barbiecore, but through a style lens it’s just a bummer because she has access to almost everything and it would be so much more interesting to see her in some different looks, especially something that was truly Barbiecore. Imagine her in a pair of platforms, for example. I want to see that! She would look good! But the fact is, Royal Barbiecore is impossible. I wonder if it bums her out too.
