“凱特效應”：王室時尚叱吒澳洲
It's an awkward reality of royal reporting that we're also in the fashion business. To be perfectly frank I've no expertise nor credibility in this area but I do what I can by forwarding on any details I get from the palace. I also lean heavily on those who know what they're talking about.
I'm certainly not dismissive. The "Kate effect" is a widely accepted phenomenon in the fashion business. The Duchess of Cambridge isn't known for high fashion; in fact she often wears high-street outfits that might even be -- gasp! -- out of season. But, when they're available, they'll sell out within hours of her wearing them, guaranteed.
On tours like this one in Australia, there are new outfits appearing every day. When they're in the vaguely affordable bracket -- such as the $325 Diane Von Furstenberg wrap dress worn last week -- then it's spending spree time for her fans.
Fashion detectives
Central to this phenomenon is an intrepid troupe of digital fashion scouts who identify and source Kate's outfits within minutes of them appearing in public. Chief scout would be Susan Kelley, best known by her Twitter handle: @WhatKateWore.
Kelley was also the first to spot a potential challenger to Kate's royal fashion crown. Cue "The George Effect"
"Having one's child wearing the identical sweater a real-life Prince is wearing? That has a lot of cachet. Especially when it's something you can find at your local Baby Gap store," says Kelley.
During George's main public engagement at Government House in Wellington, he was dressed in a pair of "sailboat smocked dungarees" by the British designer Rachel Riley. They were an instant seek-out in the smaller sizes.
Susan Kelley says: "There is also the allure that comes with scarcity. If there is such a thing as the anti-Kardashian baby then Prince George is it. He is not paraded out and about, his parents are not making deals to sell rights to photographs of him, he is very much protected behind the proverbial Palace walls. Nor is he seen wearing something new every time he is in public.
"The Duchess has done the same thing with his wardrobe she does with her own: repeating and recycling outfits. While the Prince has worn some more upscale items, designer duds for the sandbox set if you will, he has also worn those pieces more than once. His little cardigan with the soldiers on the front? Seen at least twice on the tour. His blue dungarees with the sailboat? Worn twice. I don't believe the Duchess has any intention of turning him into a clotheshorse."
Practical fashion?
Kate certainly has a more relaxed sartorial approach than her regal predecessors. "This hasn't been a vintage tour as far as royal fashion goes," says Rebecca English, royal correspondent for the UK's Daily Mail newspaper. "But then, given the more casual nature of the trip, it hasn't leaned itself to it either."
So far in Australia, the talk has been more about Kate's shoes than her outfits, says English: "Particularly the fact that the Duchess has been wedded to her favorite wedge heels in even the most inappropriate situations.
"She wore five inch Russell and Bromley 'Corkswoon' wedges to walk around a mountain ledge with a stomach-churning 300-foot sheer drop in the Blue Mountains, and on the world famous surf beach at Manly she doggedly kept on her four inch Stuart Weizmann 'Minx' heels as she walked across the sand - even though her most senior aide had kicked hers off."
Who knew the subtle sacrifices a duchess makes in the name of fashion? Or, indeed, that I would be reporting on it?身處時尚圈而報道王室時尚是件尷尬的事。說真的，在這一領域我並不專業也沒多大可信度。但我盡我所能跟進從皇室裏得到的任何細節，我也同樣依賴消息靈通的內部人士來獲取消息。
當然，我可沒對王室時尚不屑一顧。在時尚圈“凱特效應”是被廣泛接受的。劍橋夫人並不是因爲高端時尚而出名：實際上，她經常穿高街時尚的套裝，有時甚至令人倒吸一口氣--穿過氣的衣服。但是，可以確定的是：但只要這些衣服有庫存，它們便會在王妃穿過的幾個小時之內銷售一空。
像這次的澳大利亞之旅，凱特每天都會穿一些新款套裝出現。當民衆可以接受它的價格時--如她上週穿的價值325美元的黛安·馮芙絲汀寶連衣裙--她的粉絲們就迅速購進了。
時尚偵探
該現象的主要成因在於那些網絡時尚偵探，他們可在幾分鐘內鑑別和查出凱特王妃公共場所的着裝。蘇珊·凱利(Susan Kelley)可謂是首席時尚偵探她因自己的推特@WhatKateWore而出名。
凱利也是第一個發現凱特王妃王室時尚皇冠的潛在挑戰者。線索可見“喬治效應”。
凱利說：“孩子穿上現實中王子的毛衣？這太有吸引力了，尤其是當你在當地的蓋普（Gap）嬰兒裝櫃檯能找到這件毛衣的時候。”
當喬治王子出現在惠靈頓的政府大樓時，他穿的是由英國設計師瑞秋·萊利（Rachel Riley）設計的一套帆船揹帶短褲。小號尺碼的這套服飾很快便找到了。
蘇珊·凱利說：“稀缺導致誘惑。假如有非卡戴珊（美國女星卡戴珊以向公衆兜售她私生活爲生）式的寶貝，那就是喬治王子。他不會參與遊行、他的父母也不會交易他的肖像權利、他被衆所周知的宮殿圍牆保護着。他也並非每次現身公衆場合時都身着新衣。”
“公爵夫人做的就同小王子的着裝一樣：重複穿一樣的衣服。不過王子穿的單品更爲高檔一些，例如專爲孩子玩沙盒遊戲設計的定製服裝，如果你有注意過就會發現這件衣服他也穿了不止一次。他那件有着軍人圖案的羊毛衫呢？在旅途中至少有穿過兩次。他那件有帆船的揹帶褲呢？穿過兩次了。我相信公爵夫人並沒想把兒子打扮成一個時裝達人。”
實用時尚？
凱特的穿衣風格比以往皇室成員相比更爲隨意。英國《每日郵報》負責王室報道記者瑞貝卡（Rebecca）說，“此行，威廉夫婦並沒有走一貫的王室時尚風格。但由於此次出行並非那麼正式，他們也沒有刻意遵循王室的時尚套路。”
目前在澳大利亞，關於凱特王妃的鞋討論的比她的服裝更多些。英國人說：“尤其是公爵夫人在任何不恰當的時候都很喜歡穿坡跟鞋。”
“她穿着5英寸高羅素和布羅姆利‘Corkswoon' 系列的坡跟鞋在一個300英尺高令人暈眩的藍山山體邊緣走動。之後在世界知名的澳洲黃金海岸她堅持穿着那四英寸高的斯圖爾特·魏茨曼（Stuart Weizmann）坡跟涼鞋在沙灘上走着--即使她的高級助手踢掉了她自己的鞋。”
誰知道公爵夫人爲了這時尚犧牲了什麼呢？或者更確切地說，我會繼續關注這個問題？
