Duchess Sophie upholds her own royal fashion tradition with dusty blue Garden Party outfit and her maxi dress is divine

Duchess Sophie has upheld her own royal fashion tradition with her stunning dusty blue outfit at a Garden Party in Scotland.

Sometimes there are occasions when we don’t want to wear our best jumpsuit or midi dresses and it’s at times like those that a maxi dress can be a brilliant alternative. Maxi dresses can often be a beautiful choice for day-wear if you style them more casually and for special events, they can be show-stopping. This was how we felt after seeing Duchess Sophie’s dusty blue maxi dress for a Garden Party at the Palace of Holyroodhouse on 2nd July. She braved the rain in this pastel number from Roland Mouret. We often see the Duchess of Edinburgh in pink and floral prints in summer but this blue dress was a style switch-up that really paid off.

It was the epitome of pared back elegance, with a single block colour and subtle fit-and-flare silhouette. Duchess Sophie’s dress had a modest scoop neckline and draped down to just above her ankles, with the only additional detail coming in the form of a bow on one shoulder.

Shop Dusty Blue

Shop Metallic Clutch Bags

This adornment lay flat and because of this it wasn’t overwhelmingly bold and it echoed the flowing lines of the rest of the dress. The dusty blue hue was also the perfect cool-toned pastel for this special occasion and gave Duchess Sophie’s outfit an almost ethereal feel with its silvery undertone. 

It brought out the blue of her eyes too and if you’ve ever found yourself wondering "what colour suits me?", pastels like this look especially lovely on those with summer colouring. The Duchess of Edinburgh matched the blue of her dress to her incredible hat and it was great to see her upholding her very unique royal styling tradition. 

As many fans will already know, Duchess Sophie is a huge fan of a flamboyant - and often feather adorned - hat. She’s worn so many during her time as a royal and this latest one from Jane Taylor was so pretty.

It had a sweeping angular shape with long, delicate feather decorations and silvery netting nestled amongst them too. It was a very *her* hat for the Duchess of Edinburgh to wear and it looked lovely with her dress, although if you want to recreate this outfit you needn’t add a hat yourself. You can add dusty blue into your wardrobe in the form of a dress, shirt or skirt or even just draw inspiration from the dress’s maxi length.

Duchess Sophie finished off her Garden Party look with a large gunmetal clutch bag by Sophie Habsburg that brought out the cool tones of her blue outfit and a pair of pinky-beige Jimmy Choo Rosalia patent pumps. These shoes had a delicate pearl detail running across the front of the toe and added some instant glamour, though her maxi dress would have worked just as well with a pair of ballet flats at a more low-key event.

This Garden Party is one of several that have been held so far this year and the Duchess of Edinburgh attended one at Buckingham Palace in May. For this event she went for a head-to-toe cherry blossom pink look with a dress from Suzannah London. This particular piece made it into her suitcase for Scotland as she wore it again for the Order of the Thistle service on 3rd July with an impressive wide-brimmed hat with a sweet floral print on the inside.