As soon as the warmer weather arrives the royals jump at the chance to re-wear their floral dresses and Duchess Sophie has recently added a new one to her collection.
She stepped out wearing the Max Mara Wales silk dress during her trip to Brussels in March and now she’s re-styled it for a visit to the Princess Margaret Hospital. The King’s sister-in-law undertook an engagement there on 28th April wearing this gorgeous dress that’s giving us plenty of spring outfit ideas.
A lot of pieces with floral motifs feature either vibrant colours and a large print, or are a blend of subtle pastels and greens. It’s rarer to find a beautiful floral design which keeps to just two colours - and green and white is even more unusual.
Shop Minimal Floral Dresses
You can currently snap up this glamorous green and white floral dress with 15% off at Hobbs and it comes in both regular and petite lengths. We'd wear it with espadrille wedges, heels or trainers depending on whether we want to dress it up even more or make it more relaxed.
This shirt dress has a feminine tiered skirt which adds movement and dimension and a button-front design. The white and green print is delicate and the puffed sleeves give it extra structure. On a cooler day layer this with a denim jacket for a relaxed but elegant look.
Affordable and so pretty, this blue and white floral dress is a lovely option if you're not a fan of green but love Duchess Sophie's style. It has long puffed sleeves with elasticated cuffs like her dress and comes with a detachable tie waist belt. There is a gathered band in the skirt for extra volume.
Shop More Of Sophie's Spring Favourites
The Duchess of Sussex wore her platform espadrilles in Nepal earlier this year and she'll likely wear them a lot over the next few months too. They provide elevation whilst still being comfortable and they have a removable insole, rubber outsole and the beautiful jute espadrille detailing.
Duchess Sophie recently added this delicate Missoma bracelet to her collection and we can imagine her wearing it with her Max Mara dress. It's 18ct gold plated and has a discreet fastening. If you wanted to change up the look you can also add clip-on charms to the links.
When you want to make a smart outfit more casual or just be comfortable, Duchess Sophie's PUMA trainers are a great pick. Inspired by tennis shoes, they feature a chunky sole and subtle gold branding. They're crafted with a leather upper and rubber sole.
The Duchess’ dress was crafted from luxurious silk and had a classic shirt dress shape, with a neat collar and midi-length skirt. The bodice was fitted and the long sleeves had a billowing shape that was so feminine.
The shirred cuffs allowed the senior royal to easily push the sleeves up to elbow length, creating even more dimension. The print on this dress was a blend of flowers and leaves, making it a little more understated and sophisticated than a traditional splashy or ditsy floral pattern.
Although it wouldn’t work for everyone, we think that the abundance of emerald green over the white background means that it could double as one of the best wedding guest dresses.
White and green together is a pretty combination and the contrast between the lighter and darker tones on Duchess Sophie’s outfit accentuated the delicate print.
Even if these two hues aren’t for you, this look showed how exceptionally elegant floral dresses can be if you stick to a simpler design with a few key colours that work for you. It makes them feel even more refined and the royal leaned into this minimal feel with her accessories too.
She wore a pair of white Jimmy Choo kitten heels with a black trim and pearl detailing and carried a green Sophie Habsburg clutch. Both of these have been favourites in the Duchess of Edinburgh’s wardrobe for some time and they perfectly complemented the Max Mara dress.
Just because floral dresses like this look so stunning for special occasions and events doesn’t mean you can’t style them more low-key too. To make a dress like Duchess Sophie’s more casual we’d swap the heels for our white trainers or flat sandals and add a crossbody bag.
However, for a high-profile royal engagement at The Princess Margaret Hospital, her more elevated approach was wonderful.
The Duchess was there to mark their 45th anniversary and she toured the hospital and met members of clinical staff and patients, including those on the children’s ward.
It was one of three engagements she undertook that day and she kicked off her schedule wearing a smart tailored co-ord as she visited The Lighthouse in Aldershot.
