In the months leading up to the royal wedding, Meghan Markle’s ability to make an item of clothing sell out in a matter of moments seems to have increased exponentially: thanks to the soon-to-be royal’s golden touch, we’ve coveted handbags from previously under-the-radar label Strathberry, coats by Canadian brand Sentaler and £45 knits from a British classic, Marks and Spencer.
Such is the power of the Meghan Effect that each and every one of her sartorial choices is documented and analysed in minute detail; so, when it came to recreating the former actress’s personal style for the inevitable Lifetime Movie rendition of her relationship with Harry, where would a costume designer start (besides ordering a job lot of wrap coats in neutral tones, we imagine)?
According to Claudia Da Ponte, the designer tasked with recreating Meghan’s wardrobe for Harry & Meghan: A Royal Romance, Meghan’s now-deleted Instagram account was indispensable as a starting point. In an interview with Town&Country, she explains how she and her team used pictures pulled from social media – along with websites dedicated to documenting Meghan’s style, such as Meghan’s Mirror – to create a timeline of outfits. ‘Then, it was just the matter of comparing the real life dates when she wore pieces and the dates in our movie and trying to correlate as much as possible,’ she tells Town&Country.
One real-life outfit that made it into the film was a striking red dress, worn for a chat show appearance. ‘When Meghan did the press tour for Suits in New York, she wore this beautiful red dress – it’s always compared to a red dress that Kate Middleton wore,’ Da Ponte told the magazine. ‘In the scene, Meghan’s trying stuff with a stylist, and she comes out in this amazing red dress. I just love it on her.’
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle met in London in July 2016.
Of course, there is no Instagram evidence of, say, Meghan and Harry‘s first date for example, meaning that Da Ponte had to use a little creative licence, applying what she knew of Meghan’s personal style to create a situation-appropriate outfit. ‘Obviously with looks where there are no photos or evidence, it was a matter of what brands does she wear and what do you think she would have worn?’ she goes on to explain. ‘I just tried to stay true to her personal style.’ Jewellery-wise, promo photos from Lifetime show Parisa Fitz-Henley’s Meghan wearing one of the his-and-hers ‘promise bracelets’ that provided the first clue as to her relationship with Harry back in 2016.
What you won’t see in Harry & Meghan, however, are any attempts to predict or pre-empt Meghan’s wedding dress; you’ll have to wait until May 19th for the real deal.
Note: Since this article was published, it turned out that Meghan had a secret Instagram all along.
