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Meghan Markle’s Post-Baby Dress Is Actually Sending a Big Message

Sure, we’re still not over baby Archie’s adorable little cheeks and lips, since mom Meghan Markle and dad Prince Harry presented their new royal baby to the world on Wednesday.

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But we were also excited to see Markle in her first appearance since giving birth and the important sartorial statement she'd make with her fashion choices. With all the eyes of the world on her as she and Prince Harry debuted their 2-day-old son Archie, the Duchess of Sussex decided to don a trench dress by Grace Wales Bonner, a young British designer.

meghan markle prince harry baby sussex at windsor
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The talented 28-year-old British designer is of mixed-race, just like Markle, and designed the belted white trench dress the duchess wore for her baby’s first photocall. Bonner, whose mother is British and father Jamaican, graduated from renowned London fashion school Central Saint Martins in 2014. She’s had two award-winning collections: Afrique won the L’Oreal Professional Talent Prize, and her 2015 Ebonics collection was awarded Emerging Menswear Designer at the British Fashion Awards.

She recently took home BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund’s top prize, and her collections often blur gender lines and experiment with gender fluidity. “My work is about being open to interpretation,” she told London-based arts and culture magazine The Gentlewoman. And, not so coincidentally, Markle has previously stated she wants to avoid exposing her child to gender stereotypes, according to Variety, and planned a gender-neutral nursery in a gray and white color scheme.

meghan markle looking at baby archie
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Let's not forget that, at the tender age of 11, Markle expounded on the harmfulness of sexism in commercials in her first-ever TV appearance—specifically, an Ivory dish soap campaign that tasked women with all the household duties. She wrote a letter to the company, who later changed the voiceover in the commercial to say "people" instead of women.

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We loved that Markle wore the double-breasted shirtdress belted above her postpartum bump, a prominent—and rah-rah reminder—that, no, the baby weight doesn’t go away overnight. She also wore her hair in loose, relaxed and slightly tousled waves, another reminder that though she may have a royal glam squad waiting in the wings, it's totally OK to not have a Dry Bar-worthy blowout two days after giving birth.

Yes, baby Archie. You already have A LOT to be proud of.



RF1

Director, Branded Content + Cohost, Royally Obsessed Podcast

As Director of Branded Content at Gallery Media Group, Roberta helps oversee the ideation and execution of sponsored content and experiential campaigns across PureWow and ONE37pm...