Reverse Culture Shock

It appears that I am not the only one who loves this olive green Ralph Lauren sweater dress Kate Middleton wore to a charity visit in London this week.

I don’t usually buy clothes I see celebrities wear. I gave that up in the Madonna “Like a Virgin” era. But I had to make an exception when I saw that lovely shade of green, and that flattering fit (although when your waist is as tiny as the Duchess of Cambridge’s, anything can look flattering).

In my defense, Kate Middleton’s Centrepoint attire was not my only shopping inspiration. I already have a bright red Ralph Lauren sweater dress, which is cozy and comfortable. So the Duchess isn’t the first to break out the turtleneck dress for the winter. But you can’t beat olive green.

I looked on Ralph Lauren’s website to find the dress (on sale!) for $199, marked down from $400. I called to ask a very helpful sales associate whether the dress was available in the flagship shop on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. My plan was to dispatch my Dad to pick it up, after I put it on hold.

The sales rep said that there were four in stock, and she would gladly have the shop set one aside for me.

I waited on hold, thinking that I had beat the hoards of Middleton admirers who might also have their eyes on that dress. But in the next five minutes, the four dresses were gone. While I waited on the phone, apparently four other Royal watchers snatched up the remaining dresses. At least my Dad can breathe a sigh of relief, when he finds out that he dodged the shopping scrum.

I managed to buy one online, before they disappeared. But now I worry that I will be a part of an olive green copy-Kate army, appearing in the UK this Christmas.