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When Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, announced their engagement in November 2010, one royal family superfan took her obsession a level higher.
Brigitte Scheffer-Drews (34), from New Hampshire in the USA, was instantly enthralled by the then-future bride’s classic, sleek style and so she decided to imitate the looks.
“When Kate came on the scene I was very interested in her,” Brigitte says.
“I had been a rather big fan of William when I was a teenager. I was so happy William had found someone to share his life with. I was so excited to see what she’d do with this large platform that’d been given to her.”
Brigitte has been dubbed the Canadian Duchess on Instagram, where she frequently shares pictures of her copying some of Kate’s most iconic looks with her followers.
In one picture she’s wearing a flawless Zara version of the blue polka-dot Alessandra Rich dress Kate wore in Prince Charles’ official 70th birthday family photographs in November 2018.
In another she looks stunning in a top version of the beautiful Prabal Gurung dress Kate wore on her tour of Singapore in September 2012.
The 34-year-old brunette describes herself as a “purist” as she buys the exact items worn by Kate wherever possible. But, she adds, she never spends more than £75 (R1 425) on clothes. She scours eBay or sources a similar item from the same brand. Sometimes she’ll buy the blouse version of a dress Kate has worn.
“I really enjoy the hunt and can't necessarily justify paying full price for some of the outfits she has worn,” Brigitte admits.
“So I’ll wait and stalk eBay and other sites until I can get it more reasonably, even if it takes a while.”
The most she’s ever spent on a full replication was the fabulous Rebecca Taylor navy tweed suit she found online for £67 (R1 273).
But the royal fan keeps it even – her love of England’s first family stretches further than just Wills and Kate.
About Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex’s marriage and pregnancy she says: “I think Harry will be an excellent father and he seems to have found genuine love with Meghan. It will be interesting to see how their role evolves while they juggle raising a family. I’ll be closely following their activities as well.”
And she’s also started copying Meghan’s looks.
But it’s still Kate she draws the most inspiration from.
“For me, it's all about having fun with fashion and doing it on a reasonable budget,” she says. “By following Kate, I’ve been exposed to brands like [British affordable luxury brand] LK Bennett and [global fashion brand] Reiss that I’d otherwise not have tried, but absolutely love.”
She estimates replicating around 30 of Kate and Meghan’s looks since starting in 2010.
It might not seem like a lot but Brigitte says she’s far from finished – there are still many outfits to repli-Kate!
Source: Magazine Features
