The Most Popular Dresses Worn By Meghan Markle
Meghan Markle has had some amazing fashion moments. Since marrying Prince Harry, she's also frequently been compared to her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana. Whether deliberate or not, Meghan has replicated many of Diana's iconic looks, even going so far as mimicking her makeup style, makeup artist Joy Adenuga noted to Express. "Meghan has always been a fan of a soft smoky eye, whether that's using gorgeous chocolate tones to mimic her eye [color], or greys and neutral tones that also enhance her natural appearance," Adenuga said. "When we think of Diana, we think straight away of her eyeliner, her sometimes blue waterline, powdered skin and peachy-pink blush and lip-gloss," she added as a point of comparison.
Stylists have argued that Meghan uses fashion to convey her feelings, and that it's easy to chronicle her life based on her sartorial choices. There's pre-royal Meghan, then there's Meghan as a senior royal, and there's Meghan after having stepped down as a working royal. Each era has its own vibe that seems significant for where Meghan's at in her life. Whichever era she's in, she certainly has the power to lure potential buyers to brands, and this influence has been aptly dubbed alternately the "Meghan Markle effect," or the "Markle Sparkle." Our girl can sell out an entire warehouse when she chooses a garment. While we could go over everything from shoes to handbags, here, we're looking at Meghan's best dresses over her years in the spotlight. And wow, there are tons to choose from!
Meghan's popular Black Halo dress
Meghan Markle wore the famous Black Halo Jackie Sheath dress in April 2018 to a women's empowerment event held in London at the Royal Aeronautical Society, according to Marie Claire. She attended the event one month before her wedding to Prince Harry, and it was significant because it marked one of her earliest royal engagements. The dress retails at Bloomingdale's for $375, and features a fitted belt with an asymmetrical neckline. The Jackie Sheath has actually been in the celebrity wardrobe rotation for some time now. Us Weekly notes that the dress was released in 2006 and has made several red carpet appearances since. Kim Kardashian wore a white version of the Jackie Sheath, as did Blake Lively. Tyra Banks once wore it in tan while Katherine Heigl wore it once in blue. It even made a move appearance: In "Iron Man 2," Scarlett Johansson wore it when she was playing Natasha Romanoff (aka Black Widow), per Marie Claire.
Meghan polished off the look by wearing her hair up in her signature casual updo and added strappy black heels. She sported a black Gucci Dionysus clutch and minimal, simple jewelry. Her makeup was dewy and natural looking, much like the makeup look she would rock one month later on her wedding day.
The pricy Armani dress she rocked in New Jersey
Meghan Markle sported another all-black look in November 2021, when she and Prince Harry made a trip to New Jersey for Veterans Day after spending time in New York City, per Vanity Fair. They went to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst for a lunch that represented six different branches of the military, a visit that was especially significant for Harry, since he was an active member of the British military for a decade. "My experience in the military made me who I am today, and I will always be grateful for the people I got to serve with — wherever in the world we were," he said to the audience, adding that his primary concern was the mental health and wellbeing of members of the military.
Meghan wore a black Giorgio Armani dress to the function that featured a V-neckline and three-quarter sleeves. She also wore black Armani heels. Meghan and Harry both wore red poppies in honor of Veterans Day. While her look was muted, Meghan got some pushback from certain outlets for her choice of outfit, but only because the price tag was significant. As Express noted, the dress alone was priced at $1,695, while the shoes retail for $675. That's a hefty price tag for a luncheon in New Jersey. Then again, several members of the royal family have rocked expensive looks at various events, and people just accept it as part of the royal lore.
Why the queen was skeptical about her wedding dress
Meghan Markle's wedding dress was a spectacular work of art by Givenchy, designed by Clare Waight Keller, for her nuptials on May 19, 2018. The minimalist gown featured a boatneck neckline and three-quarter sleeves, and she wore a long veil and the Queen Mary Art Deco tiara, according to the New York Post.
While Meghan looked stunning, the story goes that the late Queen Elizabeth II was caught off guard by a certain aspect of Meghan's wedding dress: "The Queen was surprised that Meghan wore pure white on her wedding day," Katie Nicholl wrote in "The New Royals: Queen Elizabeth's Legacy and the Future of the Crown," quoting a source close to the family. She added, "Perhaps it's a generational thing, but she believes if you've been married before, you wear off-white on your wedding day, which is what the Duchess of Cornwall did." Sure enough, Camilla, now-Queen Consort, wore both a cream colored dress and a pale blue dress for her civil and religious wedding ceremonies to King Charles III, per Hello! Magazine. However, Meghan chose to bypass this tradition.
Meghan continued a relationship with designer Waight Keller long after her wedding day. The designer worked with Meghan on several other looks for major events, and Meghan presented Waight Keller with the British Designer of the Year award in 2018, according to The Guardian. Clearly, it was a match made in heaven.
Her first royal engagement with the queen
One of Meghan Markle's most notable outfits as a senior royal descended upon the world during her first solo trip with the late Queen Elizabeth II. Meghan joined the queen shortly after her wedding to Prince Harry — she was officially the Duchess of Sussex by then. The two women visited Cheshire in England on June 14, 2018, and arrived by train at Runcorn Station, according to Harper's Bazaar. They then opened the Mersey Gateway Bridge and later the Storyhouse Theater and looked every bit the happy pair. They were both photographed smiling and laughing throughout the day.
Queen Elizabeth wore a lime green jacket and matching hat, while Meghan wore a Givenchy nude dress with cape sleeves and a black belt. Meghan's look actually had a touching note from her wedding dress, Marie Claire notes, as both looks were designed by Clare Waight Keller for the French luxury fashion house. Meghan accessorized with a pair of small pearl earrings that were part of the queen's collection. She wore Sarah Flint black heels that retail for $355, per the outlet. She also carried a black Givenchy clutch as the final touch to an absolute home run of an outfit.
The dress she wore to the Lion King premiere
For her very first movie premiere as a working royal, Meghan Markle joined hubby Prince Harry for the unveiling of "The Lion King" on July 14, 2019, in London. Not only was it one of Meghan's earliest events as a royal, it was also the first time she had re-entered the spotlight after giving birth to their first son, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor. For the occasion, Meghan wore a black Jason Wu dress with transparent sleeves that retails for $4,924, according to Us Weekly. She accessorized the look with black Aquazzura heels, a Gucci clutch, and earrings by Nikos Koulis. She wore her hair in a slick bun and kept her makeup minimal.
Since Beyoncé wrote some of the songs on the soundtrack and provided the voice of Nala, she and husband Jay-Z also attended the premiere. Beyoncé actually broke royal protocol by hugging Meghan, per People, and then called her "My princess." It was the first time the two parties met but spectators noticed an ease and "familiarity" between the couple that surprised people. The four of them spoke about their children, especially newborn Archie. Harry asked after their newest arrivals, twins named Rumi and Sir, born in 2017. "They are not here. They don't come on every trip," Beyoncé said. "We left them at home. They would loved to have been here." It was a major night for everyone, and Meghan looked lovely in her Jason Wu dress.
Meghan Markle rocked this look twice
Meghan Markle doesn't always break the bank when it comes to her wardrobe, and she's also been known to repeat a look. Both of these things happened with a favorite purple Aritzia dress called the "Maxwell" that retails for $138, according to Hello! Magazine. Meghan first wore the dress in 2018 when she was pregnant with son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor. As a maternity look, Meghan paired the purple dress with a bright red jacket and punchy red heels, per Glamour.
She re-wore the Aritzia hit in October 2019 at the opening ceremony for One Young World Summit at the Royal Albert Hall in London, according to Hello! Magazine. Meghan was a major figure at the event because at the time, while working as a senior royal, she was the Vice-President of The Queen's Commonwealth Trust, which collaborated with One Young World in 2019. Meghan's involvement with One Young World actually dates back to her pre-royal days. She was a counselor with the organization, which focuses on young leaders for the future, back in 2014 when she went to an event in Ireland, and again in 2016, when she went to an event in Canada, per ET.
On this occasion in 2018, Meghan opted for a simple look and wore the purple dress with no jacket. She paired it with dark Manolo Blahnik heels that retail for $625. So there was still a touch of luxury to the simple look.
Her many Victoria Beckham dresses
Meghan Markle famously told Glamour back in 2017: "Now what I'm starting to learn is, even though things look amazing on the hanger, it doesn't mean they're going to look amazing on me. For example, I love Victoria Beckham dresses, but I don't have the long torso to support that silhouette." Meghan made this statement in her pre-royal days, but after marrying Prince Harry, she began wearing the British designer's best looks.
For Christmas Day in 2018 at the Royal Christmas mass, Meghan wore a navy Victoria Beckham dress while she was pregnant, according to Hello! Magazine. Beckham, for her part, was thrilled to see Meghan in her clothing. "She looked so beautiful," she said on "Live! With Kelly and Ryan" (via Hello!). "It was such a lovely surprise to wake up to on Christmas morning. I think that she's such a beautiful, strong, wonderful woman, so it was a huge honor."
Meghan wore another dress by the brand in March 2020, when she sported a bright blue fitted midi-dress to attend the Endeavour Fund Awards with Harry, per Newsweek. She wore another Victoria Beckham dress in 2019 at the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey in London. Meghan wore a white coat and white hat with a dress by Beckham that featured broken chains. In hindsight, many took this as foreshadowing for their imminent departure from the royal family. At the time, we just thought she looked great.
Meghan and Harry matched in red
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry decided to match outfits at the Mountbatten Festival of Music on March 7, 2020. The event was a big one that year for Britain's history. That particular night marked "the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War and the 80th anniversary of the formation of Britain's Commandos," the Duke and Duchess of Sussex wrote on Instagram.
The event was a major one for the couple, too, as it marked the last function they attended as senior working royals, according to Harper's Bazaar. Meghan wore a bright red Safiyaa cape dress, and accessorized with a red Manolo Blahnik clutch and red Stuart Weitzman heels. It was monochromatic at its juiciest. She also rocked some dangly ruby-colored Simone Rocha earrings.
On this occasion, it was perhaps Harry's outfit that was more significant. He wore the red jacket of the Captain General of the Royal Marines for the last time, since Harry would give up his title at the end of March 2020. On the couple's Instagram page, they made mention of Harry's role at the time. "The Duke, who is Captain General [Royal Marines] joined veterans, serving members, world-class musicians, composers and conductors of the Massed Bands of Her Majesty's Royal Marines to help raise funds on behalf of the [Royal Marines] Charity," they wrote next to a photo of the couple in their red looks.
Meghan's green cape dress
For the Commonwealth Day service in 2020, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry arrived at Westminster Abbey in London looking very dapper during their final days as working royals. For a good chunk of early 2020, they had been regrouping in Canada, but returned to England to finish up their time as senior royals. Meghan wore an emerald green Emilia Wickstead cape dress, per Marie Claire, along with a matching emerald fascinator made by William Chambers. She rocked nude heels by Aquazzura and a structured green purse by Gabriella Hearst. Meghan's hair was pulled back, and she wore a heavier makeup look that added to the glamor of the overall outfit. According to the Daily Mail, the cape dress was made especially for Meghan and an exact copy can't be purchased, no matter how devoted the fan.
Meanwhile, Harry's blue suit actually had green lining to match Meghan's dress, and he wore a mint tie, according to Marie Claire, giving a slight nod to their unity as a couple in making the decision to leave royal life. In photos from the day, Meghan appears easy and relaxed, smiling at crowds and holding her head up. In contrast, Harry's physical demeanor is more cowed; he fidgets with his jacket and keeps his head down. Since this was one of their final events as working royals, no doubt he was feeling the awkwardness of the adjustment.
Meghan's post-royal red gown
After stepping away from royal life, Meghan Markle stepped out in a dress that showed she had left protocol behind. At the Salute to Freedom Gala at the Intrepid Air & Space Museum in New York on November 10, 2021, Meghan wore a red Carolina Herrera gown and red Giuseppe Zanotti heels, according to Harper's Bazaar. The dress had a plunging V down the front and a high slit up the middle of the skirt. The cut and design of the dress was more racy than what she had previously worn as part of the royal family, so it was a sartorial announcement that they were independent of Harry's family and "the Firm." As ET notes, the dress was specifically made for Meghan by designer Wes Gordon for Carolina Herrera. Meghan wore her hair back in a tight bun and diamond earrings. Her makeup was warm and her skin looked dewy. She wore a red poppy on her dress.
Harry wore pins on his tuxedo from his time with the Royal British Army and like his wife, Harry also wore a poppy to pay honor to veterans. According to ET, Meghan and Harry sat with veterans at the event and conversed with them all night. They even had security near the table to prevent other guests from interrupting their conversation with the vets.
How a mini dress means everything
In another stark departure from royal life, Meghan Markle rocked a white mini dress in September 2021. She and Prince Harry were in New York City and attended the Global Citizen Live Concert, according to Glamour. Harry wore a plain suit with no tie, while Meghan's Valentino dress featured floral designs and short sleeves. Meghan wore her hair in a casual ponytail and wore black heels.
They spoke on stage during the event about vaccine access during the Covid-19 pandemic. "Every single person on this planet has a fundamental right to get this vaccine. That's the point, but that's not happening," Meghan said, according to People. Harry added, "Guys, we have what we need to vaccinate the world, but the experts told us, here's what's getting in the way." He claimed that pharmaceutical companies were withholding the formulas for the vaccine from other countries.
The two appeared to be very affectionate on stage and, as Us Weekly notes, they were warmly received by the crowd. Meghan's choice in a mini dress was also a nod to their new life. She was dressed in the same kind of look she opted for before she became a royal and, with Harry by her side, the couple was showing the world that they were on a new path of their own.