A Designer Reveals 6 Eye-Opening Secrets About How Kate Middleton Shops

Updated on 5/17/2016 at 9:00 AM

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There were months of preparation to make sure everything was just right with Kate Middleton's traveling wardrobe for her royal tour of India and Bhutan with Prince William. The duchess was reportedly very involved in the planning and shopping — but she had some help. A special member of the duke and duchess's team, assistant-slash-stylist Natasha Archer, has been credited with helping polish Kate's high-fashion image and building a wardrobe for the latest tour.

A number of outfits we've seen Kate wear so far on the trip have come straight off the rack; see, for example, her two-piece Temperley London set and her $70 printed frock from Glamorous.

The first outfit we saw on Kate, though, was something special, and the process by which Kate made the dress her own sheds some light on the inner workings of her approach to fashion. With help from Natasha, Kate's multicolored Anita Dongre dress underwent a major transformation.

Anita herself gave a special interview to The Telegraph in which she shared rare insight as to how the duchess gets dresses. We took away a number of interesting facts, including:

Planning starts in advance. Anita revealed that Kate's stylist Natasha reached out a month ahead of the tour.
Her stylist does an initial scout. Apparently, Natasha visited Anita to select samples for fittings before placing an order.
Kate buys more than she wears. Anita said that she was waiting to see if Kate wore anything else she'd selected.
Anita didn't know what Kate would wear. She was just as surprised as the rest of us to see her piece on Kate!
Natasha and Kate did a DIY alteration job. Natasha and Kate took what was an accompanying scarf and made it into Kate's sewn-in belt. They also shortened the dress significantly.
Kate and Natasha did a pretty good job. Because Anita's now selling their altered version on her website!