I adore Kate Middleton. I think she’s poised and elegant and, well, regal. And, in a world where celebrities cavort more nude than not across the front covers of magazines, gossip sites, and the news, she’s a refreshing breath of air.
Because she’s modest.
It seems that many girls feel that modesty is synonymous with frumpy, boring, and unattractive; that guys will never pay attention to them if they don’t have enough skin showing; that all the best fashions include immodesty as a starting point.
This is not frumpy, boring, or unattractive.
(Photo from Daily Mail UK)
I think she’s gorgeous. While Kate Middleton may not adhere perfectly to LDS standards of modesty—sure, sometimes her dress is a little lower cut or her shirt is sleeveless—her clothes definitely preserve the spirit of modesty, as do her words and actions.
In short, as my mother put it, she dresses like a queen.
And her example isn’t one that only Latter-day Saint women need follow: even celebrities are realizing that the class act that is Kate Middleton is more attractive.
"Can I tell you how grateful I am to Kate Middleton?" actress Anne Hathaway said in an interview with USA TODAY. "Because she is such an advocate for dressing like a lady. I think for a few years that kind of slightly dirty look was adopted by Hollywood—you know, the stringy hair, homeless thing. And I really tried. . . . [But] it doesn't suit me, I don't suit it.”
"I'm just very grateful to Kate Middleton for making looking appropriate really fun again," Hathaway concluded. Even Sarah Jessica Parker—considered a style icon by many—has listed Kate Middleton as her own fashion inspiration.
President Uchtdorf, in his phenomenal talk "Your Happily Ever After" given during the April 2010 General Young Women’s conference, said this: “You are truly royal spirit daughters of Almighty God. You are princesses, destined to become queens.”
“‘Happily ever after’ is not something found only in fairy tales,” he explained at another point in his talk. “You can have it! It is available for you! But you must follow your Heavenly Father’s map.”
Ladies, we are all princesses, all regal, all daughters of God. Maybe, if we want to find our “happily ever after,” we should follow the example of a real-life princess, and start dressing modestly.
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Kaela Worthen is the associate editor at LDS Living. A self-titled “ultimate grammar nerd,” she also battles serious addictions to news and food websites and a compulsion to dance to the radio while driving.