Cad’s view of Duchess’s frock fare gets true dressing down

WITH reference to the letter from Peter A Ellis (Yorkshire Post, February 25), it does not appear to me that the Duchess of Cambridge spent lavishly when she spent £175 and £159 on two dresses.

If she had spent £1,750 and £1,590 respectively on her wardrobe then she may have been considered to be lavish in her expenditure and on a par with money spent on such clothing by, say, Victoria Beckham, Paris Hilton or Kate Moss.

In my opinion, she has bought reasonably priced dresses which no doubt she will wear on many future occasions whereas the so-called “celebrities” will spend thousands of pounds on a one-off event.

Marks & Spencer dresses are touching £100, Debenhams up to £125 and John Lewis around the £200 mark.

For a duchess who attends many public engagements and who will attend more and more as time goes by, she needs to set a standard of dress for these formal occasions. She would certainly be criticised if she did not dress appropriately when meeting and greeting overseas visitors and mingling with ambassadors and the heads of industry.

It is inevitable that we are not all in a position to buy the same quality of goods either in the supermarket or fashion house. We must buy what we are able to afford at the time.

Just because I may choose to pay, say, £40 for a shirt and not buy one from Oxfam does not mean that I have no sympathy for homeless people around London or anywhere else.

Many of my friends and acquaintances pass on clothing to Oxfam or other charity shops and indeed, one of my friends has recently bought a jacket from such a shop which in turn puts money in the till.

I object to Mr Ellis including me in his comment: “We in the frozen North are struggling just to survive; life for us is a daily endurance test.”

I am a pensioner, I have suffered the trauma of cancer, I have lost money through the banking crisis but life goes on and I do not expect the duchess or anyone else to subsidise me by shopping at discount stores.

She is doing a superb job so early in her marriage and is loved and respected by a very large proportion of the population.

From: Sue Casey, Netherton Lane, Horbury Bridge, Wakefield.

PETER Ellis from Huddersfield wrote complaining about the expense of the Duchess of Cambridge’s dresses.

I disagree with him, I think that the prices Mr Ellis was getting so het up about are not bad at all for someone in her position.

Kate is a beautiful woman who, since her marriage to Prince William, has taken her place on the world stage.

She represents our country and is seen by women world wide.

Yes we are in a recession, so what better way to advertise the beautiful clothes and hats produced by British designers?

As a milliner myself, I am delighted when she appears looking so beautiful and being such an excellent representative for our fashion industry.

I think that the price of those dresses, £175 and £159 is quite frugal compared to what she could pay. Keep up the good work Kate!

From: John Jepson, The Mount, Driffield.

IN healthier times, your correspondent Peter Ellis would by now bear scars following an encounter with the brother officers of this lady’s husband carrying horse whips, but he can be assured that he will be burdened forever with the derision of true gentlemen, who know that only a cad would seek to air in public and print his views on the shapeliness, or otherwise, of another man’s wife.