You don’t have to be thin, rich — or royal, for that matter — to look and feel like a prince or (soon-to-be) princess. Just ask plus-size influencers Katie Sturino and Ryan Dziadul. The duo recreated one of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s recent ensembles, and the result is inspiring in so many ways.
Sturino, founder of the 12ish style blog, and mother of the late Toast the dog, and Dziadul, founder of Extra Extra Style, frequently team up to recreate famous photos, but this one takes the cake, or should we say crown?
They both shared photos of their work on Instagram, posting side-by-side images of the royal couple and themselves rocking near-identical outfits. The looks they chose were worn by Markle and Prince Harry on Commonwealth Day, for Markle’s first official appearance with Queen Elizabeth.
The actress was wearing a navy-blue dress and long cream coat by Amanda Wakeley, topped with a matching cream beret by Stephen Jones. On her feet she wore navy pumps. Sturino found pieces similar to Markle’s, including a Rachel Roy coat and an ASOS hat, creating an approachable version of the high-end outfit. The prince wore a navy-blue suit with a maroon tie, and Dziadul did the same. Dziadul and Sturino even had the royal poses down pat, proving that even civilians can reach the style levels of royalty.
A few months ago, Sturino enlisted Dziadul to recreate their first royal look, for Prince Harry and Markle’s first appearance together after announcing their engagement. “They’re a couple the whole world is watching. They’re young, they’re stylish, and I’ve never met them, but they seem like fun,” Dziadul tells Yahoo Lifestyle, explaining why they like to recreate the couple’s looks.
Sturino’s also taken with Markle’s style solo; she once proved that double denim can look good on anybody, especially when topped with a camel peacoat like Markle’s. “Well, who doesn’t have royal fever right now?” Sturino tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “The world can’t get enough of this couple, especially Meghan Markle’s style choices.”
She’s right — the Meghan Markle effect is in full swing.
But there’s more to it than simply fawning over the soon-to-be newlyweds. “Meghan and Harry have the world’s resources at their fingertips — from money to stylists to trainers. But that doesn’t mean they have a monopoly on style,” Dziadul explains. “Regular people, and plus-size people, deserve to look and feel like royalty too.”
As Sturino chimed in, “I would say that Harry and Meghan represent one of the most attractive couples in the universe right now, and if you don’t happen to fit their body-type profile, it’s nice to see that these looks can translate to any size.”
Their followers agree: Sturino’s post from Monday has almost 10,000 likes. “I think we’re so conditioned to seeing celebs and famous people looking a certain way (aka thin!) that people are psyched to see another interpretation of their style,” Dziadul says.
Sturino feels this way about all public figures, which is why her #SupersizeTheLook project exists. She recreates outfits worn by celebs on a regular basis, and she always hits it out of the park — sometimes looking better than the original wearer of the outfit. Some of Sturino’s most successful recreations include Amal Clooney in her red dress and camel coat, a golden Beyoncé ensemble, and Chrissy Teigen in a see-through skirt.
And she doesn’t steer clear of models just because of their slender frames. With the help of fellow plus-size women, she’s nailed the looks of Gigi, Kendall, and Bella.
She even once wore practically nothing to recreate one of Kylie Jenner‘s looks.
“Celebrities have access to a whole team of people telling them how to look good, so in general, they are supercurrent on trends and styles, and we’re lucky to have them as a resource!” she says. “However, many people think they can’t pull off so-and-so’s style. I’m just trying to let women know that style has nothing to do with size.”
Her favorite creation was inspired by Giovanna Battaglia Engelbert. For that, she tracked down the exact Gucci skirt worn by the fashion editor and paired it with a similar multicolored tee. “I loved the Giovanna Battaglia Gucci skirt look,” she says. “Personally, she is my favorite style personality to copy, as everything she wears is perfection.”
A recent Kate Bosworth recreation proved to be difficult, however. “I recently did Kate Bosworth in some yellow flare pants. … Those were tough to find in my size for sure,” she notes. But that challenge is nothing new to her.
“It’s kind of hard to find things in my sizes for many of the celebrities I supersize,” she shares. Luckily, Markle’s style is easy to mimic, no matter what your size. “She chooses classic pieces and mixes them in a refreshing and updated way,” says Sturino. “I was excited to see her in the beret look, because it gave me a chance to try that style on myself!”
But even when she’s not trying to dress like a celebrity, shopping isn’t so simple; she describes herself as a “size 12ish in a size 2 world.”
“I’m certainly used to having a hard time finding clothing in my size — it’s why I started my blog,” Sturino says. “To share my tips and tricks with women who have to scour the internet for the closest thing that seems to be readily available for anyone who is above a size 4.”
She has hope that it will get easier. “It’s starting to get easier, though, with the introduction of websites like CoEdition and some of the plus-size brands out there, like Eloquii. There is light at the end of the tunnel.”
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