How first lady Victoria Starmer changed her wardrobe in a week

One week you’re quietly getting on with life working for the NHS in occupational health, the next you’re rubbing shoulders with world leaders at the NATO summit in Washington as the UK’s (unofficial) “first lady”. .

It was a major transition for Lady Starmer, a woman who remained largely in the shadows during her husband’s rise from Labor leader to Prime Minister. One thing we’ve learned about her over the past seven days, though? She can already call herself a fashion influence. The red Me+Em dress she wore to enter Downing Street last Friday sold out within days and prompted a 300 per cent increase in traffic to the dresses page on the label’s website.

If Lady Starmer has so far turned down interview opportunities, she has chosen instead to talk about her clothing choices. It is a strategy she has confirmed during her first week as the Prime Minister’s wife, a period which has included a diplomatic mission abroad as well as a visit to the races.

Just as we might expect from a woman who fiercely defended her family’s privacy and her own career during her husband’s political rise, Lady Starmer has not undergone a dramatic overhaul of Downing Street. Instead, she has emphasized her innovative approach, choosing a combination of labels that mark her as an ambitious woman while at the same time being soft on the Government’s political aims.

That may be a trivial juxtaposition but Lady Starmer is no fashion amateur. As one mother who knows her from the local mothers’ circuit in Camden said Grace magazine: “She’s slim and polished, the one who makes us step up our game.”

That much was evident last Saturday when she had a day out in Sandown, fresh from celebrating her husband’s historic landslide, tackling one of her own personal passions: horse racing. She showed off another purchase from her recent Me+Em spree, a £365 floral-print maxi dress with wire draw that looked effortless yet elegant, especially paired with Gucci sunglasses.

If the Lib Dems were aiming for seats based on Gail’s bakery, Lady Starmer’s style appeals to the equally wealthy Me+Em woman who could pull on her latest purchase from the label for a coffee with her girls. “Every piece we create is designed to be camera ready, whether that’s shirts made in a non-irritating fabric, or pockets positioned so that it doesn’t add bulk, we don’t want our customers to ever have to worry about not looking clean on their suit. ,” said a spokesperson for the label The Telegraph earlier this week.

Then came Lady Starmer’s simple but striking event dress. As she left the UK on Tuesday evening, Lady Starmer achieved what so many of us aim for and so often don’t nail – looking relaxed without straying into too-casual territory . Opting for a white knit back dress, the Prime Minister’s wife looked suitably smart without giving the impression that she’d been agonizing over her outfit for hours.

She returned to Needle and Thread, a British label known for its flounity, sparkling womenswear which she also wore to the Japanese state banquet at Buckingham Palace last month when she attended as the wife of the opposition leader. Then, she opted for a £725 cap dress – a quintessential example of the label’s aesthetic. At Stansted, she opted for a more muted £450 lace knit dress – the kind of dress you could wear to the beach as easily as you could dress it up for a party (or indeed, a NATO meeting).

Needle and Thread founder and CEO Hannah Coffin said The Telegraph that she was “thrilled” to see Lady Starmer wearing her designs. “She looked beautiful and elegant in our Heart Lattice dress at Buckingham Palace and our Lace Knit dress on her first trip abroad as ‘first lady’,” she said. “It’s great to see her wearing independent British women-based brands to represent British style on these occasions and we’re honored she’s chosen to wear us.”

Coffin points to the importance of Lady Starmer choosing UK-based labels such as Needle and Thread and Me+Em, which were not only founded by women, but have grown into successful commercial businesses with a global reach. Especially, too, that these brands are combinable in a way that, for example, Brigitte Macron’s wardrobe of ultra-luxe Louis Vuitton or Jill Biden’s custom designer suit is not.

In Washington, Lady Starmer looked at her diplomatic dress credentials for the first time. Earlier in the week, the new Prime Minister said: “We plan to improve our relationship with the EU and that means closer trade links with the EU.” So it made sense for his wife to visually symbolize those ties by choosing a £320 Labor-red pleated dress from French retailer The Kooples for a ceremony marking NATO’s 75th anniversary at the White House on Wednesday evening.

Standing with the Prime Ministers of Bulgaria and the Netherlands and the president of the European Council and his wife, Lady Starmer’s scarlet dress was not only a reminder of her election victory, but also a reflection of her foreign policy ambitions. husbands

Lady Starmer was first spotted wearing The Kooples the weekend before the election when she attended a rally by her husband’s side in a £425 floral midi from the label. If you read nothing else in her selections, take away the fact that edgy French brands can make frocks as well as they do sharp tailoring.

Until Thursday, and Lady Starmer starred in a series of posts on X with the first lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska. At what appeared to be a cozy meeting over tea and biscuits, Zelenska detailed how she was “pleased to meet Lady Victoria Starmer… We have many common topics in the healthcare sector.” Their meeting was a perfect example of the impact of different soft power style strategies – while Zelenska opted for a white armour-like suit, her British counterpart stuck to her love of a midi dress at a sweet spot price.

Lady Starmer once again flew the flag for the UK “high street” in a £179 check print dress by Whistles. “It’s amazing and an incredible honor to see Lady Victoria Starmer wearing a Whistle and supporting British brands,” says Camille Sullivan, Whistles product director. “In an ever-changing market, it’s so important for the retail landscape to be represented by someone who has such a global influence and shows what British brands have to offer the market.”

More style lessons from Lady Starmer’s first attempt at world stage style? This is a woman who knows exactly what suits her. Each silhouette in this week’s line-up is a variation on a fitted silhouette with a flattering flare that’s fitted across the waist and bust and swooshy across the legs and hips.

She probably has at least five years ahead of her to develop her first lady look, but Lady Starmer is off to a stylish start.