Kate Middleton's hair is an icon in its own right. One could even say she singlehandedly spurred the modern blowout resurgence (with a little help from DryBar). In the years since the royal wedding, not a day has gone by where The Duchess's hair has looked anything less than glossy, bouncy perfection. She is the undeniable queen of the effortless ponytail and updo. In other words, the Crown Jewels are lucky to wear her hair. So why, in the name of all things beauty, is Middleton insistent on wearing cheap plastic hair clips in public?
While visiting Anna Freud Centre's Early Years Parenting Unit in north London Wednesday, the Duchess of Cambridge swept her round-brushed and blow-dried hair into a familiar half-up style. But instead of securing the two pieces with brown bobby pins (a discreet choice) or two sparkly pins (for a little flair), Middleton popped two plastic claw clips into her hair. You know, the kind you probably wore in 1998—or still wear when you're washing your face. And it's not the first time she's worn them, either. During the Duchess's tour of Canada last year and the Diamond Jubilee tour in 2012, she sported equally questionable claw clips.
We're not saying these accessories are a major beauty faux pas, per se, but they're not unlike wearing a scrunchie in public. Claw clips are a little messy, a little too utilitarian—and for the woman who has access to some of the sparkliest, most divine accessories in the world—they're a confusing sartorial choice. They might as well be butterfly clips. To use them to decorate a hairstyle that clearly took a lot of effort (and elbow grease) is to instantly downgrade said style.
Maybe the claw clips are a sign that Middleton was in charge of her own hair that day, without the help of a professional stylist. Not all of us have the dexterity or time to worry about placing decorative pins just so. Or perhaps she just really likes how these particular clips hold her fabulously thick hair. One will never really know. But all we can say is that The Duchess Of Cambridge's iconic hair deserves better. It deserves a custom hair pin that matches her meticulously-planned ensemble, or a vintage doodad taken from the royal archives. Or at the very least, it deserves a bobby pin. Let's keep the claw clips where they belong—on the bathroom counter or bedside table.
