Kate Middleton inventively refreshed her outfit for her Together at Christmas carol service with a hair bow from an affordable brand where she previously worked.
On Dec. 6, the Princess of Wales, 42, stepped out at Westminster Abbey in London for her fourth annual Together at Christmas concert, which recognized the hard work done to help communities throughout the U.K. Princess Kate popped in a bright red coat by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen (the same designer and label behind her 2011 wedding gown!), which was already in her closet with drop earrings, black suede boots and a large black velvet bow fastened at the top of the jacket.
The bow created a fashion statement, and PEOPLE confirms it is a $25 hair clip from Jigsaw, the British shop where Princess Kate worked while she was dating her now-husband Prince William.
The polyester bow comes in burgundy and black and is still in stock online — from Princess Kate’s former workplace.
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After graduating from the University of St. Andrews (where she met William) with a degree in the History of Art in 2005, the future Princess Kate got a job as an accessories buyer for Jigsaw, a fashion brand, in 2006. She landed the job after contacting Belle Robinson, the brand’s founder and a family friend, and reportedly spent a few days a week in their London office.
“She sat in the kitchen at lunchtime and chatted with everyone from the van drivers to the account girls. She wasn’t precious,” Robinson told the Evening Standard in 2008.
“I have to say I was so impressed by her. There were days when there were TV crews at the end of the drive. We’d say: ‘Listen, do you want to go out the back way?’ And she’d say: ‘To be honest, they’re going to hound us until they’ve got the picture. So why don’t I just go, get the picture done, and then they’ll leave us alone,’ “Robinson recalled.
Kate left the role in 2006, and went on to work for her family’s company, Party Pieces, before Clarence House announced her engagement to Prince William in 2010.
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The couple went on to welcome three children — Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6 — and Charlotte matched her mom by wearing a similar black bow in her hair to the Together at Christmas service on Dec. 6.
The royal mom and daughter are known to be stylishly in sync at official events, and the whole Wales family coordinated in burgundy and red (coats for Charlotte and Kate, ties for William, George and Louis) at the carol service.
James Manning/PA Images via Getty; Aaron Chown – WPA Pool/Getty
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Princess Kate’s Jigsaw bow moment wasn’t the brand’s only moment royal circles in since she worked there. Most notably, Meghan Markle tapped them in 2019 to take part in the launch of her capsule collection, which benefitted her patronage Smart Works, a charity that helps women find employment with coaching tips and professional attire for their job interviews.
Though the Duchess of Sussex and her husband, Prince Harry, relocated to California in 2020, Meghan has stayed in touched with the organization and penned a special message for their inaugural carol concert in London on Dec. 3.
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