What do you wear when you want to feel comfortable and cosy, but still feel elegant? For me it doesn’t come much easier than a jumper dress and knee highs when I want to tick these boxes and the royals are on board with this combination too.
Just as suede jackets are having a resurgence right now, so are suede boots and both the Princess of Wales and her sister Pippa Middleton have been fans of them for years. They used to be pretty much all we saw Pippa wearing from autumn to spring back in the day and her tan knee highs from 2011 wouldn’t look out of place today.
Neither would her biscotti-toned jumper dress from high street favourite, French Connection. With a few subtle styling changes, I can imagine her wearing this kind of ensemble in 2025 and it’s well worth taking a trip down memory lane to get some autumn outfit ideas from her.
Shop Knee High Boots
Crafted in-house with premium suede, these Dune Tayla boots are a classic style they bring back year after year. They're set on a low block heel and have a stretch back for the perfect fit and extra comfort.
Featuring a squared-off toe and low block heel, these knee high boots are comfy and fashionable in equal measure. They're made with a supple suede upper and the muted brown-beige ones make a beautiful change to black boots for autumn.
With a low heel that means you can wear them day-to-night easily, these suede knee high boots are a little different, thanks to their angled top. The soft tan suede is so classic and will work with a range of different outfit tones throughout the colder months.
Shop Knitted Dresses
This knitted midi dress comes in both this soft beige-camel tone that's very similar to Pippa's frock from 2011, and a deep chocolate brown. Both colours are so wearable and the silhouette is simple, with flared sleeves and a high neckline. Ribbed detailing throughout helps to accentuate the cosy feel.
The deep toffee-brown shade of this jumper dress screams autumn and would look fabulous paired with both darker and lighter colours. It features contemporary seam detailing at the front and an elegant fit-and-flare silhouette. The rounded neckline means your necklaces can still be on full view too.
Coming in black and brown, this soft ribbed jumper dress has a cosy turtleneck for extra warmth. It's got a sleek, fitted shape and with a contrasting tan or brown belt it would look especially chic. Add a pair of suede boots and you've got your very own Pippa-esque outfit.
In November 2011 the future Queen’s sister was photographed out and about in Kensington wearing a knitted mini dress with a suede belt to cinch in the waist and matching tan boots. The best thing about a jumper dress is that they’re very often stretchy so you can walk around in comfort whilst looking like you’ve put in loads of time and effort into getting ready.
A knitted frock with a more fitted silhouette is especially elegant and would work as a date night outfit as well as for the daytime because they have a more formal edge. Alternatively, you can go for a looser, chunkier jumper dress for a more casual feel and simply by adding a belt like Pippa Middleton did, it becomes a bit smarter when you want it to be.
Another quick way to make an outfit look more polished is by introducing some coordination. Pippa, Kate and their mum Carole all love matching their shoes to their handbags or outfits.
In this case, Pippa’s belt and knee high boots were very similar and the tan tone was a soft contrast against her dress. Knee High boots are some of my favourite styles of footwear as they’re warm thanks to covering most of your leg in fabric, and can be very leg-elongating.
The best knee highs can range from being high heeled to flat whilst still feeling sleek and Pippa Middleton’s boots had a low block heel and a slightly slouchy shape. She wore them a lot at one point in her life and although I have no way of knowing if she still has them in her collection, design-wise they’re so timeless they’d work well today.
To give this look a 2025 update I would imagine Pippa going for a midi over a mini dress and this is a great way to enhance the leg-lengthening effect of knee highs.
Having the hem of a frock or skirt draping over the top of your boots without any gapping looks stunning and it’s how the Princess of Wales tends to wear her own knee highs. Her sister’s choice to stick to a neutral colour palette in 2011 was another clever time-defying move.
Neutrals will never go out of style and are worth investing in over brighter shades if you want to get maximum wear for your money. Pippa’s look blended different shades of camel and brown together to give it depth and the addition of a longline coat would have made the perfect finishing touch on a colder day.
