Girls gone mild
Baddies like Lohan and Kardashian are out, as classy young NYC lasses adopt Kate Middleton as a role model
- Last Updated: 12:18 AM, April 27, 2012
- Posted: 10:47 PM, April 25, 2012
Feel free to exhale, moms of New York. A tough new governess has blown in on the east wind and is coaxing girls in the NYC area to mind their manners, study hard and steer clear of short skirts and bad boys.
Could it be Mary Poppins? The Tiger Mom? Nancy Grace? Nope — it’s none other than wispy royal Kate Middleton.
One year after her wedding to Prince William, city teens are enchanted with her modest ways and sensible style.
“She’s a really hard worker, she’s really smart and she handles herself well,” says Dana Gaier, a 14-year-old from Essex County, NJ.
PHOTOS: NYC LASSES INSPIRED BY KATE MIDDLETON
A year ago last weekend, Gaier curled up to watch the broadcast of Kate and William’s nuptials. Since then, the teen has soaked up interviews with the prim duchess and even modeled her bat mitzvah dress (deep blue with a banded waist and shrunken jacket) after one of Kate’s frocks.
But Gaier — incidentally, the voice of Edith in the “Despicable Me” films — mimics far more than Catherine’s wardrobe.
“When she and Prince William first broke up, Kate didn’t go
and bash him in the press, and I also don’t talk about my friends badly,” notes the ninth-grader.
“And she doesn’t go out until 3 in the morning and come back drunk. I’ve turned down those types of parties, because you have to think about the right decisions and how far you want to go in life. Kate always believed in fairy tales — you have to stick it out and believe in yourself to get your fairy tale.”
Wait a minute. Aren’t teen girls supposed to be enthralled by the scandalous antics of stars like
Lindsay Lohan, Rihanna and the Kardashians? Tempted by brooding boys and cigarettes (paging Lourdes!) and raging bacchanals?
“We’re starting to see this switch, with a resurgence of girls wanting to be refined ladies instead of train wrecks,” says Lyss Stern, a Midtown mother and founder of divamoms.com.
“They’re asking for dance lessons, manners lessons and demure heels instead of hair extensions, fake nails and short dresses up to their chi-chis.”
Patricia Napier-Fitzpatrick, founder of the Etiquette School of New York in Manhattan has seen a 25 percent uptick in teens around the city requesting her services since last year’s royal marriage.
“Girls are hungry for someone they can look up to and not be embarrassed about emulating,” she says.
“Kate Middleton was an ordinary girl, so if she can marry a prince, possibly we all can. It’s aspirational for girls . . . to be conservative and tasteful and ladylike.”
