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In a celebration of International Women’s Day, Meghan graced the stage at South By Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, where she participated in the festival’s keynote panel titled “Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen.” Known for her dedication to equal gender representation in media, the Duchess of Sussex not only captivated the audience with her insights but also made a statement with her chic and memorable business casual attire.
The Duchess wore a grey and beige ensemble from Giuliva Heritage and paired it with her ivory Valentino flats along with Bottega Veneta earrings (scroll down for more details).
Shauna Nep, Co-Executive director of Archewell Foundation and Emily Ramshaw from 19th News introduced the panel.
Meghan shared the stage with journalist Katie Couric, actress Brooke Shields, and sociologist Nancy Wang Yuen. The panel was moderated by Errin Haines, Founding Mother and Editor at Large for The 19th.
The panel delved into diverse topics, including Meghan’s early advocacy at the age of 11 when she influenced Procter & Gamble to alter a dishwashing soap commercial, and Brooke Shields’ humorous recollection of her unique experiences at the same age.
At #SXSW, Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, shares the story of when she wrote a letter to P&G as a child to ask them to change their commercial that played into the stereotype of women in the kitchen. As a result, P&G ended up changing the commercial. pic.twitter.com/ct28FLsFKP
— 19thnews (@19thnews) March 8, 2024
Meghan also opened up about her approach to social media, acknowledging her conscious decision to keep her distance for her well-being. Sharing her experiences of facing online bullying and abuse during her pregnancies, she emphasized the cruelty and its impact on her mental health.
Meghan had this to say —
There are a lot of women that are at the highest level, executive level, who are great champions of women, who are great philanthropists, and they are working in these spaces and yet they’re allowing this behavior [of trolling and cyberbullying] to run rampant.”
Meghan continued —
If you’re reading something terrible, terrible about a woman, why are you sharing it with your friends? Why are you choosing to put that out in the world? What if it was your friend, or your mom, or your daughter? You wouldn’t do it.”
During the panel, Meghan expressed concern about the negative portrayal of motherhood on social media, emphasizing its impact on vulnerable new mothers. She highlighted the importance of supportive partners, pointing to Prince Harry as a hands-on dad and a pillar of support in her life. Together, they emphasized the need for safeguards to protect women and mothers from feeling vulnerable online.
Harry proudly supported Meghan from the audience, adding to the significance of the occasion. Sitting next to him is Meghan’s long time friend, Markus Anderson.
“Whether you’re a 9 year old girl or a 90 year old woman you can absolutely continue to make the change that we all need.” — Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex
You can replay and watch the panel discussion here at around the 2:40 mark.
In other news…
Yesterday, the nonprofit Moms First proudly announced the launch of “Rewriting Motherhood: How TV Represents Mom and What We Want to See Next.” This groundbreaking study, conducted in collaboration with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and supported by Duchess Meghan through the Archewell Foundation, marks a significant step in redefining the portrayal of mothers in entertainment.
Meghan had this to say today about the project –
Working moms are paid 62 cents to the dollar for what working dads are. And it’s almost feeling punitive at certain point, when you’re a mom and you’re juggling so much and caring so much, when you wanna be supportive in the best way possible” – Meghan.“
Watch more below —
Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex explains why she and the Archewell Foundation were drawn to our report with @GeenaDavisOrg on how moms are portrayed in TV, and how the TV industry can show up for moms.#RewritingMotherhood #SXSW pic.twitter.com/eFyPVCy823
— Moms First (@MomsFirstUS) March 8, 2024
More from Sussex.com –
“My past experience as an actress, and now today as a producer and mother, have amplified my belief in the critical importance of supporting women and moms both behind the lens and in front of it. This report about the portrayal of mothers in entertainment highlights the gaps we need to fill to achieve true representation in the content we create and consume, and I’m honored to support this work through The Archewell Foundation,” said Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, Co-founder of The Archewell Foundation.
Geena Davis, the actor and activist, expressed her gratitude to Meghan in an interview with Vanity Fair, acknowledging the invaluable support provided by Archwell.
“We love having her support and the support of Archwell,” she said. “We can’t do it without financial support like that, and it’s obviously a subject that’s very near and dear to her heart.”
Read more on sussex.com here.
Now our look at what Meghan wore for today’s event.
Meghan’s shirt is the Giuliva Heritage ‘Husband’ shirt in Grey/Beige Striped Silk, €890 (around $973 US).
Her skirt is also from Giuliva Heritage – the Lena Skirt in Grey/Beige Striped Silk, €960 (about $1049 US).
Get the Look!
J. Crew side slit shirt, $143 / H&M Satin Maxi, $38 / Quince Washable Silk Maxi, $80
Meghan’s shoes are her Valentino ‘Rock Stud’ flats in ivory (no longer available).
RepliMeg with these options.
Linea Paolo Aylin Mule, $78 / Aerosoles, $110 / Sam Edelman, $140 / Old Navy, $25
The Duchess’ earrings are from Bottega Veneta — the ‘Knot’ earrings, $613.
Match her style with these affordable options —
JCPenney, $11 / Truly Blessed hoops, $68 / Amber Sceats wave earrings, $69
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UPDATE! This evening Harry and Meghan had dinner at La Barbecue in Austin, Texas.
The women owned barbecue was started by LeAnn Mueller and her wife Alison Clem. The couple split their time between Austin and LA. Their recipes honor LeAnn’s father, James Beard award winner, Bobby Mueller.
LeAnn shows the couple their process.
For the visit Meghan wore a new blazer from Heidi Merrick – the ‘Zelda’ in ivory silk and hemp, $365.
She wore a chambray shirt and medium wash cropped straight leg jeans.
The shirt has been a challenge to find as there are no clear details other than it appears to have one pocket on the left side of the chest. She has worn a number of chambray styles over the years including J. Crew. We show a number of current styles below to “get the look”.
J. Crew Garçon classic chambray, $98 / Wren slim western chambray shirt, $98 / Classic-fit chambray shirt, $70
While we can’t see a lot of clear details on the jeans one thought is that her jeans could be from Anine Bing – the Gavin in Clean Blue, $250.
The details on the front of the jeans look close to what Meghan is wearing.
We also found these jeans from J. Crew that are a great “get the look for less” style – the 9″ vintage slim-straight jean in Lakeshore wash, $94.
Meghan’s sunglasses are from Heidi Merrick – the ‘Santa Barbara’ style in black, $215.
The Duchess wore her Chanel Goatskin & GrosgrainBeige & Black, $1050.
Match Meg’s style with these affordable options.
Kelly & Katie Jeife Flat, $50 / J Crew Factory, $69
It looks like Meghan has on her Logan Hollowell ‘Baby Reverse Water Drop’ Diamond Tennis Necklace, $15,600.
She also had on her Ariel Gordon ‘Hex’ diamond tennis bracelet, $5500.
Meghan carried a shoulder bag in either white or grey from the little bit we can see of it.
Be sure to check back as we will continue to update the post.
Give me that outfit please! I really like her ensemble and her hairstyle, I like this loose effect which I find makes it very elegant and chic; I love the result so much and it makes a difference. The skirt would have been a little shorter, just the length needed to show the shoes, that would have been nice too but the result doesn’t bother me, it’s really super elegant.
I like the color, and I like the blouse, but the skirt swallows her. It is too long and needs to be hemmed. Her frame is too small to pull off this skirt. I usually like everything she wears, but this is a miss for me.
I just enjoyed this so much. I thought all the women worked well together, and Meghan was great, as always. An interesting outfit- looks comfortable. I’m glad it wasn’t stark white. So good to see Harry and Markus supporting her.
I love that they visited an LGBTQIA2S+-friendly BBQ restaurant. Austin is a very special place in Texas. It’s being super gentrified, but there are still a lot of good people, food, and music. Think Willie Nelson, Stephen Ray Vaughan, etc. Wish they had invited me for the day!
What first I see is that she looks like no other women on the stage, two of whom wore more traditional, albeit very fashionable suits. So for that kudos to her. I however found the whole look very bland. And the skirt fell too long. This may be the style but it does not flatter her.