英国王室出访，着装色彩传达善意
剑桥公爵夫妇于本周到访波兰和德国，两人的第二次欧洲之旅之所以引人注目，是有很多原因的。
First was the trip’s success as what German newspapers called “die royale Charme-Offensive,” a.k.a. the use of the “New Gen” royals as envoys to reassure Europeans that just because Britain is leaving the European Union, it doesn’t mean everyone can’t be friends. Second was the fact that — unlike the first tour, to France — the young family went en bloc, with Prince George, 3, and Princess Charlotte, 2, joining their parents. And third was the canny use of the family’s clothing to present a coordinated picture of friendship and cultural awareness.
首先，此行作为德国报章口中的“王室魅力攻势”获得成功，“新一代”王室成员以使节的身份让欧洲人放心：英国脱离欧盟并不意味着大家不能做朋友。其次是这样一个事实：与到访法国的第一趟欧洲行不同——这个年轻的王室家庭此番是举家出游，3岁的乔治王子(Prince George)和2岁的夏洛特公主(Princess Charlotte)加入了他们父母的行列。再次是这家人巧妙利用着装，展示了一幅关于友谊和文化意识的协调画面。
A color-coordinated picture, to be exact.
确切地说，是一幅色彩协调的画面。
Diplomats and politicians using their wardrobes as vehicles of communication is increasingly part of the job these days — we expect it, they plan for it. Traditionally, though, the focus has been on what women wear, and largely what spouses of leaders wear, in part because they tend to be cast in a role that demands their clothes do the speaking for them.
时至今日，外交官和政治人物以自身着装为交流工具的做法，在其工作中变得越来越常见——我们对此有期待，他们也为此做规划。不过通常而言，重心会被放在女士的穿着上，而且主要是领导人配偶的穿着，这在某种程度上是因为他们往往被分派扮演一个要让衣着为自己代言的角色。
Originally, that took the form of support for home industry (like wearing creations by designers from your country, the better to get their names known round the world). Later, it evolved into cross-border symbolism: wearing the styles of designers from the country being visited, or who were born in the country being visiting and who later moved to your country, thus serving notice that you cared about the host country’s creative community. Either way, the thought process was revealed by the inevitable question, “Who are you wearing?”
起初，这种事是以支持本土产业的面貌出现(比如，穿上你自己国家的设计师的作品，以让他们的名字举世皆知。)后来又演化出跨越国境的象征性：穿上所到国家的设计师或出生于该国、后来移居你的国家的设计师的作品，由此宣告你很关注东道国的创意群体。无论如何，一个难免被问及的问题会让这种心思得到显露：“你身上的服装是谁设计的?”
Now, however, we seem to have reached something of a new stage.
不过现在，我们似乎进入了某个新阶段。
The duchess — the former Kate Middleton — has employed both of the above tactics quite effectively on official trips to India, Canada and the United States, and did so again this time around, wearing British names such as Alexander McQueen, Catherine Walker and Jenny Packham, and Gosia Baczynska, a Polish designer, to a party in honor of the queen’s birthday in Warsaw; Markus Lupfer, a German-born designer now working in London, to a reception in Berlin; and Hugo Boss, to compete in a rowing race in Heidelberg, Germany. But it was the two moments of arrival in each country, when the Cambridges deplaned en masse and in theme, that made the most impact.
本名为凯特·米德尔顿(Kate Middleton)的剑桥公爵夫人，在正式出访印度、加拿大和美国之际都行之有效地同时采取了上述两种策略，这一次也是如此——在华沙出席一场庆祝英女王生日的派对时，其着装有的来自亚历山大·麦昆(Alexander McQueen)、凯瑟琳·沃克(Catherine Walker)、珍妮·帕克汉(Jenny Packham)等英国品牌，有的则出自波兰设计师戈西亚·巴克齐斯卡(Gosia Baczynska)之手;在柏林出席一场招待会时，她穿着出生于德国、目前在伦敦工作的设计师马库斯·卢普弗(Markus Lupfer)的作品;在德国海德堡参加赛艇比赛时，她穿的则是雨果·博斯(Hugo Boss)。但最令人印象深刻的两个时刻，是身穿同主题服装的剑桥公爵一家抵达波兰和德国，一同下飞机之际。
Why was that? Well, because they got the whole family involved!
为什么是那样的时刻?因为所有家庭成员都在其中啊!
Landing in Warsaw, for example, they were a symphony in (mostly) red and white, Poland’s national colors: the duchess in white Alexander McQueen; the duke in a navy suit, white shirt and red tie; Princess Charlotte in a red-and-white smocked dress and red shoes; Prince George in a red-and-blue check shirt and navy shorts.
举个例子，在华沙下飞机的时候，他们的着装(主要)是波兰的代表色——红白两色的和谐交融：公爵夫人身穿白色的亚历山大·麦昆;公爵身穿海军蓝套装，内衬白色衬衫，系红色领带;夏洛特公主穿着带皱饰的红白两色连衣裙和红色鞋子;乔治王子则穿着红蓝格子衬衫和海军蓝短裤。
And that highly visual entrance was followed by a similarly choreographed arrival in Berlin, with the duchess in a Prussian blue — or Berlin blue — coat and dress by Catherine Walker, Prince William in a matching tie, Princess Charlotte in a blue-and-white floral dress, and Prince George in a matching light-blue shirt and again (navy) shorts.
在华沙来了一场极具视觉风格的亮相之后，他们又在柏林以同样经过精心编排的方式登场：公爵夫人身穿凯瑟琳·沃克的普鲁士蓝——又称柏林蓝——外衣连衣裙，威廉王子系着同色系的领带，夏洛特公主身穿蓝白两色碎花裙，乔治王子则身穿相衬的浅蓝色衬衫，下身还是(海军蓝)短裤。
Whether anyone heard the diplomatic niceties mumbled to the officials on the tarmac didn’t matter: The wider message, meant for anyone watching — or reading, or checking Instagram — was unmistakable from the pictures, which were singularly easy to read no matter what the platform. The individual designers mattered less than the net effect of the colors.
不论有没有人听到被含糊不清地传达给停机坪上的那些官员的外交辞令，都不要紧：这些画面让亲眼目睹的每一个人——或者读到相关信息的人，或者上Instagram的人——准确无误地接收到了为他们准备的更丰富的讯息——不论在任何平台上，其含义都显而易见。单个设计师不及颜色产生的实际效果重要。
Interestingly, Melania Trump likewise dressed in color code during her recent trip with President Trump to France, with pretty much every outfit featuring some combination of red, white and blue, the colors of the French and American flags.
有趣的是，梅拉尼娅·特朗普(Melania Trump)最近随特朗普总统出访法国时，也曾依照色彩隐含的讯息进行穿搭：几乎每一套着装都以红、白、蓝的某种组合为特色，那是法国和美国国旗的颜色。
In both cases, the point was not about changing the business fortunes of a brand, but about acknowledging the national identity and history of the host country — about finding a point of convergence.
这两个案例中，重点不在于改变一个品牌的商业前景，而在于对东道国的国家身份和历史予以认同——在于找出一个交汇点。
Like the themed socks of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, such calculated prismatics are an accessible approach to the diplomatic dress challenge. You don’t have to know anything about fashion to understand them.
像加拿大总理贾斯汀·特鲁多(Justin Trudeau)的主题袜一样，这种经过仔细考量的色彩策略，是用以应对外事活动着装挑战的可行方法。你不必对时尚有任何了解就能明白色彩背后的含义。
Think of it as Pantone politics. Betcha we’ll see more of it.
不妨拿它和潘通(Pantone)政治学作比。我们肯定会看到它越来越多地发挥作用。
