Wiggle that says: I'm a Style Queen too, Kate! JAN MOIR salutes Sophie Wessex who's found her fashion mojo Easter Sunday was day when Sophie Wessex chose to hatch a new look She strutted into St George's Chapel in an electric blue suit sculpted over her figure The countess looked fabulous but was it really appropriate for a church? By Jan Moir Stealing the show: Sophie Wessex turned heads in this tight royal blue suit Easter Sunday is a day of celebration and feasting. A day of fluffy chicks and rebirth. A day that Sophie Wessex chose to hatch her new look upon an unsuspecting world. And crikey, what a vision of sizzling peacockery to flutter before our tired eyes! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it a royal cry for help? Do not adjust your sets. Pop on a pair of these anti-dazzle, mortification-proof fashion visors before you peek. For yes, that really is the Countess of Wessex attending the traditional Easter service at Windsor Castle with other members of the Royal Family. That really is our Soph strutting into St George's Chapel looking like the chief purser on a SexyAirways late-night flight to Rio. On this most holy of days, for reasons that have yet to become clear, Sophie chose an electric blue suit, sculpted over her body and clinging tighter than the shrink-wrap on a pair of slightly flattened avocados. The skirt had an I-dare-you zip all the way up the back, matching the fruity bondage zips that tracked up each arm. Sophie teamed this with a racy pair of cocktail stick heels and topped off her ay-caramba! new image with the kind of towering, peacock feather hat that would have had Carmen Miranda begging for mercy. Yes, she looked fabulous, totally amazing - but was it really an appropriate outfit for church? To be honest, her suit is the kind of thing you'd expect to see on a flirty lieutenant serving cocktails on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise - not on a member of the Royal Family wiggling into a holy service. So what does this lemming-like lurch in style direction mean for a countess previously noted for taking decades-long refuge in forgiving pastels and ill-fitting frocks, not to mention her penchant for fifty shades of beige? First, ask yourself this. If the Countess of Wessex's Easter outfit could speak, what would it be saying? It would be screaming: "Look at me!" It would be shouting: "Move over, Kate." It would be hollering: "Stuff you, Pippa!" It might even whisper: "Never mind my bum, does my royal standing look big in this?" Certainly, the arrival of perfectly groomed Kate Middleton and her attention-grabbing sister Pippa on the scene caused a fluttering in the royal dovecotes. Unless they wanted to disappear even further into the margins of irrelevance, the royal ladies have had to up their fashion game and project themselves better at public events. Look at Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, who now try very, very hard to win favour with their silly hats and shortie skirts. They fail to understand that they cannot wheedle their way into public affection by looking fashionable: they have to do stuff. Fashion: Sophie in peach at Zara Phillips" wedding (left) and navy (right) for the Queen's Diamond Jubliee In the meantime, is it merely competition from the Duchess of Cambridge that is behind the Countess of Wessex's transformation from frumpy Sloane to royal fashionista? Perhaps, but the truth is that Sophie has undergone an incredible style renaissance over the past few years. Last month, this was recognised when the 48-year-old countess was announced as the first ever patron of the London College of Fashion, a position she will hold for the next three years. The edgy Easter outfit shows she is taking her new credentials seriously - perhaps too seriously. Yet anything is an improvement on the horrors that went before. In the past, style and Sophie were two ships that never passed in the night. If they did, they crashed into each other with a loss of all hands on deck and some terrible damage to the beam end. Fashion turkey: Christmas 2003 Court jester: May 2002 Non-starter: Royal Ascot, 2001 Yes, we were all guilty of terrible fashion crimes in the Eighties and Nineties, but Sophie must shoulder-pad a disproportionate amount of blame. Those boxy Diana-alike blazers, those sherbet pink shantung silk skirts, those shiny tights that look like pearlised sausage casings, jumpers with anchors on them. Sophie wore the lot. When she started dating Prince Edward in 1993 - they married in 1999, so their engagement lasted an eternity for royal circles - fresh horrors emerged. At Royal Ascot, you could always depend on Sophie to wear the wrong colour in the wrong shape, with a hideola hat to top it off. On formal occasions, she was the classic English rose; a bursting bud crammed into a strapless, too-tight dress; a detonated tube of toothpaste with a matching clutch. Then something happened. Something incredible. It is not just that Sophie Wessex is one of those women who just looks better and better the older she gets, it is also that she has found - finally - an age-appropriate, effortlessly elegant style that suits her. Sexier shoes, nicer colours, clothes that fit better. Caped crusader: February 2009 Sweater-girl: 1994 A boyish-botch in 1994 Sophie has found salvation in all of these things. It may have taken a long time, but she got there in the end. A personal trainer and regular pilates sessions have also helped this newly stylish royal to bloom. At Zara Phillips" wedding, Sophie stole the show in peach chiffon. At the Queen's Diamond Jubilee service at St Paul's last year, she was flawless in navy blue. At Sandringham, over Christmas, she wore an oatmeal duster coat and statement hat with easy style. By the time she scrambles up the royal ranks and makes it to duchess, she is going to be just perfect. And that was her plan all along. In Royal circles, Sophie is known as Teacher's Pet. This is because the Queen absolutely adores her perfectly behaved, sugar-sprinkled daughter-in-law. While Princess Anne has always been Phillip's favourite child - a female echo of his blunderbuss ways - sweet Sophie is the companionable and biddable daughter the Queen never had. Unless you count that unfortunate business with the fake sheikh back in 2001 (Sophie was caught on tape disparaging Cherie Blair and making political comments), she hasn't put a foot wrong. Until now, perhaps. One of the reasons we all love the Queen is that HM is dutiful but understated. Always. And until she climbed into her Lycra cyber suit at the weekend, Sophie Wessex was the same. So, just when she has been getting it so right, let's hope she doesn't start going horribly wrong, egged on by all her new fashion pals. Being photographed so much puts huge pressure on the younger royals - but it never pays to try too hard. You've proved you have a real sense of style, Sophie. Now, just go out and enjoy it!