Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy going for 'Meghan Markle look' at trial, stylist says

Coleen Rooney's courtroom showdown with rival Rebekah Vardy gripped the public imagination as the libel trial heard jaw-dropping testimony from both women.

The celebrity trial of the century heard details of Vardy's derisory comments about Peter Andre'a manhood as well as Coleen's admission she briefly split up with husband Wayne after he crashed his car while in the company of another woman.

The drama comes three years after Coleen set up an an elaborate scheme to find out who was leaking information from her private Instagram account.

She planted a number of false stories, resulting in her bombshell declaration where the leaks were allegedly coming from: "It's…Rebekah Vardy's account".

Former model Rebekah (40), who is married to Leicester City footballer Jamie Vardy, is now suing her for libel in a trial which is estimated to be costing in the region of at least €2 million and being dubbed 'Wagatha Christie'.

After four days of court hearings in London, during which Vardy boke down in tears several times and proceedings had to be halted, all eyes were also on the appearance of both women and what impression they were trying to give.

A trio of Irish stylists today tell the Sunday World their take on the style wars between the millionaire WAGs.

"I think they're all inspired by Meghan Markle. She'd be the God of them all now. Oh yeah, they all want to look like her. 'How could you look sexy but classy?' It's hard thing to pull off," says TV stylist and presenter Brendan Courtney.

Fellow TV presenter and stylist Darren Kennedy reckons Coleen means business.

"Coleen has been quite dour, her outfits have all been quite sombre," he notes.

"It doesn't appear to me that she has been using this as a PR opportunity, because obviously given the stakes that are at play, it all has been very sombre, it's been very simple and it's just been a lot of black, so she means business.

"Then you compare that to Rebekah. Rebekah has really been trying to make a statement with her outfits.

"Fair enough they are still kind of like she means business, but they are more 'I mean business and I'm probably jumping on a jet to the Riviera after this'. That's the vibe that I'm getting, lots of navy, lots of kind of nautical- inspired dresses with prints. All very chic I have to say.

"But it feels by looking at the pictures that she's using this moment when she knows all eyes are going to be on her.

"She knows what to wear, she wears clothes very well and she is certainly making sure that she puts her best foot forward and looks incredibly chic."

On Friday, Coleen changed her look to an off-cream colour.

"It's as if they did a 360, because Coleen arrived in a kind of pale creamy ensemble, head to toe, very summery look," he said.

"It's a lighter colour, but it's fairly conservative; almost, dare I say, sombre outfit. She is still stuck with one palate, she's not trying to make any major statements with colour, it's still a neutral.

"And Rebekah came in a black two-piece with a white blouse, almost looked like she could put on a wig and be one of the barristers. So, it was a bit of role reversal."

England football legend and current Derby manager Wayne Rooney has been accompanying his wife (36) to court, with her injured left foot in a protective casing. "It really seems to me that Coleen's focus is on nothing else other than trying to win this case," Darren said.

"Coleen has probably had good advice and been told 'anything that distracts from the case is a bad idea, play it very safe, it's not about what you're wearing, because that will easily become the focus of attention, it's about the case at hand' and she obviously wants to go in here being very serious, very straight-laced and it's clear to see where her focus is'."

Vardy is playing a different game.

"Rebekah is absolutely killing it in the style stakes. She looks stunning, and I kind of feel she is taking this moment, albeit a moment you might not want to necessarily amplify, but she's taking a moment and she's taking the publicity and she's running with it, and she looks stunning, so you can't hold that against her. There's a lot of navy in her look and very chic," he points out.

"All of her dresses, bar on Friday, have mid- or calf-length, they have been very demure, full-length sleeves, no one is showing. Even all their arms are covered, so it's quite interesting."

He described Coleen as "very very shrewd".

"Coleen is being smart. She did snare her. She literally trapped her, because someone was leaking information, so she was very shrewd in how she ascertained the information and narrowed it down," he says.

"Obviously that is all up for contest now in the courts. So, none of us can actually comment on whether its actual fact or not.

"And that's what I get from these images as well, from these outfits. She is not here to play, she means business. "

Darren, who is presenting a new home improvement show on BordGaisEnergy.ie, admits he heard about Vardy's previous description of Peter Andre's penis being like a "miniature chipolata"."

"I just think any person, be it a man or a woman, who will comment on anyone's sexual prowess after having a relationship or encounter with them says a lot about them in my opinion. A lady or a gentleman never kisses and tells," he said.

While he has not met either woman he has worked with several WAGs, especially Abbey Clancy, and has met the most famous one of them all, Victoria Beckham.

"I find Victoria brilliant. It's so interesting to watch her because she is very natural, she is very friendly, very personable off camera. As soon as the camera is put in front of her face, it's like the character comes over, which is really interesting to see how she switches it on for the camera, because in my experience she is just a warm joyful individual."

TV stylist Michele McGrath is intrigued with the outfits this week.

"What I'm seeing is a lot of navy, quite sophisticated, chic," she observes. "One of the images was Rebekah is a buttoned-up shirt dress, she has a blazer with pants, and Coleen was wearing a navy top and pants, with Gucci sliders. Quite on trend.

"I'd say they are probably trying to remember that they are going into court and that it's maybe not a fashion moment. They're still quite stylish and glamorous."

Coleen Rooney said she is glad she "put an end" to Rebekah Vardy allegedly leaking other people's information after her bid to catch the person "betraying" her "red-handed".

In a viral social media post in 2019, Coleen (36) said she had carried out a "sting operation" and accused Vardy (40) of leaking "false stories" about her private life to the press.

Vardy, denies leaking stories to the media and is suing her fellow footballer's wife for libel, while Rooney is defending the claim on the basis her post was "substantially true".

Asked what she set out to achieve with the widely shared post, Mrs Rooney replied: "I wasn't achieving anything, what I wanted was to stop the person who was leaking my private information to The Sun."

Mrs Rooney added that she had given out warnings "many times", but "it didn't stop".

"This was my last resort," she said.

Before Rooney began her evidence, Vardy entered the witness box for the final day of her evidence, telling the court she felt "bullied and manipulated" while facing cross examination.

Vardy, who became emotional during her evidence, told the court that she "wanted to clear her name" and had brought the legal action for her children.