When Liz Truss, the newly appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, addressed her speech following the announcement of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, on Thursday, she said “the queen was the rock on which modern Britain was built…She has been a personal inspiration to me and to many Britons.”
Her last sentence reminded us that the queen is also the tree from which bourgeoned the foundations of the modern British fashion, and a source of inspiration for many designers. Her effect was huge since she was crowned as the Queen of Britain, she was the best to reflect a boldness mixed with a conservative, classic sense, and a whimsicality that makes a key element of fashion and British culture in general. The pictures posted in newspapers, magazines, and social media platforms these days prove that the queen’s sobriety and respect for traditions hid an audacity reflected by the bright colors and hats that can only be spotted at the Royal Ascot.
However, the queen had always worn them like if she was saying loyalty to one style and sustainability are indivisible.
The queen never presented herself as a fashion influencer or passionate like her sister Marguerite and Jacqueline Kennedy, but she was always aware that she’s under the microscope, and pictures are way more significant than words when it comes to a queen that cannot explicitly express her political inclinations and personal thoughts. With time, she managed to create a special position for herself, one that goes beyond the image of the beautiful woman to a queen that had never waived her charm.
Shortly after becoming the queen, she attended a movie premiere in London wearing a black and white dress designed by the palace’s couturier Norman Hartnell, and matched it with white gloves, and a simple tiara to look like an elegant star that stole lights. In the next day, the dress she wore was the request of every British woman. The Barbour country coats and jackets, headscarves, and tartan skirts she wore in non-official appearances have also become a style for members of the high social class and aristocrats, and a source of inspiration for many designers.
Ahead of his 2016 show in Westminster Abby, London, Alessandro Michele, creative director of Gucci, described her as “one of the weirdest people on earth” but in a positive way. He was inspired by her like many other designers including the rebellious Vivienne Westwood, Miuccia Prada, and late Karl Lagerfeld, who said in 2014 that despite all this whimsicality and exaggerated classic sense, “She is never ridiculous; she is flawless.”
Burberry's creative director Riccardo Tisci said it’s impossible to ignore the monarch’s style because it’s an integral part of Burberry’s style in Britain. “She’s one of the world’s most elegant and decent women, and this is what makes Britain an amazing place that combines class and sophistication with the desire of rebellious self-expression.” Designers don’t usually like this appreciation of her style, which doesn’t change or follow fashion seasonal trends, because they often rely on change and controversy to attract customers and make profits. Therefore, some of them went to use her style with some modern, trendy twists. In his Spring/Summer 2011 collection, Designer Christopher Kane presented designs inspired by Norman Hartnell but in flashy neon colors; and in 2018, Erdem Moralıoğl inspired his spring/summer collection from a photo of the queen she took with Duke Ellington in 1958.
Designer Richard Quinn owed his fame to the queen, who attended his fashion show in 2018, and awarded him the Queen Elizabeth Award. This was the first fashion show she attends in person since she became a queen, as a message to support young designers and the London Fashion Week. Her wedding dress was made of Damascene Damask in which craftsman Qassim Ayoubi used gold threads to create the “Elizabeth carving,” later known as the “lover and beloved”.
The queen valued and appreciated the beauty of the dress she received as a gift from the Syrian government in 1947, or maybe she wanted to send a certain message through it, as she had always used her garments and accessories to deliver diplomatic messages, especially during her official meetings with kings and statemen, or in her visits abroad.
Her passion for fashion was nurtured in her early years by her father King George V, who used her in his early rule to gain acceptance and popularity after his brother Edward waived his crown because of a woman, the elegant Alice Simpson. At the time, King George recruited couturier Norman Hartnell to design creative, yet conservative and respectful outfits for his wife and two daughters, Elizabeth and Marguerite. After her father’s death in 1952, Elizabeth requested Hartnell to design a dress for her crowning ceremony. She wanted a dress that reflects the grandness of the occasion, and at the same time, promises the government and the people that she is eligible for her new responsibility.
Her attention to details and the reflection of her outfits had persisted until her last day, not only because she knew she’s a woman in a world dominated by men, so she has to be elegant and unattainable, but also because she never tolerated mistakes in this field. In an interview with The Times newspaper in 2021, couturier Stewart Parvin, who worked with the queen since the 2000s, revealed that the monarch archives her dresses based on dates and occasions, so she doesn’t wear the same outfit twice with the same person. “Some said she doesn’t wear the same dress twice, but that wasn’t true. It’s just that she was very careful in her choices. If she wants to meet President Obama for instance, she can’t wear the same dress she wore when she met him the last time,” he explained.
The queen has died, but her style will always be inspirational for the unique, classic British spirit, and it would be so hard to replace what she had calmly rooted over decades.
