Queen Elizabeth Stylish Icon
Queen Elizabeth
1926 – 2022
Queen Elizabeth had style! Looking at pictures of the Queen, when she was a young woman, reveals that she was quite glamorous and always feminine.
During her reign she went from a more stylish look to more classic looking clothes. Three designers, Normal Hartnell, Hardy Amies, and Angela Kelly, get credit for most of her wardrobe over the years.
Her dress code consisted of: a hat, coat, Launer bag, white or black cotton gloves and shoes. She used her clothing to influence world leaders and connect with the people. It had to be comfortable and appropriate. Queen Elizabeth preferred bold colors to be seen in crowds and later for television.
Queen Elizabeth’s hems were never higher than her upper knee cap perhaps reaching their shortest in 1969 at the investiture of the Prince of Wales. Hems were weighted to ensure propriety when stepping out of a vehicle. Her outfits had zips rather than buttons to facilitate up to five changes of clothing a day. Practical shoes were essential and hats with small hat brims were required so she could be seen by the people.
Elizabeth’s signature pieces of jewelry were a triple strand of pearls, (given to her by her father, King George VI), worn with large pearl stud earrings, accented with a diamond chip at the top. She also favored brooches on the shoulder of outfits.
Her country fashion was all weather gear from Aquascutum, Burberry or Barbour, cashmere sweaters, with tweed or tartan skirts, jodhpurs, jackets or vests, and boots. Elizabeth favored printed Hermès headscarfs with her sporty fashion.
When choosing what to wear symbolism was important. When Queen Elizabeth, the Duchess of Cornwall, and Princess Anne gathered at Westminster Abbey for a memorial service honoring Phillip they wore a shade of forest green, the official livery color of Prince Philip. (Livery, for a quick definition, is the distinctive clothing worn by a person of rank—and their household.)
When visiting the 20th Century Fox Studios in Los Angeles, California in 1983, the queen chose to wear a white dress featuring a top that was embellished with poppies, the state flower of California,
On a visit to Ireland in 2011 the queen wore a white dress embroidered with shamrocks, a symbol of Ireland, all over the bodice for a State Dinner.