Chinese means acceptable: the image maker remembered the brightest outfits of Queen Elizabeth

She was born in 1926, when flappers were making a fashion revolution, and left this world in 2022, when people in oversized sweatshirts walk the streets of all world capitals. Queen Elizabeth II was a remarkable figure in all respects, many call her a symbol of stability and tradition, and she is also just a woman who has changed more than one fashion trend in her lifetime. The asceticism of the war years, the fashionable thaw of the 1950s, the appearance of tights and miniskirts in the 1960s, the modernity of the late twentieth century and the neon brightness of the new millennium – all this did not pass by Elizabeth Windsor. The world in which the little princess grew up is not at all like the world that the old queen left – including in matters of fashion. “MK” recalled the most vivid stories associated with the outfits of the late Queen of England.

“A woman who lived for almost a century has died. She was born in the year of the last heyday of the art deco style, the heyday of her young maturity was the breakthrough 1960s, and she died in 2022 in the postmodern era, when they say that fashion as such is no longer there, there are a huge number of trends. A woman has lived a century, including a fashionable century, but because of her status she could not surrender to all fashion trends – dress code, protocol, rules. Who knows: maybe she wanted to dress more boldly? But she never went beyond, – says image maker Zhannat Idrisova in an interview with an MK correspondent. – A very striking example is her meeting with Jacqueline Kennedy in the early 1960s. According to eyewitnesses, she prepared very carefully, sewed an elegant blue dress. But she could not stand the competition with the fashionable Jackie – the seemingly beautiful dress of the queen began to “smell with mothballs”. The queen can dress richly, but edgy – alas, no.

What fashion stories from the life of Queen Elizabeth are most memorable?

1. Without puffy skirts: you have to be more modest

Real fashionable – post-war! – A revolution took place in the world in 1947, when Christian Dior introduced a new look dress with a silhouette reminiscent of 19th century crinolines. It is difficult for us, descendants, to understand what was the real impudence of this “princess dress”: not at all in deliberate femininity and not in an accentuated waist, no, but in how much fabric had to be spent on it. Fluffy skirt with many pleats. Not just elegant, but wasteful! In most European countries, fabric was still in short supply in the post-war years, and the UK is no exception. Therefore, King George VI even forbade his daughters, princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, who were then 21 years old and 17 years old, to sew new look dresses, considering them immodest – it’s not for royal people to squander money like that in difficult times. True, not for long – in the 1950s, when the situation returned to normal, both girls appeared in public in dresses with puffy skirts.

2. Chinese silk – the dress is acceptable. Every girl’s wedding dress is special, and Princess Elizabeth is no exception. Her wedding to Prince Philip Mountbatten took place in November 1947 (soon the couple could celebrate their 75th anniversary) and became the most important holiday not only in the royal family, but throughout the country. Fabric in post-war Britain was still sold on coupons, and the young princess spent a long time saving her own to buy the right amount of silk. Parliament gave her an additional two hundred cards for this, but ordinary English women did not stand aside – hundreds of girls and a woman sent their coupons to Buckingham Palace to support the princess.

With silk for the dress, everything was not easy. As you know, the two largest silk producers in the world are China and Japan, and this was the case 75 years ago. However, immediately after the victory over militaristic Japan, the British princess still could not walk down the aisle in a dress made of Japanese silk: patriotic sentiments in society would not support this in any way. Therefore, silkworm cocoons underwent a special examination – and turned out to be Chinese, so the wedding dress was saved. It was adorned with crystals and 10,000 pearls imported from the United States.

Later, the same fashion designer (Norman Hartnell) made a coronation dress for the Queen.

3. Macintosh raincoats and hunting boots. Elizabeth died in September 2022 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, the royal family’s favorite hunting residence. Holidays in Scotland meant appropriate dressing, and the queen always wore a mackintosh raincoat made of rubberized waterproof cotton with a turn-down collar, as well as hunting boots. Such an outfit may not look very elegant, but hunting, and even in rainy Scotland, there is no place for elegance. Thanks to Queen Elizabeth, raincoats and boots became replicated.

4. Bright plain suits with hats. “Femininity was always in her outfits, and it really suited her. Even in adulthood, the queen we knew favored classic suits, skirts, jackets, coats and hats – all in bright colors. Her favorite scarves and hats are also always decorated with flowers. There is an impression that she was a woman of a romantic warehouse, which is quite remarkable, since we are talking about a ruling person, ”says Zhannat Idrisova. It’s no secret that the Queen often chose the craziest and brightest colors for her classic-cut suits.

Already in 2016, after the celebration of the 90th anniversary of the Queen, there was a surge of British interest in bright clothes of neon colors – pink, light green, yellow and bright blue shades. For a 90-year-old lady, the choice is clear: when there is no opportunity to experiment with styles, experiments with color remain. Well, the fact that even at the age of 90 Queen Elizabeth was able to remain a trendsetter speaks volumes, including the attitude of the people towards her.

As Idrisova added, due to the peculiarities of royal protocol, Elizabeth had to do without the “little black dress”, which is considered a lifesaver for most women who prefer a classic and romantic style, and for women of her generation in general (a little black dress is hardly not the same age as Elizabeth). However, according to royal rules, black is allowed only in case of mourning.

5. Green dress, the color of hope. Among the last fashionable appearances of Elizabeth that the public remembers is the outfit that she chose in April 2020 to address the nation during the coronavirus pandemic. Light green, colors of hope, sheath dress and pearl jewelry. Brooch with emeralds and diamonds. Without a crown, and lips quite brightly tinted with coral lipstick – all this gave a special energy to the image. In April 2020, this was very appropriate, and it must be remembered that she did not often address the nation, and each such appeal was very important – and even at 94, the queen managed to be remembered not only by her speech, but also by the beauty of the outfit.