Queen Elizabeth II had an impressive reign and was noted for her diplomacy. With an impressive post-coronation wardrobe that spoke to the deep understanding she had of her role as a leader of her country, the monarch's fashion legacy is one of the most recognizable in the world.
The Queen's wardrobe was a representation of her work as a British monarch. The queen's dress choices spoke to her personal style as opposed to following fashion trends according to a professor.
The Queen has developed and refined a strong sense of style over the course of her life. She has been able to communicate her status as a world leader because of the consistency in her appearance.
For war-torn and post-war England, Elizabeth preferred clean and polished silhouettes with a nipped-in waist, a style that reflected the time.
When she married Philip Mountbatten, the Duke of Edinburgh, she showed her sensitivity to the challenges that her country was facing. The war had ended two years prior to her tying the knot, and the then-princess used ration coupons to save money for her Norman Hartnell designed, seed pearl-encrusted royal wedding gown. She was given 200 additional coupons ration in addition to her saved ones.
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When Elizabeth was crowned the Queen of England six years later, she again chose Hartnell for her dress, this time a white duchesse gown embroidered with national and Commonwealth floral emblems in gold and silver thread and embellished with seed pearls.
The Queen had a deep understanding of her role as a leader of her country after she wore her crown. She preferred classic, clean lines and looks that were stylish but not trend-setting. Elizabeth turned to vibrant colors, prints, and accessories like hats, gloves, and purses, even though her silhouettes and hemlines were more conservative.
The Queen's taste in hats was smart, like the upturned straw hat festooned with a bunch of red cherries and the bold polka-dotted pillbox hat.
Although it relies on tried-and-true elements, theQueen made a case for uniform dressing, which can inspire fans to take chances with the variables. Elizabeth approaches formal wear in a different way. The Queen preferred a long-sleeved sheath gown that was embellished with crystals or sequines. It wasn't hard to repeat this silhouette because of the way she decorated it: the right tiara, sash, gloves, and jewels breathed fresh life into what could be seen as a fairly traditional royal wardrobe.
Elizabeth could dress in the same manner. She wore a gray suit with slacks when she went to the hospital. The quintessential English leisure wear included Wellington boots, quilted outerwear, headscarves, and well-made separates in plaid, wool, and checks.
During the later years of Queen Elizabeth's life, she was a style icon due to her penchant for color blocking and black and white.
When you consider the care that Elizabeth put into making her accessories match her look, it's easy to see why she was dressed in head-to-toe in one shade. She painstakingly matched her various outfits with her famous umbrellas.
In the documentary The Queen at 90, Elizabeth's daughter-in-law says that there was a pragmatic reason for the Queen's bright looks. She said that she needed to stand out for people to say that they saw the queen. When she arrives, the crowds are two, three, four, 10, 15 deep, and someone wants to be able to say they saw a bit of the queen's hat as she passed.
Queen Elizabeth established a fashion framework for the modern royal, balancing her personal taste with her role as a leader.
Cady Lang is a writer for Time Magazine.
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