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Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth makes the best dressed list

Add “fashionista” to the already crowded list of accolades Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has received in her 90th year. She has been placed on Vanity Fair’s International Best Dressed List in a category of her own.

In a “Special Citation,” the Queen is honoured for her sixty-plus years of fashionable moments, with a list of the key dressers and designers that have influenced the style of her reign.

Those included are Norman Hartnell, designer of her classic wedding dress and resplendent coronation dress; Angela Kelly, her current dresser, who designed her sunny yellow dress for the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge; Stewart Parvin, the dressmaker that most recently created that bright green dress Her Majesty wore on the balcony at Trooping the Colour this year; and Sir Hardy Amies, her chief dressmaker from 1952 to 1989, who designed, among other pieces, a coral dress worn during her Silver Jubilee .

Amy Fine Collins, a Vanity Fair correspondent who helped create this year’s list, said of the Queen, “She has consistently represented who she is and what she stands for, without wavering from a standard she set a long time ago.”

“Politics, culture, and class structure in the empire – all of that shifts constantly, but she doesn’t. She’s a beacon.”

The International Best Dressed List was created in 1940 by Eleanor Lambert, and is revealed each year in September.

The Queen was added to the International Best Dressed Hall of Fame in 1958, the year it was created.

Her Majesty’s style has also been commemorated this year with a series of exhibitions at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, and Palace of Holyroodhouse.

“Fashioning a Reign: 90 Years of Style from The Queen’s Wardrobe” charts “significant events in The Queen’s life and the nation’s history through an unprecedented collection of dress and accessories designed for these occasions, from childhood to the present day,” according to the website.

One hundred and fifty dresses have been displayed, including Her Majesty’s wedding and coronation dresses, and dresses worn on tours and state occasions.

The Queen isn’t the only member of the British Royal Family considered stylish by Vanity Fair.

The Duke of Edinburgh was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1969, as was Prince Charles in 1980. Diana, Princess of Wales was inducted in 1989, and the Duchess of Cambridge in 2014.

Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent was inducted in 1960, and her son, Prince Michael was inducted in 1999.

Prince Harry, made this year’s list, as did Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands. Crown Princess Mary was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Other royals named to the International Best Dressed List over the years include Princess Grace, Princess Caroline, and Princess Charlene of Monaco; Queen Noor and Queen Rania of Jordan; King Juan Carlos and Queen Letizia of Spain; Empress Michiko of Japan; the King of Bhutan; and the Crown Prince Couple of Greece.

 

 

About author

Jess Ilse is the Assistant Editor at Royal Central. She specialises in the British, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish Royal Families and has been following royalty since Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee. Jess has provided commentary for media outlets in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Jess works in communications and her debut novel THE MAJESTIC SISTERS will publish in Fall 2024.