Skip to content
1981
Volume 12, Issue 2
  • ISSN: 2045-5852
  • E-ISSN: 2045-5860

Abstract

Queen Elizabeth II spent her life in uniform. This article examines what that uniform looked like, what its significance and function was, and how her uniform acted as a discursive textual reference for the institution of the British monarchy. By contextualizing Elizabeth II’s various public uniform before, her early childhood dressed as a twin with Princess Margaret, and the influence of early designers Norman Hartnell and Hardy Aimes, and her later, streamlined wardrobe she co-designed with Angela Kelly, this article provides a framework within which to understand how the fashion of Elizabeth II contributed to public understanding of her, but more so, of the institution of the British monarchy as represented by mediated images of her and her reign.

© 2023 Intellect Ltd
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/ajpc_00078_1
2024-03-14
2026-04-20

Metrics

Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Acott Williams, Claudia (2022), ‘Queen of fashion: The importance of Queen Elizabeth II’s Wardrobe: A celebration of her Majesty’s life in fashion’, Good Housekeeping, 9 September, https://www.goodhousekeeping.com. Accessed 23 September 2022.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Albright, Madeleine (2010), Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat’s Jewel Box, Sydney: Harper Collins.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Altman, Dennis (2021), God Save the Queen: The Strange Persistence of Monarchies, Melbourne: Scribe.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Atkinson, Emma (2022), ‘Power dressing: The Queen’s unique style’, BBC News I, 2 June, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61593081. Accessed 12 January 2024.
  5. Barthes, Roland (1983), The Fashion System (trans. M. Ward and R. Howard), New York: Hill and Wang.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Billig, Michael (1992), Talking of the Royal Family, London: Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Church Gibson, Pamela (2012), Fashion and Celebrity Culture, London: Berg.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Clancy, Laura (2021), Running the Family Firm: How the Monarchy Manages Its Image and Our Money, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Clifford Kent, James (2022), ‘Queen Elizabeth II: Capturing the world’s most photographed woman in life and death’, The Conversation, 19 September, https://theconversation.com/queen-elizabeth-ii-capturing-the-worlds-most-photographed-woman-in-life-and-death-190490. Accessed 25 August 2023.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Coghlan, Jo and Hackett, Lisa Jo (2023), ‘Parliamentary dress: Gendered contestations of the political uniform’, M/C Journal, 26:1, 14 March, https://www.media-culture.org.au. Accessed 25 August 2023.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Collins, Lorna and O’Regan, Nicholas (2012), ‘Family Business Jubilee: A celebration of global family business’, Journal of Family Business Management, 2:2, pp. 5–13, https://doi.org/10.1108/jfbm.2012.51802baa.001.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Conti, Samantha (2022), ‘The enduring style of Queen Elizabeth II’, Women’s Wear Daily, 8 September, https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-features/enduring-style-of-queen-elizabeth-ii-1235314572/. Accessed 22 September 2022.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Craik, Jennifer (2005), Uniforms Exposed, Oxford: Berg.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Cunnington, Phillis, Lucas, Catherine and Mansfield, Alan (1976), Occupation Costume in England: From the 11th Century to 1914, London: Adam & Charles Black.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Dalton, Nia (2022), ‘Queen always wore bright colours and never beige for touching reason’, The Mirror, 17 September, https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/royals/queen-always-wore-bright-colours-28015619. Accessed 23 September 2022.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Devaney, Susan and Maitland, Hayley (2020), ‘Princess Beatrice Wore a Vintage Norman Hartnell Gown to Marry Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi’, British Vogue, 19 July, Princess Beatrice’s Wedding Dress: Pictures, Details & The Story | British Vogue, https://www.vogue.co.uk/news/article/princess-beatrice-wedding. Accessed 12 January 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Edwards, Robb and Edwards, Anne (n.d.), The Queen’s Clothes, W. S. Cowell: Ipswich.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Frick, Carole Collier (2002), Dressing Renaissance Florence, Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Griffey, Erin (2019), ‘Introduction’, in E. Griffey (ed.), Sartorial Politics in Early Modern Europe: Fashioning Women, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, pp. 15–32.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Hackett, Lisa J. and Coghlan, Jo (2022), ‘The mad kings of the royals: Fashioning madness in royal popular culture television’, Film, Fashion & Consumption, 11:2, pp. 139–53.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Kelly, Angela (2012), Dressing the Queen: The Jubilee Wardrobe, London: Royal Collection Trust.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Kelly, Angela (2019), The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe, London: Harper Collins.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Lury, Karen (2016), ‘The queen has two bodies: Amateur film, civic culture and the rehearsal of monarchy’, in M. Merck (ed.), The British Monarchy on Screen, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Mansel, Philip (2005), Dressed to Rule: Royal and Court Costume from Louis XIV to Elizabeth II, Yale: Yale University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. McCracken, Grant (1988), Culture and Consumption: New Approaches to the Symbolic Character of Consumer Goods and Activities, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Merck, Mandy (2016), ‘Introduction’, in M. Merck (ed.), The British Monarchy on Screen, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Nairn, Tom (2011), The Enchanted Glass: Britain and Its Monarchy, London: Verso.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Otnes, Cele and Maclaren, Pauline (2015), Royal Fever: The British Monarch in Consumer Culture, Oakland, CA: University of California Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Owen, Edward (2019), The Family Firm: Monarchy, Mass Media and the British Public, 1932–53, London: University of London Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Rodriguez, Cecilia (2019), ‘Undressing the queen: Royal behind-the-scene secrets revealed by her Majesty’s dresser’, Forbes, 5 November, https://www.forbes.com/sites/ceciliarodriguez/2019/11/05/dressing-the-queen-royal-behind-the-scene-secrets-revealed-by-her-majestys-dresser/?sh=57ee0ecc4325. Accessed 22 September 2022.
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Spranklen, Annabelle (2020), ‘How Norman Hartnell created the Queen’s wedding dress with ration coupons and a 350-strong team’, Tattler, 20 August, https://www.tatler.com/article/the-queen-princess-elizabeth-wedding-dress. Accessed 12 January 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Tynan, Jane (2016), ‘Michael Foucault: Fashioning the body politic’, in A. Rocamora and A. Smelik (eds), Thinking through Fashion: A Guide to Key Theorists, London: I. B. Tauris.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Weir, Alison, Williams, Kate, Gristwood, Sarah and Borman, Tracy (2011), The Ring and the Crown: A History of Royal Weddings 1066-2011, London: Hutchinson.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Woolerton, June (2023), ‘The coronation dress of Queen Elizabeth II’, Royal Central, 1 May. The Coronation dress of Queen Elizabeth II – Royal Central. https://royalcentral.co.uk/uk/the-queens-coronation-dress-103768/. Accessed 12 January 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Yodanis, Carrie (2019), Getting Dressed: Conformity and Imitation in Clothing and Everyday Life, New York and London: Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1386/ajpc_00078_1
Loading
  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): British royals; costumes; fashion; gender; media; monarch; power; uniform

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error
Please enter a valid_number test