The late Queen Elizabeth II was a fashion icon throughout her 96 years of life, from her baby bonnets to the iconic coat dresses she wore in her later years. One of her favored dressmakers, Stewart Parvin, recently revealed the secrets of her royal wardrobe in the later decades of her life. Parvin was called in by Angela Kelly, the Queen’s dresser and close confidante, to give The Queen a makeover in her later years—inspired by another timeless fashion icon.
Speaking to Bethan Holt for The Telegraph, Parvin revealed that the late Queen’s fashion inspiration was former First Lady Jackie Kennedy. Angela Kelly was hoping to recreate a “Jackie O” inspired wardrobe, which Parvin said “threw me off, because they were reported not to have got on, but whether that’s just The Crown, I’m not sure.”
Queen Elizabeth II wearing a Stewart Parvin design.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Queen Elizabeth II and Jackie Kennedy.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
“Frankly, they’re two of the most elegant headscarf evangelists to ever live,” says Caroline Hallemann, author of the upcoming book The Kennedys and the Windsors. “There are few women who embody the label of style icon quite like Queen Elizabeth and Jackie O., so I love that the Queen was inspired by Jackie’s fashions.” Hallenmann feels that the two female icons were on friendlier terms than recent television would have us believe. “I know everyone thinks of that one episode of The Crown that depicts them as antagonists,” Hallemann explains, “but really these two women had more in common than you might think.”
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“They had plenty to talk about: they were both young mothers in the public eye, two women with incredible visibility and influence, but little real political power,” Hallemann explains. Queen Elizabeth II and Jackie Kennedy crossed paths on a few occasions, some more enjoyable than others, where they shared experiences on motherhood, quasi-political careers, and very public marriages. “But more than that, they were both passionate equestrians, lifelong horse girls—and that’s really where they connected.”
Queen Elizabeth and Jackie Kennedy attend a reception at Buckingham Palace.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Caroline Hallemann
The Kennedys and the Windsors: the Story of Two Dynasties, One Born, One Made
As for her Jackie O-inspired makeover, Queen Elizabeth took the process very seriously. “It’s only my opinion, but I thought she was very interested in clothes on different levels, because one, it is how she’s perceived, two, they’re an intimate thing,” Stewart Parvin said of his experiences crafting a wardrobe for some of the most historic events during the Queen’s later reign. “If you go out in your favourite thing, you feel better and that’s very important,” the late Queen’s former dressmaker explained. “She was somebody who had clothes made for her all her life; she was brought up with that, and so she understood it in a way that people who haven’t done that don’t understand.”
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