The Fashion Forward Years
Britain was riding high at the beginning of the 50s, its mood of optimism buoyed by recent victor y, 1951’s Festival of Britain and – following the death of George VI – a new monarch who embodied youth and beauty. Even continued rationing in the early part of the decade could not quell the appetite of a population hungry for all things new – with fashion top of the shopping list. After the long years of practical clothing necessitated by wartime austerity, women rejoiced in both Dior’s full-skirted New Look and in streamlined tailoring which flattered the female form. With her youthfulness and shapely figure, the young Queen was equal to the challenge of the “fashion forward 50s”, turning to fashionable designers including Hardy Amies and Norman Hartnell.
Hartnell, who had designed the Queen’s wedding dress, was also the designer of the magnificent coronation gown “shimmering and sparkling” with crystals, diamonds and gold, which took nine weeks to complete. She quickly became a royal trendsetter shortly afterwards, long before the days of Diana and Kate, in a stunning black and white Norman Hartnell gown worn to a Royal Film Premier in 1952 and quickly copied for the masses. As Bethan Holt explains in her book, The Queen, 70 years of
Majestic Style, “Even those on a budget could emulate Her Majesty after a 30d paper pattern was produced, although the dress, dubbed the ‘Magpie’, was never worn again.”
Throughout the 50s, the
Queen wowed crowds on foreign tours, resplendent in diamonds and fashionable couture gowns. Even Parisians admired her in silver lace and Norman Hartnell’s “Fields of France” creation worn on a 1957 visit. By the end of the decade, the Queen was in her 30s when full skirts gave way to a sleeker silhouette. Elegant, classic, but with a nod to trends, the Queen had finally found her signature style.
“The young Queen was equal to the challenge of the fashion forward 50s”