THE QUIET DIGNITY OF MOURNING DRESS
Lisa Armstrong praises the classic, flattering accoutrements of the royal funeral at which no one put a fashion foot wrong
“Black has it all. White too. Their beauty is absolute, it is the perfect harmony.” Coco Chanel, high priestess of the little black dress, and staunch Anglophile, famously opined, setting off a mania for black in fashion that only abated recently.
Chanel, as was so often the case, had her finger right on the pinhead. Our late Queen wore colour so that she could be seen by those at the very back, which rendered the sea of black at her funeral all the more stark and poignant. Black, particularly, is the ultimate reduction (and, it so happens, the best foil for stunning, family-vault jewellery). Close up, it can be draining, but from a distance, it’s compelling, instantly conferring on outfits a timelessness. In black, even the most exaggerated, flashy silhouettes acquire a stripped away quality that leans towards the dignified. And quiet dignity was in plentiful supply.
Those worried that the state funeral might be overshadowed by family melodrama or celebrity upstaging can rest at ease. Everyone in attendance did us proud. Mourning became them. From the smallest – Princess Charlotte in her touchingly simple black boater and Mary Janes – to one of the oldest guests, 93-year-old Lady Pamela Hicks, once a bridesmaid at the late Queen’s wedding to her dashing Philip, now wheelchair-bound but redoutable still in a broad-brimmed black hat; from Olena Zelenska, Ukraine’s First Lady, in her neat pillbox, the Duchess of Sussex in a cape dress and wide-brimmed hat and Jill Biden in a fitted-to-perfection skirt suit from Schiaparelli, to Baroness Scotland of Asthal, one of the few who could carry off an exuberantly coloured shawl over her black tailoring… there wasn’t one ouch moment.
Princesses Eugenie, in a nipped-in black Day Birger Et Mikkelsen coat with five gilt buttons and carrying a Gabriela Hearst Diana bag, and Beatrice in a cropped Kooples jacket over a Louis Vuitton black kneelength dress (the same style Brigitte Macron wore to the State reception on Sunday evening) have arguably never looked more to the manor born than they did today: a lesson in the power of restraint. Camilla, the Queen Consort, with the heavy weight of her new title now fully on her shoulders and the pain of a broken toe, has looked understandably strained at times during the past few days. In the circumstances it wouldn’t have been surprising if black had wiped her out, but the combination of that blonde halo, a tried and tested silhouette from one of her regulars, Fiona Clare, and a small beret-style hat set at a becoming angle meant she too looked wonderful.
Make-up undoubtedly helped, not least in creating images that have a highly dramatic, almost painterly effect. At George VI’S funeral, it was barely visible. Upper and middle class women simply didn’t wear the stuff – or not so that it was noticeable. This time there was lashings of it on almost all the main female royals, professionally applied and, like the vertiginous heels, conceived, one assumes, with global scrutiny in mind.
Bracelet-length sleeves, sheer black tights, brooches, discreet veil trims, sweptback hair – the classic accoutrements of a royal funeral – are undeniably flattering. Small pillboxes, neat cloches, headbands and sculpted straw berets were the most popular choice – on Jacinda Ardern, Empress Masako of Japan, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, Madame Macron and Queen Rania of Jordan. And how flattering they were. Be in no doubt, the photographs of guests at this funeral will become every bit as iconic as those from George VI’S.
While it would be crass to equate a funeral with a fashion show, it’s naive to deny that clothes play their part in anchoring the mood, from the glittering ceremonial uniforms (how many combined hours of boot polishing over the past few days; how many tons of starch?) to the millinery. As for the latter – guests weren’t taking any chances. Stephen Jones, who has, over the years, designed hats for most of the leading royal women, told me his phone began ringing with orders within half an hour of the late Queen’s death being announced just under a fortnight ago. He didn’t take this as disrespectful. “People want to get this right,” he says. “There aren’t that many milliners in the world, so there’s a limited supply.” Sales of black ties – until last weekend an endangered species – similarly soared, with the usual sources selling out by Sunday.
You’d have to have a soul of the surliest republican stone and zero aesthetic appreciation not to gaze admiringly at the Princess of Wales, the acme of elegance and good taste, in a four-strand pearl and diamond necklace and drop earrings from the late Queen’s collection and what looks – in a neat confirmation of Coco Chanel’s pronouncement – like the black version of the white Mcqueen coat she wore during the Jubilee celebrations in June. Whether or not it’s rational, there’s something extremely reassuring in Catherine’s grace and serenity. It was touching, too, to see Sophie, Countess of Wessex, who, like so many at the funeral, has never looked better than she did in that beautiful coat dress from Suzannah of London, and, carrying, like the Queen Consort, a bag by Launer, one of Elizabeth II’S most trusted accessory houses.
Suzannah, a favourite of Sophie’s, told me last week that early photographs of the young Elizabeth have always played a part in her designs. It’s easy to trace a direct line from the coat the Countess wore to the funeral back to coat dresses the young Queen Elizabeth wore at the start of her reign, especially in the lilies of the valley, the late Queen’s favourite flowers, that were embroidered onto its panels.
Touching gestures, stunning jewellery and an unprecedented break out of mass gracefulness – no this was not a fashion show. But don’t be surprised if it sets a new tone for funerals everywhere.