QE II in 1961: “Fab wardrobe”

Mom read magazines. Lots of magazines. She used to clip recipes, articles she thought were funny or informative, and ads for clothing she liked (to be adapted later into something made at home).

In one of her boxes I found several pages torn from Cosmopolitan, September 1961. We lived in France then, when my dad was on a three-year tour in the U.S. Army and the family came with. I don’t think she had a subscription to that particular mag, but it could be had at the PX.

Color printing was still a luxury back then, so there’s only one page with a full-bleed color photo. And the article title is a cyclamen red—otherwise, only black ink. For being on smooth, coated stock, the photo line screen isn’t very fine either. The dots are discernible without a magnifier.

Seems like Cosmopolitan then had a less “racy” voice. But it was 1961… So, the text to follow is all presented exactly as it was (same emphasis, same punctuation). Any comments I make are in square brackets like [this]. To calculate prices mentioned in today’s value, dollartimes.com is a handy site. Look for their Inflation Calculator. For example, $1,200 back then equates to about $10,000 now.

blubox Queen Elizabeth’s Fabulous Wardrobe

Dazzling and regal on state occasions Elizabeth of England is a bejeweled figure who looks—in one of her $1,200 ball gowns—as if she had stepped from the pages of a fairy tale. But in private life, she prefers “very simple things” (woolen dresses, country tweeds), may wear tartan kilts for days on end at her castle in Scotland.

by Graham and Heather Fisher

“The world’s most influential fashion model,” is the way one of London’s top couturiers has referred to Queen Elizabeth II.

In the last nine years, Elizabeth and her constantly changing—and often controversial—wardrobe have toured twenty-two countries, covered five continents. The Queen has become the world’s most-traveled woman, history’s most-traveled monarch, male or female. Such perplexing wardrobe problems as what to wear to ride an elephant, what slacks to wear to hunt a tiger, what afternoon dress to wear to meet a prince, what color must the new gown be so as not to conflict with the colors of one tiny country’s flag that will be whipping behind her in the breeze as she reviews troops—these are the problems on which depend an amazing amount of Britain’s international good will.

Caption: TALL CROWN of Elizabeth’s olive-green cloche adds height so subjects can see her more easily on public occasions. Photo credit: Black Star

[In above photo of the Queen, her hat crown appears to be covered with large, abstract roses of rolled, bias-cut fabric. Jewelry includes 3-strand pearl choker, larger pearl button earrings, and a filigree-edged brooch with a cameo.]

White gloves must be ready at Elizabeth’s elbow for quick changes, lest a less-than-immaculate glove offend a dignitary, or shame the royal household—even though Elizabeth may shake as many as two thousand hands at a royal reception. One one-thousand-dollar ball gown after another must be packed away after she wears it only once, so as not to insult another country by wearing, during a state visit, an “old” dress that has been seen before.

So many wardrobe “necessities” swell the amount of royal luggage that, during Elizabeth’s six-week visit to India and Pakistan, her baggage and that of her royal entourage of thirty, weighed in at eight tons. Once, during a six-month tour, when she graciously accepted an invitation to spend a weekend at a New Zealand country home, her hosts were stunned to see two army trucks loaded with royal baggage roll up to their door.

Caption: IN ROEHAMPTON for Arab Horse Society’s show, late 1940’s, Elizabeth wore dark-red and pale-rose floral ensemble, red and green chiffon-swathed hat. Ladies who accompany her wear complimenting colors. Photo credit: European [She’s wearing peep-toe shoes with a small, triangular opening. Mom had similar shoes that she wore at her wedding. See image below of me wearing mom’s wedding suit.]

To avoid the possibility of Elizabeth’s coming face to face with a copy of a dress she is wearing, only a handful of people know in advance what clothes have been designed for her, and what she has decided to wear on a particular occasion: Philip, her husband, to whom she often turns for advice in matters of fashion; Norman Hartnell and Hardy Amies, two top London couturiers who design most of her clothes; Margaret MacDonald, the auburn-haired Scotchwoman [sic] who has masterminded the royal wardrobe since Elizabeth came to the throne.

Caption: CHIC, SLIM-SKIRTED dress of turquoise-blue printed silk worn on a recent trip to Italy. Flower-bedecked hat was designed by Claude St. Cyr. Photo credit: Black Star [Note the self-tie belt, elbow-length gloves, classic pumps and matching handbag on her left arm, same necklace as in the photo above. That’s her husband walking next to her, in a basic, impeccably tailored dark suit with narrow lapels.]

blubox

The Queen is 90 now and she has aged, but her bag looks about the same! See this recent article in The Telegraph of London:

Queen Elizabeth: The secrets of the royal handbag revealed | via @telefashion http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/people/queen-elizabeth-whats-inside-her-handbag/