Is there an anything more laced with symbolism than a royal
coronation? Almost every detail, from the crown itself, to the bracelets of
“sincerity and wisdom” presented to the new monarch is riddled with meaning.
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So, it really should not be a surprise that the clothes of
the ceremony’s stars, including many of its guests, were equally considered,
down to even the tiniest of detail.
A super-fancy fashion Easter egg huntIndeed, a scan through looks Saturday was, on one level,
equivalent to a super-fancy fashion Easter egg hunt.
The symbolism of flowersIt started with the coronation gown worn by Queen Camilla: a
white silk dress by Bruce Oldfield, a British designer who has been a favorite
dressmaker of not only the new queen, but whose creations also were often worn
by Princess Diana (he made her silver lame dress for the 1985 premier of the
James Bond film “A View to a Kill”), making him a sort of diplomatic family
bridge.
Camilla’s coronation look was embroidered in silver and gold
wildflowers, in reference to the affinity for the British countryside that she
and Charles share.
The dress was also detailed with roses, thistles, daffodils,
and shamrocks, representing the four nations of the UK, on the cuffs of each
sleeve.
As it happens, those flowers were likewise embroidered on
the white crepe Alexander McQueen gown worn by Catherine, Princess of Wales,
now the queen-in-waiting. Catherine also wore McQueen, which is designed by
Sarah Burton, the rare woman at the head of a fashion house, for her wedding in
2011, and has worn the designer’s work to many major public occasions since.
Along with the dress (worn under her royal robes), she chose
not to wear a fancy tiara but, rather, a crystal-and-silver floral headpiece,
and earrings that had belonged to Princess Diana.
(Royal jewelry tends to almost always come with a genealogy:
Camilla’s diamond necklace, which includes a 22.48-carat pendant, was made by
Garrard in 1858 for Queen Victoria and, along with matching earrings, is part
of the “coronation suite.” It was also worn by Queen Elizabeth II at her
coronation in 1953.)
Before Saturday’s actual coronation, it was rumored that
Catherine would break with tradition and wear a “floral crown,” in a nod to the
king’s wish for a more modern, less ostentatious coronation.
She did, although her version, by Jess Collett x Alexander
McQueen, was probably not the Glastonbury Festival-like floral crown that most
had imagined.
In any case, it matched the crystal-and-silver headband worn
by Catherine’s daughter, Princess Charlotte.
Pantone PoliticisMatching Princess Charlotte’s white McQueen cape and dress
and its silver trim. Catherine has long adopted a strategy of
color-coordinating her family’s outfits for their public appearances, in part
to telegraph an implicit suggestion of unity in a clan that could use some of
that messaging. (It also looks good, and she is a master of visual
communication.) Think of it as “Pantone Politics.”
And so it went.
Ukranian flagMeanwhile, US first lady, Jill Biden arrived in a sky-blue
suit with matching gloves and a bow in her hair (a sort of notional hat), all
by Ralph Lauren, a designer who has built his own empire on Americana as well
as a fantasy of old England, a choice that seemed particularly appropriate.
(President Joe Biden
also wore a Ralph Lauren suit to his swearing-in). Even more pointedly, Jill
Biden arrived with her granddaughter, Finnegan, who was wearing a daffodil-yellow
caped Markarian dress, so that when the two women walked in together, they
looked like … the Ukrainian flag.
That’s an impressively tactical approach to first — and
social media — impressions.
All about yellowIt also made sense, since the Bidens were seated next to
Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska, who was wearing a simple light-blue dress
and coat.
In any case, Finnegan was not the only guest in yellow: Her
Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan was also in the hue, wearing a look from British
designer Tamara Ralph, as was Catherine’s sister, Pippa Middleton.
Still, they were relatively subtle in their semiology,
unlike Katy Perry, who was attending because she will be performing at the
coronation concert Sunday night. For her part, Perry chose to wear a lilac
Vivienne Westwood skirt suit, matching elbow-length gloves, and a large lilac
hat/flying saucer sprouting a “merry widow” veil — plus a three-strand pearl
choker with a Westwood logo crown at its center.
A cheeky odeWestwood, of course, famously had a somewhat, well, cheeky
relationship with the monarchy (remember the notorious no-knickers twirl she
did after receiving her rank as Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the
British Empire?), although by the time she died in December, she had become her
own sort of British treasure. In choosing to honor her memory and wear her
brand, Perry was supporting the local fashion industry and the complicated
national relationship with the royal family that King Charles has inherited.
Hats off to that one.
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