Royal Designer Reveals Surprising Rule About Dressing The Late Queen Elizabeth II
"The clothes have to flow in a way that they look perfect all the time.”
Stewart Parvin was one of Queen Elizabeth II’s most trusted fashion designers in the last decades of her life. Responsible for her infamous neon green ensemble worn to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding, among others, the late Queen trusted Parvin with some bold fashion statements. While he may have been a trusted dressmaker for her, he couldn’t get too close to Her Majesty, as there were plenty of rules and protocol in place. “I told them that I needed to have measurements, but you can’t measure the Queen,” Parvin revealed in an interview with The Telegraph.
“They sent me some garments that I then based my calicoes upon,” Parvin explained, using preexisting fashion items to size and scale his designs for the late Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen was an incredibly busy woman, but she was also incredibly private and avoided physical contact with others. While most designers require current measurements to accurately tailor pieces, the Queen declined to be measured. And when you’re the Queen of England, what you say goes.
Stewart Parvin designed the bright lime green outfit Queen Elizabeth wore to the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Stewart Parvin shared a glimpse of the intricate process of designing for the Queen, despite the lack of measurements. “We would look at the garments in daylight and in electric light,” he explained of the process. “It’s really important how they photograph in different lights,” Parvin said.
The Princess of Wales’s former fashion confidante Natasha Archer echoed these details as she shared the thorough process involved in royal fashion planning. “It’s everything—what floor are you going to be walking on? How hot is it going to be? Is it going to be windy? Are you going to be sitting in a prominent position? Are you going to be up and down saying hello to guests?” the former private secretary explained to The Telegraph.
Princess Kate and the late Queen needed careful consideration of their fashion choices.
Queen Elizabeth trusted Stewart Parvin with many of her bold ensembles.
“You also have to make clothes in which the Queen could get out of a carriage or get out of a car without any mishaps,” the late Queen’s trusted designer, Stewart Parvin, explained. “When the Queen arrives, she’s instantly on show. The clothes have to flow in a way that they look perfect all the time.”
