Hi everyone, it’s Justine.
Following a recent royal wedding that took place in London, I got into royal fashion
and into the dress code that the royal British family goes by.
I found some of these rules very intriguing, and so I researched a bit further to see where
those rules were actually coming from.
I learned so much that today I want to share with you ten rules that the Queen and her
family apply whenever they make a public appearance.
Let’s go.
Rule #1.
Bare legs or not bare legs?
So it is true that women in the royal British family are expected to cover their legs at
all times, so it is very appreciated when they wear dresses or skirts, it’s the taste
of the Queen, but they can not go bare legs, so they will wear tights underneath.
Kate Middleton, for years now, has been consistently wearing skin-color tights, even if they’re
very thin, so that her skin is not bare.
So when Meghan and Harry announced their engagement, and Meghan was showing naked legs under her
skirt, it was judged as being inappropriate and it apparently was a faux-pas.
Since then, she has also been wearing tights at every public appearance.
What is not true, however, is that the tights have to have the color of your skin.
It could be any other color as well.
It’s just that Kate always goes with that skin tone.
Rule #2.
The cleavage question.
Wearing a cleavage is not appropriate, officially, so the Queen never does it.
Kate Middleton has been seen with many different designs of necklines… square ones, boat
ones, scoop ones, oval ones, but never a plunging neckline because that’s off-limits.
Exception: Princess Diana, especially with evening gowns, would go like, typically drop
shoulders, and then a heart shape that would go deeper between the breasts, on the chest
here, but in that case she would always, always, always have a clutch with her, and she would
hold that clutch right here.
Literally, you see that on many, many pictures.
Whenever she got off a car or had to lean forward, to keep her modesty to some extent.
So technically, cleavages are not welcome in the royal British family.
Rule #3.
The Queen likes the female members of the royal family to wear skirts and dresses rather
than trousers, which are considered way too casual, and not appropriate for a lady.
But she also wants the hem of the skirt or the dress to end below the knee.
Not the knee.
And hell, not shorter.
So between below the knee and floor-length is the authorized range.
At the beginning of her relationship and of her public life, Kate Middleton has been seen
wearing shorter skirts.
And she has a great figure.
Wonderful legs.
Why not?
She has been reminded that this is not appropriate.
And her hemline has been lengthened, and she seems to stick to it since then.
We’ll see how Meghan goes about that rule now that she’s here too.
Rule #4.
Wearing black is only appropriate for funerals if you’re a royal.
And some very rare evening occasions, but really, mostly for funerals.
Each member of the royal family is expected to carry a full black outfit with him, with
her, when they’re traveling, at all times, in case of a sudden death in the family and
they have to come back to London for the funeral.
The history behind this is that when the Queen’s father died, she was traveling, she didn’t
have anything black with her, and she didn’t want to get off the plane when she came back
to England, before somebody got a black outfit delivered to her, so that she could change
on the plane and get off wearing death-appropriate black clothes.
So now, that’s the rule.
Royals don’t wear black but they always carry a black outfit with them just in case.
Rule #5.
The headwear question.
When you’re a normal woman, like me, you sometimes get to wear a hat for a fancy summer
wedding.
When you’re a royal, it’s every day.
And usually, you get unique, artistic pieces designed for you to match your outfit.
I think that’s one of the fun parts of royal wardrobe; they have wonderful, wonderful hats.
And this is a very longstanding tradition in… among the aristocracy, not just in the
royal family.
Until the 1950s, so the generation of the Queen, really, women were expected to cover
their hair, when going out.
They wouldn’t go with naked hair around the city.
It was not considered appropriate.
So this is really just an old tradition that has kept on living.
Though, hats are ok during the day.
Not at night.
So for evening occasions, the young, unmarried ladies will go with a nice hairstyle.
The married ones, and only these ones, get to wear a tiara, the princess crown.
That also means, for all the gentlemen in attendance, that each woman wearing a tiara
is taken, and off limits, so it’s also a smart code.
Rule #6.
Little boys wear shorts, not trousers.
You probably noticed that Prince George, the son of William and Kate, is always wearing
those cute high socks and short pants, no matter how freezing it is.
It is cute, but it is also a very, very old tradition among the aristocracy and the royal
family.
Since the sixteenth century, babies that were high-born like that would wear dresses, no
matter if they were boys or girls, until the age of about eight.
Since the nineteenth century, shorts have been considered to be ok too, and added to
the list of possible options.
So little Prince George will be wearing shorts for a couple more years really, until he’s
allowed to wear trousers, no matter how freezing England can get in winter.
Trousers are considered to be for middle class, suburban, regular little boys.
Rule #7.
Nails among female members of the royal family should be kept natural-looking.
And that means either no polish at all (you see that on Kate Middleton very often), or
transparent, or light pink.
That’s it with your options.
The Queen herself has been wearing Essie “Ballet Slippers,” the reference, since 1989.
This one reference.
That’s it.
Exception: Princess Diana has been seen wearing bright shades of red.
The Queen was apparently not amused at all.
Rule #8.
Do not take off your coat, no matter how hot it gets.
This is another very, very old tradition.
Women in the past, would not get undressed when they arrived somewhere.
They would stay in the outfit they arrived in.
Kate respects that rule 100%.
You will not see her taking off her jacket at an official event.
On the other hand, Meghan has been seen with boat necklines, like this, bare shoulders,
and the dress is only attached here on one point.
See this kind of look?
She has great shoulders that she likes to show off, so I’m very curious to see how
her style will evolve, knowing that the Queen, officially, doesn’t really like that.
Rule #9.
Always be photography-ready.
When you’re a royal, as soon as you step out of your house, you will be attacked by
paparazzi and your photo will be taken.
Have you noticed that they always look impeccable?
They always look perfectly ironed and steamed.
And nothing’s moving.
Their clothes look perfect all the time.
How is it possible?
With their tailors, they always go for heavier and stiffer fabrics, so you will not see them
wear linen, because linen creases and folds and it doesn’t react well after a day of
being worn.
So they will not wear linen; they will prefer silks, heavier silks, or a mix of silk and
wool, which is warm, and looks shiny and very precious.
Exceptions to that rule have been seen at Princess Diana’s wedding, where her dress
was visibly wrinkled, and that comes from putting all that volume of dress into a car.
Meghan has been seen with little wrinkles on the… around the hips and around the waist,
on her wedding dress too.
And those two dresses were made by tailors who were not the official tailors of the house.
So maybe that is why.
Other than that, on regular clothing for public appearances, you’d never see a crease.
Rule #10.
The Queen has officially said she hates…
And I quote her…
She hates shoes with wedges.
Typical sandals with slingback…
A nice heel at the back.
We also know that Kate loves wedges.
So here a compromise has been found, indeed.
Kate only wears wedges when the Queen is not there.
And you can check, go back and check on all public pictures.
There’s no exception to that rule.
So I’m very interested in seeing how Meghan will choose sides on that wedge question.
Notice that my nails are dress-code compliant.
Though they are gel nails, so I don’t know if that would qualify.
Thumbs up if you enjoyed this video.
Thank you so much.
You notice that some of these style rules really are tradition driven, coming from past
centuries, while other rules are more linked to the Queen’s personal taste, but because
she has been reigning for so long, her taste has influenced generations after her, not
just in her family but also throughout England, and it’s interesting to see how when a royal
wears something, whole England wants to buy it too.
It’s a very interesting phenomenon, and it’s typical English, we don’t have this
in France at all.
Actually, it would be interesting to do a video about the Queen’s style and the evolution
over time, because it’s like, almost 100 years of fashion.
Let me know if you would be interested in a video like this and I can research and see
what I can do.
Until next week for a new video.
I wish you a great Sunday.
Take care.
Bye.