A royal style expert has described the Queen as the "ultimate fashion diplomat", who "sent a message" via her choice of clothing, jewellery or accessory. Miranda Holder, 46, said the Queen started "the whole movement of diplomatic dressing" - showing respect to the people around her by wearing national colours, emblems or symbols.
She described how the monarch often used her clothing, jewellery or accessories to "send a message". She famously wore a brooch gifted to her by Barack Obama when meeting Donald Trump, which Miranda believes signifies she didn't think very highly of the new President.
Miranda describes how the Queen would "take pleasure in wearing colour, symbols and styles of local wardrobes whenever she was on tour" and how she "wore bright colours to be easily seen in a crowd".
Miranda, from Winchester, Hampshire, said: "The Queen was the ultimate fashion diplomat. She really started the whole movement of diplomatic dressing, and she was utterly selfless.
"She was modest, but she understood it was her duty to dress the part. She was famously patient when she was at fittings as she knew that it was part of her duty. The Queen was very selfless and that sense of duty filtered down into her fashion."
Miranda said that the Queen has paved the way for modern royal fashion.
She said: "Her Majesty ascended to the thrown in 1952 aged just 25. She quickly developed a modest but sensible wardrobe and became a master of fashion diplomacy.
"Her Majesty would take pleasure in wearing colour, symbols and even styles of local wardrobes whenever she was on tour. She wore bright colours to both be seen easily in a crowd and to make seeing her an uplifting event.
"Every detail was thought through - including putting arm holes on her coat, which permitted the perfect amount of waving and shaking hands."
Throughout the Queen's 70-year reign her fashion would change too.
Miranda said: "When she ascended to the crown in the 1950s, she looked absolutely stunning. Her diplomatic dressing started with her wedding gown, her stunning dress, famously designed by Norman Hartnell.
"The Queen requested emblems of the Commonwealth nations be embroidered onto her dress and that was a wonderful demonstration of Her Majesty thinking about her role, duty and the significant symbolism of what she wears. The Queen always showed upmost respect to people around her, wearing the national colours whenever she visited another country or perhaps national emblems or symbols, - such as the maple leaf brooch on her visits to Canada - she wanted everyone around her to feel comfortable.
"The swinging 60s happened and it was a fashion revolution; she was still a young woman, but it would have been inappropriate for the monarch to embrace the 60s fashion, she was never interested in high fashion."
Instead of embracing mini-skirts like the rest of the nation, the Queen stuck with what she knew and added little tweaks to keep up with the times - introducing colours and wearing skirts and dresses that just hit the knee.
Miranda added: "In the 80s the Queen's fashion was the least exciting, her age was changing, her body was changing and like many women in the world, she was coming comfortable with a new her. This was thrown into even sharper focus because of Princess Diana arriving on the scene. Everyone was falling over themselves to take pictures of her and the Queen in comparison was quite frumpy."
Miranda said the Queen really understood the significance of the clothes she wore.
She said: "She famously wore a brooch that was gifted to her by Barack Obama when she was meeting with Donald Trump. I mean, talk about diplomatic outfits. I feel this was a subtle nod to show Trump where her loyalties lie as we have a feeling she didn't take to President Trump."
Miranda said her favourite Queen look is more recent with the advent of Angela Kelly - who served as Personal Assistant and Senior Dresser to Queen Elizabeth II - who joined the household in the 1990s.
She said: "Angela took this role on, she understood the challenge of making the Queen more elegant, more youthful and gave her a colourful image overhaul which we, as a nation, have been familiar with for over 30 years. The nation has taken comfort over the years with her image being relatively similar, it's been a monochrome uniform of rainbow, with the same shoes, bag and matching hat.
"The whole nation felt like we lost a grandmother, she exuded her warmth, generosity and selflessness through her wardrobe - fashion very much was a sense of duty."
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