Britain celebrates late Queen Elizabeth II as a style icon to mark her centenary

The late Queen Elizabeth II believed the monarch had to be seen to be believed. And she made sure that was true even when Britain's famously changeable weather intervened, pioneering the use of a clear plastic raincoat so that a stodgy black umbrella didn't obscure her from public view. 

That raincoat is one of some 300 garments and other fashion artifacts that go on display today (10 April) at the King's Gallery at Buckingham Palace in an exhibit that celebrates the late queen's life and reign as Britain prepares to mark the centenary of her birth. The most comprehensive exhibition of her style choices ever mounted, the show charts Elizabeth's story, and her impact on British fashion.

"I think she had a definite sense of what suited her,'' exhibition curator Caroline de Guitaut said. "She absolutely knew how she wanted to appear."

An Olympian moment

Some of the items are easily recognizable since Elizabeth was one of the most photographed people ever. But the ball gowns, tweed suits and trademark headscarves are sometimes strange to see on museum mannequins instead of the queen herself.

And then there are the items that are truly one-offs.

Like the dress, complete with bloomers, that Elizabeth's stunt double wore during the opening ceremony for the 2012 London Olympics, when the then-86-year-old queen appeared to parachute into the stadium alongside Daniel Craig in his James Bond persona. To complete the illusion, the queen soon emerged in the stands identically attired.

Both dresses, designed by Elizabeth's longtime dressmaker Angela Kelly, are displayed side by side, though the stunt double's version has large zipper in back to accommodate the parachute.

Fashion connection to the public

The exhibition, drawn from some 4,000 items once owned by the queen, explores how fashion became one of her most powerful tools of communication as she evolved from a young princess into Britain's longest-reigning monarch.

That could often be seen in her choice of color and decorative detail, as in the green and white Norman Hartnell gown she chose to wear for the state banquet during her 1961 visit to Pakistan, honoring her hosts by donning their national colors.

"The queen had an intimate understanding of how fashion could lend itself to diplomacy, a trait which, while its origins certainly lay in earlier reigns, the queen developed into nothing short of an art form,'' de Guitaut said. "Color or embellishment communicated messages of respect to her host nation before she had even uttered a word in her speech."

Particularly as she got older, Elizabeth opted to wear bright or distinctive shades during large public events so she could be easily spotted, and visitors could say they had seen the queen.

The exhibit also explores the queen's off-duty wardrobe. The tweed suits she wore at Balmoral Castle, the royal family's summer retreat in Scotland, are on display alongside clothes for riding, hiking and other outdoor pursuits. There's a thick woolen coat Kelly designed during Elizabeth's later years alongside items by Burberry and British designer Hardy Amies.

Big occasions, big statement gowns

Clothes worn during the many milestones of the queen's long life are also on display, from her christening robe, commissioned by Queen Victoria for the baptism of the future King Edward VII, to dresses she wore for her wedding and coronation.

The exhibit also includes sketches and notes that show just how involved the queen was in designing her wardrobe.

Naomi Pike, commissioning editor for Elle UK, said the collection finally recognizes Elizabeth's status as a fashion icon, even though other royals, including her younger sister, the late Princess Margaret, and her daughter-in-law, the late Princess Diana, stole the spotlight during her lifetime.

"I think we're very quick in this day and age to afford people icon status. … It's thrown around so easily,'' Pike said. "But I think in the case of the queen, she was an icon and so much of that comes down to having a very strong sense of personal style.''

On fairy wings

While the gowns may be the exhibit's biggest draw, the show also provides a few surprises. With the task of showing us ''what the monarch wore,'' the curators conjured up a somewhat battered fairy outfit made from a tutu with wings on the back.

The piece is a favorite of Cecilia Oliver, a textile conservator at the King's Gallery, who described it as the "cutest thing in the world."

"I think what I love most about it is that it was bought for Elizabeth as a child, and to think of her as this tiny little girl that then grew up into this magnificent woman with all this weight of responsibility on her shoulders, it just feels very, sort of sentimental,'' Oliver said.

Oliver grew almost wistful as she described the months of work on the exhibit and the privilege of handling so many things connected to a person familiar to so many but truly known by so few.

"As a conservator, I have a really intimate knowledge of these pieces. I've been able to touch them. I've been able to smell them. I've been able to understand them,'' she said. "And through that, I felt really close to her."

Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style runs until 18 October at the King's Gallery, Buckingham Palace.