Sure, Kate Middleton has great hair and she can probably find the most tasteful item in Zara blindfolded. And in her day, Princess Diana was widely respected as the reigning monarch of Western fashion. But you know who doesn’t get enough credit for her style skills? Queen Elizabeth II.
Yes, these days she does tend toward the direction of Talbots. But if you peek through the archives, you’ll quickly realize that Queen Elizabeth II is a style icon for every underpaid creative type who’s ever spent a lunch hour combing through Anthropologie to find a rayon dress covered in tiny flowers that’s just the right kind of slightly-too-long. She was the Modcloth clearance section before the Modcloth clearance section existed. She is the secret progenitor of an entire subgenre of vintage style.
For instance, tell me you wouldn’t snatch those pumps (circa 1958) right off her feet:
(Photo by Victor Blackman/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)