Elizabeth, the original sustainable fashion influencer

Long before the term “sustainable fashion” entered the lexicon, the Queen was already making considered, quiet, responsible clothing choices.

Although it’s Catherine, Princess of Wales, who has earned a positive reputation as a re-wearer of her outfits, which are paid for by the royal family, the habit was already part of the Queen’s fashion manifesto more than 60 years ago.

One of Elizabeth’s most famous “rewears” even occurred in Australia, during the 1954 royal tour, where she donned the iconic wattle gown by Hartnell not once but twice, something celebrities in the Kardashian era would never dream of doing.

But the Queen wasn’t just a “regular” celebrity, and the royal family aren’t just fashion plates. Everything they wear has careful consideration and meaning. Royal fashion has its own signature (and rules, oh, the rules!), and for many years now, sustainability has been one of its core tenets.

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One only needs to search for “Queen rewearing outfits” to find a plethora of articles devoted to the occasions when Her Majesty gave her outfits a second or third life. But never more; royal protocol prohibits the monarch from wearing an outfit more than a few times before it is “retired” from public view, according to author Elizabeth Holmes, who wrote the 2020 book HRH: So Many Thoughts on Royal Style.

One lesser-known fact about the Queen’s wardrobe is that after a garment is no longer needed, the monarch’s dressers had first dibs on it. Then, it was up to them whether to keep it for themselves or sell it, on the condition all identifying labels were first removed, according to Brian Hoey, author of the 2011 book Not in Front of the Corgis.

This act alone would qualify the Queen as a champion of sustainable fashion but, as author Lucianne Tonti says, her contribution was multifaceted.