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Posts Tagged ‘British style’

Fashionable Quote of the Week by Lady Lydia Eliott

Posted in Arts, Events, Fashion, Uncategorized, Vintage, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 22, 2021| 2 Comments »

Barbara Jefford as Lady Lydia Eliott. Note Lydia’s collar, reminiscent of the 17th century Ruff.

She spends all that money on clothes and she still manages to look cheap. No doubt her latest young man tells her bad taste is all the rage.

Lady Lydia Eliott, fictional character played by Barbara Jefford in the British television series The House of Eliott.

A little “mean girl” humor.

The House of Eliott is one of my all time favorite British series. Created by Eileen Atkins and Jean Marsh (Upstairs Downstairs), it features two sisters who face hardships as independent women fashion designers in 1920s London. I own the entire series on DVD and I watch it when I’m feeling low or just need an escape. Of course I pulled it out in Pandemic Year 2020 and that’s when I happened to catch this funny line.

I’m quite fond of Lady Lydia. She’s so biting, she’s hilarious, and Ms. Jefford is wonderful at balancing the cattiness of Lydia with her vulnerability. I think a good snooty character is great fun.

Click here for another post I wrote on The House of Eliott.

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Fashionable Quote of the Week by Joy Montgomery

Posted in Fashion, Uncategorized, Vintage, tagged , , , , , , on November 23, 2020| 4 Comments »

Quirky British fashion icon, Vivienne Westwood. Illustration by Zoe Taylor, Selvedge magazine.

Eccentricity would have to be at the top of the list. While we marvel at New York professional polish or LA’s laid-back cool, we Brits possess a certain nerdy quirkiness that manifests in chunky, hand-knitted jumpers, heritage fabrics, and off-beat accessories—we championed ‘ugly’ trends way before they hit the mainstream. Our muses include Alexa Chung, Vivienne Westwood, and Cara Delevingne—all wonderfully weird in their own ways yet also undeniably cool.

Joy Montgomery, assistant editor at Who What Wear UK.

Ms. Montgomery is describing key elements to British style and her quote is part of a longer article about where the Brits think Americans go wrong with their “style.” (Flip flops, hoodies, baseball caps.)

And apparently they secretly but politely laugh as us.

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Fashionable Quote of the Week by Luella Bartley

Posted in Fashion, Uncategorized, Vintage, tagged , , , , , , on October 12, 2020| Leave a Comment »

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Princess Anne, illustration by Zoe Taylor, Selvedge magazine. 

Anne is the very epitome of cool. An androgynous, horsey dude who looked killer in a pair of jodhpurs, and whose extraordinary up-do (I think the technical term is ‘the onion’) has become part of the Royal Family’s mythology. Princess Anne has followed her mother’s footsteps by hanging on to her innate sense of style – namely jodhpurs unless harangued into wearing something else by family commitments – e.g. royal weddings. But she always manages to keep to the English rule of looking slightly unkempt in everything. 

Luella Bartley – English fashion designer and fashion journalist.

This quote is from the May/June 2011 issue of Selvedge magazine. The theme of this issue is all things Britannia and Ms. Bartley was asked to choose six women who reflect the British unique and quirky sense of style.

Ms. Bartley is speaking of Princess Anne, Queen Elizabeth’s only daughter. The princess certainly marches to the beat of her own fashion drum. Like her mother, she always looks appropriate and put together. Unlike her aunt, Princess Margaret, who was the fashion plate of her day, she stays with the traditional British country look. I understand Ms. Bartley’s point, that there is something cool about a woman who sports a sort of “unfashionable” style and looks good doing it.

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