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.
The English have this knack of putting together the weirdest combinations of clothing and accessories that somehow – with their warped sense of good, bad, and just plain weird taste – inspire the rest of the world. English style at its best is totally natural, fiercely individual and girlishly contrary. It can be funny, tough, sexy, clever and perverse, all at the same time. 
OverDressed for Life 