I am not a fashionista by any stretch of anyone's imagination. Still there have been outfits fondly remembered if only because they were associated with family or emotional events in my life. One of the dresses with the greatest impact gets echoed today: A Coronation and A Jubilee. It was loosely based on the Beefeater costume and purchased for one simple purpose: To wear the day Elizabeth was crowned a queen.
To this day I remember it. Black and red on top with tiny crowns in silver decorative buttons down the front and grey and white flared skirt on the bottom. Who bought it: My Scotland born father. Who saw that I wore it: My opinionated aunt. Where was it worn: Two places June 2, 1953 the day of the coronation and July 1953 to watch the film of that coronation in a tiny backwater theater in Chowchilla, CA. (You can see a remastered copy of that film by clicking on the link.)
Just in case I ever do meet her majesty, I do know how to do a full court curtsy though that is frowned upon these days and I might never get up again. Today, we begin the celebrations for a great queen who has been on the throne for 60 years - a feat only echoed by Victoria. Great Britain has always been fortunate with her queens. You would think by now they would just stick with the ladies rather than wasting history on the men.
As a resulting hopeless anglophile who not only follows British and family icons, TV, movies, and former possessions such as Australia and Zimbabwe where my Scottish ancestors wandered, I shall be glued to BBC America, Hello Mag and every other British site I can find throughout the weekend, for a great day to celebrate a great woman.
So there you have it. Sixty years later. I remember a dress and I remember the woman who was the reason I remember it. We have both survived and for the most part done well. I hope her majesty has a wonderful day.
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