(7/2018) On Sunday afternoons I fall into a suitable activity for the "Day of Rest," returning to my phone, clicking into Instagram (fashion’s favorite phone application) and parading through the app’s video feature called "Stories." I forward through the short-lived videos of fashion influencers goofing around in luxurious clothing while escapading in dreamy places, shedding humor with their friends, and indulging in selfies. I mostly skim, bored of the same story told by the same circle of people. My mind buzzes with a need for something refreshing, breaking news to be told. And in a moment, just like a shot of espresso that hits the brain, one story stops me in my tracks, energizes my mind and leads my lightning speed texting thumbs to retreat back to the story that carries the interest of the fashion world I know. Clothing statements, social appearances and coupling relationships: the triune of fashion’s digital and genuine interest.

Fashion Statements

If there could be a statement that is both misunderstood and consequentially understated, it would be the hat. Too classically fashioned — in the form of a bucket hat, baseball, pillbox or flat cap — to the point of saturation, trending styles often forge the opportunity to represent personal expression. Its value is appreciated in British culture. Guests of the recent wedding of the Duke of Sussex Harry and Meghan Markle attended in style, outfitting hats with a variety of expression, pushing boundaries and adding flavor to notions of an accessory custom to English social engagements. Fashion history reveals hats as a uniform to formal occasions within the royal society. According to a statement made by Diana Mather, Senior Tutor for the English Manner Etiquette Consultancy, for BBC "Up until the 1950s ladies were very seldom seen without a hat as it was not considered ‘the thing’ for ladies to show their hair in public." The purpose for hats in royal society has since become less conservative and more about keeping tradition alive. A hat is a statement of royal status and as phrased by Fashion Director at The Daily Telegraph, Hilary Alexander in a report by INSIDER, "a part of the ‘social fabric,’ of posh events in British society." Quintessential, and yet varied in design, there is a sense of originality in the uniform of style. Hats function as the spine of royal fashion.

Worn to complement the color tone of one’s outfit, as the Queen is famously known to wear her rainbow wardrobe, in monochromatic styles, to match a dress, coat or tweed blazer. She is often photographed wearing full coverage boxy hat designs, as opposed to Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle who share a taste for fascinators, a petite style circular cap, hardly regarded as a hat, at times decorated with veiled tulle. In modern day fashion, fascinators are styles of high fashion considered an ultimate fashion statement. Other styles of this design can fashion more flamboyant, as has been the case with Princess Beatrice and her spidery light pink hat worn to William and Kate’s Wedding and Lady Emily Compton’s disco ball style fascinator worn to Isabella Blow’s funeral. They were once considered insulting, as they were first products of factory manufacture, as opposed to a milliner, a handmade design. Philip Treacy and Jane Taylor Millinery are designers that are often fashioned among the royal crowd. Just as the type of design and style communicate wealth and make a statement among the event in attendance, so too does the designer of choice.

Social Appearances

Not necessarily fashion people, but icons of a political system, the royal family utilizes fashion uniquely for cultural communication. For instance, small clutch bags were often associated as "cleavage bags" according to Princess Diana’s handbag designer Anya Hindmarch, as told by Telegraph. Shown in photographs, Diana would keep her clutch to her chest to politely step out of cars in front of photographers awaiting her appearance. Handbags are also purposed with messages: clutches are carried to avoid hand shakes; the sight of a handbag sitting on a dining table signals an exit; and a lady’s transiting a handbag from one arm to another communicates a sign to conclude the involved conversation. Other rules state bright colors are required of the family when going out among large crowds of people so to be easily spotted, and wearing the color of the host country while on visit is due to respect. The royal family utilizes clothing and fashion with purpose when engaging in the world.

Relationship

An image of Meghan Markle wearing a vintage-appealing, paisley blue and white Oscar de La Renta dress next to her husband Duke of Sussex, Harry was a sight accompanying a headline reading, "Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Does Luxe Bohemian for the Wedding of Celia MCorquodale," on American Vogue Magazine’s Instagram. Newly married, this couple - he, of British royal linage, and she, an American of black and white descent - shares an image of modern romance. Although this post was more about the dress, fashions’ contributions to the conversation about the newly wedded couple is questionable and may have more to do than Markle’s choice of fashion.

Harper’s Bazaar said it best about the Royal Wedding: "It’s a party we’re all invited to." And fashion has always been a social scene — media covered the news of Meghan Markle’s dress, designed by Givenchy’s Clare Waight Keller’s gown and later shared the news when her Stella McCartney reception dress became shoppable. Harry and Meghan’s wedding follows, in suit, with the celebratory news of William and Kate’s marriage in 2011. Princess Diana’s sons bring to life the stories from our childhood. Tales of princes falling in love and committing to love is a fairytale, from our cultural upbringings of storybook fantasies, come true. "The royals are a part of our cultural DNA."

Other reasons of interest follow an impression, which the fashion community can relate to. The fashion industry is built on aristocracy — of families, generations of societal figures and the culturally engaged, as is the same for royalty. And yet psychology reasons that public interest in England’s political family runs deeper than material clothing and centers more on human connection. In this conversation there is no debate, slander or malice; rather there is desire to understand the life of royalty as it differs from a lifestyle of the famous celebrities in culture. For those not married into the family were born royal and must find meaning in the life they were given. This human element, as Huffington Post defines, is another story of humanity distinct in nature.

Sights of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and others of the Duchess of Sussex’s fashion choices in the company of the Queen, stream through recent media in multiplicity. On that particular day, when stumbling upon an article of the newly wedded royal couple, I found the reassurance that fashion’s attraction towards this new fashion crowd was more than speculations to whether Queen Elizabeth approves of Markle, or images captured by the paparazzi. But rather communication of clothing worn with purpose, talk of cultural engagements and diversity, and also human expression — all reflecting the world we live in.