Queen Elizabeth II’s colourful fashion legacy: Why she was a fan of dopamine dressing before it became a trend

As someone who loves brightly coloured outfits and shuns black, I was naturally a huge fan of Queen Elizabeth’s choice of neon styles. Dopamine dressing was a big trend of 2022 (think electric blue and hot pink) and basically meant choosing outfits that made you feel and look good in predominantly rainbow colours. It would seem that Queen Elizabeth 11 was a fan of dopamine dressing without even knowing it!

According to Queen Elizabeth II’s daughter-in-law, Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, there was a reason why she chose to wear colourful clothing. In the documentary, ‘The Queen at 90,’ she said: “She needs to stand out for people to be able to say, ‘I saw the queen.”

The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, recalled in her Netflix docuseries with Prince Harry that she “rarely wore colour.” She went on to say that “To my understanding, you can’t ever wear the same colour as Her Majesty (Queen Elizabeth 11) if there’s a group event.” The Duchess of Sussex also revealed that “But then you also should never be wearing the same colour as one of the other more senior members of the family.” She continued by saying, “So I was like, “Well what’s a colour that they’ll probably near wear? Camel? Beige? White?”

Who designed Queen Elizabeth 11’s wardrobe?

One of the late Queen Elizabeth 11’s long-time dress designers was Stewart Parvin, who was responsible for designing her granddaughter Zara Tindall’s wedding dress. Vogue revealed in 2012 that Stewart said that “the Queen has an almost military wardrobe management system, which ensures she never meets the same person twice wearing the same outfit.”

For her 90th birthday celebrations in 2016, Queen Elizabeth 11 wore a neon green look and was subbed the ‘high vis highness’ as her outfit was so bold in colour. In 2018, the Queen even made an appearance at London Fashion Week and sat front row at a Richard Quinn show. Sitting next to Anna Wintour, the Queen wore a powder blue dress and jacket by Angela Kelly.