Decoding The Dress Code Of Last Night's State Banquet At Buckingham Palace
Last night, Queen Elizabeth II welcomed President Donald Trump and his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, as guests to Buckingham Palace for a State Dinner.
Whilst Trump is the 12th US President (of the 13 that have been in office during her reign) that the Queen has met, he is only the third to be invited to the UK, and to the Palace, after Bush and Obama.
For the momentous occasion, Buckingham Palace pulled out all the stops - hosting many members of the Royal family, including Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Charles, Prince of Wales and Harry, Duke of Sussex, alongside Trump’s inner circle, including his wife, daughter Ivanka Trump, the White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and counsellor Kellyanne Conway, for the white-tie event.
According to the BBC, guests were treated to English sparkling wines and Chateau Lafite-Rothschild 1990 - 1er cru classe Pauilla, to drink, and steamed fillets of halibut, saddle of new season Windsor lamb and strawberry sable to eat, as well as a speech by both the Queen and her honoured guest Donald Trump.
What Is A ‘White-Tie Decorations’ Dress Code
Traditional for State Banquets, the white-tie decorations dress code is required for the guests of the Queen. Also referred to (particularly for male guests) as ‘full evening dress’, ‘tails’ or ‘dress suit’, it indicates the most formal type of dress code, as it exceeds regular white-tie by including decorations (for example sashes that indicate honours given by the Queen).
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For men, this request requires black trousers featuring two lines of braids down the outside leg, black patent lace-up shoes, a white bow tie, white stiff shirt (pleated or plain), white low cut waistcoat and a black jacket with evening tailcoats (should be worn unbuttoned with peaked lapels). For women, a full-length ball gown is required, preferably featuring a fitted bodice and full skirt. Traditionally, long gloves have been worn, however, this is not seen as essential at modern white-tie events.
Why Did Almost All The Female Guests Wear White?
While the Queen always wears white to State Banquets, it is notable that many of the female guests mirrored her hue of choice.
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Melania Trump (in Dior), Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Kate, Duchess of Cambridge (in Alexander McQueen), Princess Anne, Rose Hanbury and Lara Trump all wore the colour (notable exceptions to this trend included Prime Minister Theresa May, Sophie, Countess of Wessex and Ivanka Trump in blue), leading us to wonder - was this all arranged?
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Speaking to multiple Royal Commentators and experts, they suggest not. Dickie Arbiter speaker, author and Royal Commentator for BBC, ITV and Sky, insisted, ‘nobody is conferring’ ahead of the event and that the ladies dress colour choice is theirs and their’s alone.
‘It’s extraordinary that The Queen, the Duchess of Cambridge, the Duchess of Cornwall and Melania Trump all wore white,’ reiterated Royal Commentator Richard Fitzwilliams, telling ELLE UK, ‘I strongly doubt there was some secret colour co-ordination between them of which we are unaware and think it was pure chance. Theresa May wasn’t wearing white at the banquet, in her case I’m afraid it would have symbolised the white flag of surrender.’
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Fitzwilliams also noted that both the First Lady (in Dolce & Gabbana) and Duchess of Cornwall had worn white earlier that day, concluding, ‘Looking for examples in the past of wearing white, it was one of the colours of the suffragettes, implies there was an intended theme. I strongly doubt it, but it may well set a trend.’
The colour white signifies many things, namely: goodness, innocence, perfection and purity. As Fitzwilliams mentions, however, it was also the colour of the suffragette movement, and has become linked to feminist ideals more generally, and anti-Trump sentiment more recently and specifically.
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In February earlier this year, female Democrats wore white at Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech in support of gender equality. Hillary Clinton made the white suit her calling card during her Presidential run, overtly referencing the colour’s political history.
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Grant Harrold, former Butler to Princes Charles, William and Harry, suggested another reason for the choice of colour, telling ELLE UK, 'White is a very traditional colour for the state Banquets.' In fact, previous First Lady Michelle Obama wore white to the State Banquet herself back in 2011.
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For the Royal guests, such as the Duchess of Cambridge, there is a more aesthetic reason, 'White dresses also show off the blue sash (Royal Victorian Order) or the yellow ribbon, (Royal Family Order) for any royal wearing those.'
Feminism, tradition or sash wow-factor may all be reasons that so many women wore white to the event, but we're secretly hoping this is actually all down to a group WhatsApp chat.
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