The posh colour you don't need to be posh to wear
Too bridal? Too Monaco? No, white is the most flattering colour to wear this summer
24 July 2021 • 6:00am
The many ways of wearing white as demonstrated by Jackie Kennedy, Grace Kelly and Nancy "Slim" Keith
Credit: Getty Images
Wearing white head to toe used to be one of those fashion fantasies only the wealthy or aristocratic could indulge in real life. “When you look at historical photographs from the Colonial era, it’s amazing how many Europeans wore white, even when their accommodation was basic and they were surrounded by mud,” says Paco Delgado, costume designer on many a huge period movie (Les Miserables as well as Disney’s forthcoming Jungle Cruise and Kenneth Branagh’s Death on the Nile remake), “and that’s because white denotes power. It says ‘I have lots of servants to wash and press my clothes’, or ‘I have so many clothes I can change several times a day’ ”.