The Thread | ArticleStyling on the Shoulders of Giants

While many of our thoughts are currently focused on the Oasis reunion and the various sartorial challenges that will arise once those elusive tickets are finally in the bag, British Attire would like to cast our eyes away from Summer 2025 and go back even further than the glory days of Liam and Noel knocking ashtrays over at Tony Blair’s pad in the nineties. Instead, we’re going back to another time and place altogether, just as (if not even more) influential than Britpop when it comes to significant moments in British style. So slip inside the eye of your mind as we slide away to the mid-nineteenth century for a look back in admiration rather than anger.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

Designed to promote peace and understanding by showcasing the ‘works and industries of all nations’ while simultaneously invoking pride in British products, the Great Exhibition of 1851 was the brainchild of Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert. Ably assisted by his mate and right-hand man, Henry Cole, together they designed and commissioned London’s Crystal Palace as the auspicious setting to host an incredibly ambitious event on an unprecedented scale.

The Crystal Palace - London

In our current world dominated by lightning-fast broadband connections, where pretty much every inch of the planet is accessible in one form or another at the mere touch of a screen, it’s hard to emphasise just how seismic the effect of this event was on the British psyche and its sense of fashion. The Great Exhibition was perhaps the very moment where both the concept of high-profile fashion events was born and the truly unique sense of British style began.

The Great Exhibition - 1851

Lasting just six months, the Great Exhibition saw over six million visitors come to look at and admire the 13,000 exhibits from around the globe. Visitors came from every corner of the country and represented every social strata, from monarchs to mill workers. A significant amount of the exhibits were outfits and individual garments from every continent, alongside a wide range of international textiles and manufacturing techniques. Previously, the average British citizen had no access to such diverse information, and this enlightening experience ignited something of a spark within British fashion culture that continues to this day.

From the Great Exhibition onwards, British design developed a much broader fashion vocabulary by taking inspiration from the very best elements around the world. The British upper classes were no longer the ones to watch for style inspiration, now that the rest of the country had witnessed Japanese kimonos, American frontier wear, and African tribal headdresses. Contrary to the stereotypically monotone and modest view we may have of the Victorian age, British style inspiration had become drastically more exciting thanks to Prince Albert and his mate. Fashion had become both democratised and highly desirable for every class of British society—from mill owners keen to supply the latest looks from around the world to their workers, who also wanted to replicate the incredible things they’d seen in London. All of this could be worn while out enjoying the newly invented concept of the weekend, which was started, where else, but Manchester in 1843.

Map of Manchester - 1843

While the Great Exhibition created a magpie-like knack for putting together an outfit inspired by different cultures and continents that British subcultures and designers are now synonymous with, it’s also where our love of shopping as entertainment first started. The exhibition showed that the British public loved to spend their leisure time walking around admiring beautiful things in an equally impressive setting. Already a nation of shopkeepers, it didn’t take long before towns and cities the length and breadth of the country began to make their own enticing versions of Crystal Palace, albeit ones where the items on show could actually be bought. It’s kind of crazy to think that an iron-and-glass structure designed to make the world a better place inadvertently went on to inspire the global phenomenon of the shopping mall. The Great Exhibition concept was also successfully copied in places like Paris and Chicago, setting something of a template for today's events like London Fashion Week as well as international trade shows like MAGIC in New York and ITMA in Barcelona.

Fashion Week 2024

So, there you have it—a ridiculously ambitious British moment in time that resonates in terms of its impact on the way we dress, shop, and sell our wares around the world. When it comes to British Attire, the legacy of the Great Exhibition is definitely in there amongst our creative DNA. We love to stock our favourite brands and designers from all around the world, especially when they’re worn in a uniquely British way that has made our sense of style so influential and instantly recognisable on the global scene over the past 170 years.