Fashion Queen

Are you the fashion queen? In the slang sense, a fashion queen is a person with an above-average interest in, preoccupation with and taste for fashionable clothing, trends and originality in personal appearance — someone who stands out from the crowd with unique or good taste, a well-manicured appearance and above-average grooming. Notably, money is not the criterion: impact, originality and tastefulness are.

The Title and the Shows

A fashion queen does not need to spend a lot on the look. What denotes a fashion queen is the impact of the final image and the thoughtful approach to personal appearance behind it — which is why the title is genuinely democratic: it is awarded for judgement, not budget. The Urban Dictionary definition linked from this page preserves the slang in full.

Television borrowed the crown. Fashion Queens is an American fashion-based talk show that aired on Bravo, premiering on March 17, 2013 with a three-week trial run, hosted by Bevy Smith, Derek J and Lawrence Washington. Fashion Queen Boutique, also linked here, applies the name to a women's clothing store — the title working as a promise of regal dressing at retail.

Fashion Royalty, Real and Imagined

Real queens anchor the other end of the subject. Queen Elizabeth I, whose era is covered in the Elizabethan era fashion page linked from this page, ruled a court where dress was power made visible. A queen regnant is a female monarch, equivalent in rank to a king, who reigns in her own right; in a monarchy the ruler is decided by inheritance, and when a ruler dies, their child or nearest relative takes over.

The family of pages completes the court: the fashion kings summary linked here covers the male counterpart, the fashion princess page argues the princess actually controls the fashion industry, and the fashion revolution summary explains how a fashion queen might be overthrown. Read together they are a playful hierarchy with a serious core — in fashion as in monarchy, the crown goes to whoever best embodies the moment's idea of magnificence.

The Working Meaning of the Title

Stripped of the jokes, fashion queen names a skill: assembling a complete, intentional appearance, repeatedly, in public. It is the same skill whether the wardrobe is couture or charity-shop, which is why the slang insists money is not the criterion. The television hosts, the boutique and the Elizabethan court are all trading on that one idea — that some people wear clothes as a form of authorship. The crown, in the end, is a compliment paid to consistency of taste.