Hardy Amies

Sir Edwin Hardy Amies, KCVO (17 July 1909 – 5 March 2003), known as Hardy Amies, was an English fashion designer, founder of the Hardy Amies label and best known for his official title as dressmaker for Queen Elizabeth II, from her accession to the throne 1952 until his retirement in 1989.

He established the monarch's crisp, understated style of dress. "I don't think she feels clothes which are too chic are exactly very friendly," he told one fashion editor. "The Queen's attitude is that she must always dress for the occasion".

Hardy Amies was born Edwin Amies on 17 July 1909 in Maida Vale, London. His father was an architect for the London County Council. His mother was a saleswoman for Madame Gray at Machinka & May, London, and then Madame Durrant on Dover Street, London. In his teens, he adopted his mother's maiden name, Hardy—and always cited her as the inspiration for his chosen professional path.

Amies was educated at Brentwood School, Essex, leaving in 1927. Although his father wanted him to attend Cambridge University, it was then his ambition to become a journalist. His father relented and arranged for a meeting between his son and R. D. Blumenfeld, the editor of the Daily Express. His father was mortified when Blumenfeld suggested his son travel around Europe to gain some worldly experience.

Amies spent three years in France and Germany, learning the languages, working for a Customs Agent and then as an English-language tutor in Antibes and later Bendorf. Amies returned to England where, in 1930, he became a sales assistant in a ceramic wall-tile factory. After that, he secured a trainee position as a weight machine salesman with W & T Avery Ltd. in Birmingham.

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