British singer David Bowie has been voted the best-dressed Briton in history in a recent poll by BBC History Magazine, winning the title with 48.5 per cent of the votes.
The public survey included the following 10 contenders nominated by leading academics and fashion experts for their sartorial style and impact on the British fashion history:
- Anne Messel, 6th Countess of Rosse (1902–92) – nominated by Amy de la Haye, professor of dress history and curatorship at London College of Fashion
- Queen Alexandra, queen consort of Edward VII (1844–1925) – nominated by Kate Strasdin, assistant curator at Totnes Fashion and Textile Museum, Devon
- David Bowie (1947– ) – nominated by English designer Wayne Hemingway
- Henry III (1207–72) – nominated by Dr Benjamin Wild, historian of men’s fashion and guest lecturer at the Condé Nast College of Fashion & Design
- Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (1757–1806) – nominated by Katy Werlin, a fashion and textile historian specialising in the early modern period
- Beau’ Brummell (1778–1840) – nominated by Rachel Dickens, deputy art editor of BBC History Magazine
- Charles James Fox, Whig politician (1749–1806) – nominated by Dr Hannah Greig, author of The Beau Monde: Fashionable Society in Georgian London (OUP, 2013)
- Queen Elizabeth I (1533–1603) – nominated by Ulinka Rublack, author of Dressing Up: Cultural Identity in Renaissance Europe (OUP, 2010)
- Ellen Terry, actress (1847–1928) – nominated by Veronica Isaac, assistant curator in the Department of Theatre and Performance at the V&A, London
- Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) – nominated by Anna Reynolds, curator of paintings for Royal Collection Trust