Prime minister's wife adopts look made famous by former prime minister as Thatcher family dress in careful show of unity
It was a bold statement. Straightforward to the point of literal-mindedness, and defiant in its punchy message. What's more, it was an eyecatching feminine flourish among a sea of sombre suits.
Samantha Cameron's outfit for the funeral was a direct tribute to Lady Thatcher herself. She wore a gold silk blouse with a florid pussy bow. The pussy-bow blouse is a look which Thatcher made her own. Thatcher's other style signatures – the pearls, the handbag – are part of the broader lexicon of power dressing, but a pussy-bow blouse can mean only one thing. It is unmistakably a homage to the wardrobe of her Downing Street years.
Cameron has had a high-level career in the luxury fashion industry, and is an active ambassador for British fashion. There is no doubt that she has a sophisticated understanding of sartorial nuance, and knew exactly the impact a pussy bow would have.
A gold pussy-bow blouse is a notably upbeat choice for a funeral. But it is not informal: Thatcher herself proved it is possible to conduct serious state business while wearing one.
Until now, Cameron has used her wardrobe to send a message about a new, modern era of conservatism. She wears Zara shoes to party conferences, edgy British designers to state dinners, and trouser suits instead of wifely dresses. Which makes all the more striking her decision to draw such a direct connection between herself and this controversial figure.
Interesting, also, that with controversy simmering over the presence of the Queen at the funeral of a "mere" (as the BBC put it) politician, a politician's wife should put herself so boldly in the limelight. The pussy bow is a motif of Toryism, not of traditional mourning. Those who grumbled that this was a Tory state funeral might feel vindicated if the upshot of the occasion is the return of the pussy-bow blouse to newspaper front pages.
There were other style revivals at St Paul's. Most notable was Tory Power Hair, enjoying the most high-profile reunion since the Spice Girls. Lord Heseltine and Michael Portillo sported gleaming, swept back locks. Sir Bernard Ingham, Thatcher's former press secretary, reminded us that model Cara Delevingne did not invent the Power Eyebrow. Even Boris Johnson appeared to have employed a Mason Pearson for the big day.
The Thatcher family were dressed in a careful show of unity. The men wore morning suits, the women A-line knee-length black coats over matching dresses, with uniform 40-denier tights. Amanda Thatcher, her face shaded by a rather old-fashioned hat, the spotless soles of her shiny new Mary Jane sandals glimpsed as she curtseyed to the Queen, was impeccably sober. No Pippa Middleton scene-stealing here. The Queen, so rarely seen in black, looked rather marvellous in her black suit and pearls, a keen reminder to the rest of us of the power which can still be invested in the wearing of black if only one didn't fritter it away by slobbing around in black jeans.
In the context of ongoing debate over the level of the pomp and ceremony of the funeral, the clothes worn by other guests took on an added significance. Many could be seen to be treading a careful line which was respectful without being overblown. Men seated in the front row followed the dress code to the letter, wearing black waistcoats under their suits, but further west along the nave any dark suit seemed to fit the bill.
Among the women, there was a bounty of pearls. Diamonds are too flashy, unless one is the Queen, in which case a simple diamond brooch is a subtle reminder of status; pearls, being the precious jewel of the middle classes, strike the right balance. Furthermore, of course, Thatcher always wore the double-string of pearls she was given by her husband on the birth of their twins. Among the women on the front row – mostly politician's wives, media-aware and conscious that their outfits would be scrutinised – the hat style of choice was a shallow pillbox. A hat without a brim is ceremonial but not, as it were, state. (The style was also favoured by Thatcher herself in her early career, until her advisers decreed hat-wearing to be un-modern.)
To scan the audience during the service was to be reminded that the Britain of Thatcher's heyday was a less glossy, less polished, less camera-ready nation. This was how public life in Britain looked, back in the days before Botox and the fasting diet. Those guests who opted for glamour and baubles – Katherine Jenkins with an extremely foxy veiled hat, Cherie Booth with a Chanel handbag – were in this context the exception, while in most of 21st-century public life they have become the norm.