London Fashion Week at Somerset House in London

London, as one of the world's four fashion capitals, is host to the London Fashion Week – one of the 'Big Four' fashion weeks.[268] Organised by the British Fashion Council, the event takes place twice each year, in February and September. The current venue for most of the "on-schedule" events is Somerset House in central London, where a large marquee in the central courtyard hosts a series of catwalk shows by top designers and fashion houses,[269] while an exhibition, housed within Somerset House itself, showcases over 150 designers.[270] However, many "off-schedule" events, such as On|Off and Vauxhall Fashion Scout, are organised independently and take place at other venues in central London.[271] British designers whose collections have been showcased at the fashion week include Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney, while British models who have featured at the event include Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Jade Jagger, Jodie Kidd and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.[272] Fashion designer Mary Quant was at the heart of the "Swinging London" scene of the 1960s, and her work culminated in the creation of the miniskirt and hot pants.[273] Quant named the miniskirt after her favourite make of car, the Mini.[274] The English fashion designer Charles Frederick Worth is widely considered the father of Haute couture.[275][276]

[edit]Floral emblems

Heraldic badges of England (tudor rose), Scotland (thistle), and Ireland (shamrock).

Each of the four countries of the UK has a traditional floral emblem. The red rose is the national flower of England,[277] and its use dates from the reign of Henry VII who chose a red rose, representing Lancaster, and a white rose, representing York.[277] As a result the English civil wars in the 15th-century came to be called the Wars of the Roses.[278] The national flower in Scotland is the thistle,[279] Northern Ireland the shamrock,[280] and in Wales the daffodil and leek.[281] The Union rose, shamrock and thistle is engrafted on the same stem on the coat of arms of the United Kingdom.[282]

[edit]Greeting cards

The sending and receiving of greeting cards is an established tradition in the UK, with card sending or card display in the home being an important part of British culture.[283] Sending Valentine's Day cards became hugely popular in Britain in the late 18th century, a practice that has since spread to other nations.[284] Today in the UK just under half the population spend money on their Valentines.[285] Following Sir Rowland Hill's postal reforms in the 1830s, the reduction in postal rates with the invention of the postage stamp (Penny Black) made sending greeting cards an affordable means of personal communication.[162] Invented by Sir Henry Cole in 1843, the Christmas card accounts for almost half of the volume of greeting card sales in the UK, with over 600 million cards sold annually.[283] Other popular occasions for sending greeting cards in the UK are Birthdays, Mother’s Day, Easter and Father’s Day.[283][286]

Madonna is an example of an Anglophile.[287]

[edit]Anglophilia

A lover of British culture is known as an Anglophile.[288]

[edit]Naming conventions

The common naming convention throughout the United Kingdom is for everyone to have a given name (a forename, still often referred to as a Christian name) usually (but not always) indicating the child's sex, followed by one or more middle names and a family name (surname).[289] Since the 19th century middle names have become very common and are often taken from the name of a family ancestor.

Most surnames of British origin fall into seven types:

Occupations e.g. Smith, Sawyer, Fuller, Brewer, Clark, Cooper, Cook, Carpenter, Bailey, Parker, Forrester, Head, Palmer, Archer, Hunt, Baker, Miller, Dyer, Walker, Woodman, Taylor, Turner, Knight, Slater, Mason, Weaver, Carter, Wright

Personal characteristics e.g., Short, Brown, Black, Whitehead, Young, Long, White

Geographical features e.g., Pond, Bridge, Camp, Hill, Bush, Lake, Lee, Wood, Holmes, Forest, Underwood, Hall, Brooks, Fields, Stone, Morley, Moore, Perry

Place names e.g., Murray, Everingham, Burton, Leighton, Hamilton, Sutton, Flint, Laughton

Estate For those descended from land-owners, the name of their holdings, manor or estate

Patronymics, matronymics or ancestral, often from a person's given name. e.g., from male name: Richardson, Jones (Welsh for John), Williams, Jackson, Wilson, Thompson, Johnson, Harris, Evans, Simpson, Willis, Fox, Davies, Reynolds, Adams, Dawson, Lewis, Rogers, Murphy, Nicholson, Robinson, Powell, Ferguson, Davis, Edwards, Hudson, Roberts, Harrison, Watson, or female names Molson (from Moll for Mary), Gilson (from Gill), Emmott (from Emma), Marriott (from Mary) or from a clan name (for those of Scottish origin, e.g., MacDonald, Forbes, Henderson, Armstrong, Grant, Cameron, Stewart, Douglas, Crawford, Campbell, Hunter) with "Mac" Scottish Gaelic for son.[290]

Patronal from patronage (Hickman meaning Hick's man, where Hick is a pet form of the name Richard) or strong ties of religion Kilpatrick (follower of Patrick) or Kilbride (follower of Bridget).

Traditionally, Christian names were those of Biblical figures or recognised saints; however, in the Gothic Revival of the Victorian era, other Anglo Saxon and mythical names enjoyed something of a fashion among the literati. Since the middle of the 20th century, however, first names have been influenced by a much wider cultural base.