What is a chav? “Chav” is a term used in Britain to describe a young person with coarse, brash behavior. It may not be the kindest of terms, but to Brits “chav” is synonymous with a very distinctive type of person and style. A “Chav” typically comes from a lower, working-class background. They dress in bold sportswear paired with big, flashy jewelry and heavy makeup.
Queen Elizabeth is royal from both sides of her family and it is forbidden for royalty to dress in streetwear, so this painting, titled “Lizzie” shows her away from the restrictions of royalty and out in the world as a young woman. Lindsay painted her as a typical Chav teen. She’s wearing a blue tracksuit with a red bustier, mixed rings, and huge door-knocker earrings. She still wanted the Queen to be recognizable, so one key element of chav style that she omitted was the stereotypical hair and makeup that you’d expect a chav girl like Lizzie to be wearing.
The “chav way” would be a high messy bun, thickly penciled-on eyebrows, frosty lips, and a face caked with blush and bronzer. That said, she wanted to paint the Queen in a cheeky way the world had never seen before, as if she were just an average British teen.
