Last week I fell in love. Not with a man, but with a dress. A beautiful, fairytale dress. It hit me like a tonne of bricks as soon as I was ushered through the door to the fabulous new exhibition at Kensington Palace, Fashion Rules.
Housing dresses from the wardrobes of Queen Elizabeth II; Princess Margaret and Princess Diana, Fashion Rules is the first in a line of exhibitions planned for the new wing at Kensington Palace, which offers a glimpse into the lives of the modern royal family.
Love at First Sight
“I despise simplicity. It is the negation of all that is beautiful”
Norman Hartnell.
Referring back to my opening statement, I did indeed fall in love with a dress. To be specific, a Norman Hartnell creation worn by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, for the opening of the New Zealand parliament in 1963. A beautiful creation, and in true Hartnell style, the dress is delicately embroidered with pearls, beads, diamantes and sequins, all overlaying an oyster-hued duchesse satin. It is, in a word, exquisite!
My one true love.
A Fashionable Journey
Fashion Rules takes the audience on a fashion journey through the wardrobes of royalty; from the classic hourglass shapes of the 50’s, the fashion forward, pop culture inspired 60’s and 70’s, to the glitzy playfulness of the 1980s.
Naturally, this progression tracks Her Majesty The Queen through the 50’s, Princess Margaret in the 60’s/70’s and the much beloved Princess Diana during the 1980s’.
Let me take you through the highlights…
Her Majesty The Queen
If I could go back to one period in the past 100 years, it would be the 1950’s. I love the style of the era, and this is why the first part of the exhibition really grabbed my attention!
It was important for the young queen to show patronage to British designers such as Norman Hartnell and Hardy Amies, and they undoubtedly created visual showstoppers! I can certainly see why the Queen advocated and showcased the designs of these two geniuses.
The stunning Hardy Amies and Norman Hartnell dresses.
Both Hartnell and Amies understood the requirement for diplomatic dressing; where the Queen and other members of the royal family are expected to show diplomacy to host countries through aspects of their attire. For example, a Hardy Amies gown worn by the Queen on a Commonwealth visit to Canada features beading in a mayflower motif, mayflowers being the provincial flower of Novia Scotia. Similarly, a stunning creation by Hartnell showcases the flag colours of the host country, Pakistan, where the Queen attended a banquet in 1961. The dress is simply designed on the front, in order to better display her insignia, with the back featuring a gorgeous waterfall train.
Right…ought to move on! I want you to actually visit!
Princess Margaret: A Fashion Forward Royal
Princess Margaret, although a royal princess, had much more freedom in her fashion choices and wasn’t expected to show patronage to British designers so often as her sister, the Queen. Margaret was greatly inspired by pop-culture, and wore many designs by Marc Bohan for Dior. Bohan was widely credited for translating pop fashions for sophisticated persons such as Princess Grace of Monaco and Jackie Kennedy, and dressed the Princess Margaret on many occasions.
At the time Margaret was a controversial royal. She smoked, she drank and she wore mini-dresses! When she rocked up to a film premiere in1951, wearing a Marilyn Monroe-esque silk satin dress, many were…quite simply…agog! Not only was it a halter neck, but it also had a very plunging neckline! It was a true showstopper!
A real showstopper!
There are some beautiful pieces within Margaret’s collection, but none more so than a fancy dress costume she wore for a party on the island of Mustique. Designed by Carl Toms, this is really a one of a kind outfit. You can see clearly how Margaret embraced pop culture with this costume. Ethnic dressing was ‘in vogue’ during the 1970’s and this wonderfully decadent piece combines the simpleness of a kaftan with the rich, decadence of royalty.
Turban and Kaftan worn by Princess Margaret.
Diana, Princess of Wales
Walking into the concluding part of the exhibition you see a beautiful, floor length red evening dress, by Bruce Oldfield. It is quintessential and synonymous with 80’s Diana. Elegant, yet fashion forward with the typical drop waist and shoulder pads of the decade. The dress was designed with long sleeves and a full skirt in order to adhere to the customs of the host country in which it was first worn, Saudi Arabia.
The gorgeous red dress worn by Princess Diana in Saudi Arabia.
Diana’s playfulness really comes across through the dresses on show; for example, we are able to see for the first time a Jacques Azagury creation from 1985, on loan from People Magazine in New York. The dress is the 1980’s embodied; velvet, sequinned with a drop waist, padded shoulders and an oversized bow. When you see Diana in this dress, you can tell she was having fun!
Princess Diana was able to really influence public opinion on fashion. She was beloved and respected for her charity work, and related too through her easy, charismatic personality. Her choices were always scrutinised through the global media, but her faithful patronage of British designers won her respect for raising the profile of the British fashion industry.
Should You Go To See Fashion Rules?
I think I have made my own feelings perfectly clear. Yes you should go. Not only for the fashion, but for the story behind these beautiful dresses, and the insight they give you into a world which is completely different from our own!
Also…there is a brilliant app featured on iPads throughout the exhibition, which gives you the chance to create your own designs…it too is brilliant!
My design on the iPad app…I could have spent an age on this!
Historical Honey 2013 ©