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Sometimes it’s the subtle details that tell the most about how someone wore their clothes.
That’s a mindset curators at Kensington Palace are asking visitors to consider when viewing a new exhibition, which will open in March 2025.
One of the themes explored in the “Dress Code” will be recycling, and the Royal family’s interest in wearing and repairing their clothes for generations – well before the Princess of Wales was announced, the Princess Royal and the King. as models of sustainability thanks to their modern approach.
A pair of Liberty print dresses belonging to the young princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret are a very special example, says Matthew Storey, curator at Historic Royal Palaces.
These Liberty print dresses belonged to the young princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret
“The dresses are in the Liberty print that goes back to 1936, we’ve tracked it down in their archives,” he explains. “They’re in this standard British fabric and when you look at the gown in particular you see all the evidence of the history of this object and how Queen Elizabeth II wore it as a child.”
The larger of the two dresses first shows signs of being tailored to accommodate the growing Princess Elizabeth.
“You can see how it was let out,” Storey notes, “and it probably had a very large allowance at the bottom where they took fabric out of, and then added that at the waist to make the bodice a little longer. . They have also taken panels and placed them on the side of the bodice as well to make it bigger. When you look at the cover, it looks like it was made by hand at home – these are skills that would be in the Royal family.”
There is also a suggestion that the dress be adjusted further, so that it is a “hand me” for Princess Margaret, who was four years younger than her sister. Although the princesses will have initially matched in their coordinating frocks, the larger of the two is clearly more elongated, says Storey, suggesting that it has been washed and worn a lot more on the complete.
“We cannot say for sure [there are no photographs in the public domain to firm up the evidence]but it makes sense, because that’s what many noble families would have done at the time. The big dress is obviously longer, and it also has a few small stains, which we will never remove, as it is evidence of wear.”
Storey says the sisters’ outfits were “a signature look for them”, something their own mother put on them [Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother] clearly enjoyed.
“They were such close family units; the two princesses, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth,” says Storey. “I think the matching clothes really show how close they were as a family. He was iconic to them, and he presented that attitude [a close family image to the public] at the time.”
The youth dress reflects the respect for quality clothing that we know the late Queen held throughout her life. As an adult and throughout her 70-year reign, she would wear almost all of her most distinctive outfits in public over and over again. From the Norman Hartnell dress she wore again throughout the 1960s to film premieres and State Openings of Parliament alike, to the lemon shift dress she wore first at the wedding of the Prince and Princess of Wales in 2011, and then again on royal tours international after, it seems there wasn’t a piece in his wardrobe that didn’t get good airtime.
She also passed the value on to her own children. We usually see Princess Anne wearing items she publicly debuted years before, as well as re-wearing items she inherited from her late mother, such as a purple check coat designed by Angela Kelly. King Charles is also known for promoting high quality British fashion and for recycling – a 67-year-old coat belonging to his father, the late Duke of Edinburgh, is now in circulation in the King’s wardrobe.
The Royal Historic Palace has relatively recently acquired the dresses of the young princesses, and this is the first time they will be displayed. Storey says he had no idea these should be part of the organization’s collection.
“The dress was given to Princess Elizabeth’s nanny, Clara Knight, and then passed through her family until we got it,” explains Storey. “It was necessary for us. Queen Elizabeth’s clothes rarely come on the market, so it was a great opportunity to be able to buy a piece of our history that takes us back to the beginning of her story.”
Another highlight of the royal re-wearing story depicted in Dress Code is a suit that the Duke of Windsor, Edward VIII, inherited from his father, King George V.
“It’s a great outfit,” says Storey. “It’s called The Two Kings. It’s tartan. It belonged to King George, who acquired it in the 1890s, and then the Duke of Windsor inherited it from his father’s wardrobe when he died in 1936.”
The Duke of Windsor inherited this Two Kings Suit from his father King George
The then 42-year-old Duke’s modifications to the suit after inheriting it are “so important in the history of men’s fashion” Storey suggested, noting that the Duke ” a true fashion fan”.
“He changed it to suit him, of course, but also to bring it up to date,” says Storey. “He put in a flying zipper, which was a brand new thing at the time, a brand new thing. He also changed the line of the lapels in the jacket, but you can see the button in the middle of one of the lapels which has now disappeared. It was clear that he wanted to show that it was inherited and adapted to him and he left those visible traces, because that was all part of the story for him.”
The Duke was clearly pleased with the minor changes and wrote about the praise he received in his 1960 sartorial memoir. Family album.
“He talks about wearing it in the 1950s and people commenting on that outfit,” says Storey. “Obviously he recognized its quality, brought it up to date with tailoring changes, and then continued to wear it for years. I think that’s really interesting, because it’s an approach to wearing and designing clothes that is still relevant today.”
Storey hopes that modern viewers will think about their own wardrobes differently after seeing the Dress Codes exhibition and that visiting designers may be encouraged to up-cycle existing garments. Buying quality items that will last, and having the skills to repair and recreate them, are lessons we could all revisit in today’s fast-fashion clothing.
“I think that’s what’s really magical about these historical items and these old, repaired clothes,” he says. “They tell a story, and there’s a real beauty to it. The whole story is just written on the clothes.”
