Queen Elizabeth: The Secrets of the Queen’s Wardrobe

Exhibition showcasing 90 years of royal fashion opens at Buckingham Palace

An exhibition opening at Buckingham Palace will bring together some 80 dresses worn by Queen Elizabeth II across nine decades.

Fashioning a Reign: 90 Years of Style from The Queen’s Wardrobe includes some of the most notable outfits worn by Her Majesty, including her wedding and coronation gowns, which are shown together for the first time.

The exhibition ranges from a small and dainty child’s frock worn at her father’s coronation, through decades of military service and glittering state ceremonies, right up to the vivid “Neon at 90” green coat dress worn last month for her birthday celebrations.

One gown on display is a bright yellow chiffon dress embroidered with wattle.

“This was designed by Norman Hartnell for the Queen to wear to Australia in 1974,” curator Caroline de Guitaut told the ABC.

“It’s actually the second Hartnell dress with the wattle design on it.

“The first was made for the Queen when she made her first visit as sovereign in 1954, and was much more in the crinoline style, with sprays of wattle embroidered on it and also featured over one of the shoulders.

“This was the dress that the Queen was depicted wearing in William Garvie’s famous state portrait.”

Ms de Guitaut said the dress was an example of the “soft diplomacy” of such trips.

“Part of the attention to detail that goes into the preparations of her Majesty’s tour wardrobes is considering how her clothes can pay subtle compliments to the host nation,” she said.

Other subtle compliments, including dresses embroidered with tree peonies worn in China and green maple leaves to Canada, feature throughout the exhibition.

One of the most popular dresses on display is expected to be the Angela Kelly cocktail dress worn by the Queen for the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony.

Appearing in a pre-filmed sketch alongside Daniel Craig’s James Bond, the monarch’s outfit was designed in striking, strong lines so the illusion of the Queen jumping out of a helicopter would not be lost.

 “The philosophy behind the design was to have something in a colour that wouldn’t be in anyway representative of any of the countries participating,” Ms de Guitaut said.

“That’s why the colour is quite unique, that sort of peachy, corally pink.”

A second version was made in secret for stuntman Gary Connery to wear as he jumped out of a helicopter above the stadium.

When the Queen appeared inside the stadium wearing the same peachy coloured dress the crowd burst into wild cheers.

The exhibition runs from July 23 to October 2 at Buckingham Palace.

source: abc.net.au

There are quite a lot of synonymous words for “dress” in English. Let’s learn a few of them.