Exclusive: Royal family’s thrifty attitude to fashion on display…. Continue Reading

Kensington Palace exhibition illustrates reusing and rewearing of grand clothes throughout the ages

The King is known for his thrifty approach to fashion, while the Princess of Wales recently described the joy she gets from being able to keep her children’s clothes and pass them down.

Now, an exhibition at Kensington Palace will show how such attitudes towards reusing and rewearing garments have been a mainstay within the Royal family for generations.

From one of Queen Victoria’s mourning dresses passed down to a servant, to a dress worn by Elizabeth II as a child before being painstakingly repaired and a ceremonial uniform reused and repaired for five decades, Dress Codes illustrates how even the most privileged in society have long valued clothing.

Visitors will see the Duke of Windsor’s tartan suit, which he inherited from his father, George V, in 1936 and then modernised and wore for at least another 20 years, displayed alongside evening gowns worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, who later put them up for auction to give them a new lease of life.

Matthew Storey, curator for Historic Royal Palaces, said he hoped the exhibition would help modern audiences look back and “relearn” how older generations valued and reused their clothes.

Speaking of the modern scourge of fast fashion, he said: “We’re always talking about sustainability. It’s so much of a concern nowadays. But actually, we’re not inventing it. This is about looking back to what our grandparents’ generation knew instinctively and what they did.

“So it’s about relearning what was there, what for centuries people did. They had the skills to make clothes last.”

Mr Storey said he hoped the exhibition might encourage visitors to think about the various ways clothes can be recycled and the stories older garments can tell.

“Clothing and textiles these days are so much cheaper with mass production,” he added.

Dress Codes looks at the messages members of the Royal family, as well as palace visitors, choose to convey through their clothing, the unwritten “codes” of power dressing and the many factors that go into deciding what to wear abroad, such as climate and culture.

More than three years in the making, there are 34 items on show, of which 15 have never been displayed anywhere before.

The first item on display is a red Bruce Oldfield gown worn by the late Princess of Wales during an official visit to Saudi Arabia in 1986 and which was among 17 dresses she sold at Christie’s in 1997, raising $3.2 million for HIV, Aids and cancer charities.

“This is her working wardrobe and she put it to work one last time by selling (it) for charities she cares about,” Mr Storey said.

“This is something she did as well in her lifetime. She put these clothes on mannequins, sold copies of the catalogue and put them out into the world.”

A postillion’s ceremonial uniform, worn by grooms leading the royal carriages, was first worn during Edward VII’s reign in 1902 but was repaired and reworn repeatedly over five decades, with a new cypher added for use during Elizabeth II’s 1953 coronation, when heavy rain meant the dye from the blue velvet bled into the red wool.

The names of its various wearers have been written and crossed out in the lining.

Elsewhere is a gown thought to have been worn to Queen Victoria’s 1700-themed ball in June 1845.

The point of the ball was to promote the British silk industry, so each of the 1,200 guests would have to buy new clothes.

“This visitor, by reusing 18th-century silk, slightly undermined that, but set us a wonderful example for sustainability and reuse as well,” Mr Storey said.

One of several items that has never before been on public display is black bodice worn by Victoria soon after her husband Albert’s death.

“It’s the rarest of the rare,” said Mr Storey. “Very little clothing of hers survives from the 1870s, probably because she didn’t see much point in preserving them.