Three Iconic Royal Women
Three Iconic Royal Women
The last section of renovated public space at Kensington Palace reopened in July 2013 for this 'Fashion Rules' exhibition of dresses worn by Princess Margaret, Diana, Princess of Wales and Queen Elizabeth II.
All three royal women have a personal relationship with Kensington Palace. The Queen and Prince Philip stayed there before he went away with the Navy and he also spent the night at Kensington Palace before their wedding.
Diana and Margaret both lived at Kensington Palace and raised their young families here.
Rules
There are many fashion rules the most stylish need to follow but there are also many more rules when dressing a royal.
The Queen always wore pale colors for official functions back in the '50s as this was needed to stand out on black and white film. The royals still follow the rule of block colors to help them be seen clearly in a crowd.
Diplomatic Dressing
I found this factor of royal clothing most fascinating as when on an overseas visit a royal's attire needs to reflect something of the host country. Great examples on display include the Queen's white dress with the right shade of green from the Pakistan flag incorporated, and Diana's Zandra Rhodes dress which was produced for a trip to Kyoto and as cherry blossom was in bloom at the time the same shade of pink was used.
The Exhibition
There are three sections featuring the Queen in the 1950s, Princess Margaret for the '60s and '70s, and Diana, Princess of Wales for the 1980s room.
Each room has music fitting for the era and helps to evoke that time in history.
1950s
The first room is the 1950s and looks at a time of "Optimism & Innovation". These dresses were worn by Queen Elizabeth II and were all designed by British designers: Norman Hartnell and Hardy Amies. The intricate beading was a way to display British techniques of decoration and all of these dresses have a lot of detail on the back too.
Our Queen is well known for her love of matching hats, shoes and handbags so it is slightly disappointing not to see some complete outfits but as these dresses were all worn more than once they may well have been worn with different accessories.
Queen Elizabeth II was in her early twenties when you became Queen and clearly enjoyed fashion whereas as her sister, Princess Margaret, had a lot more fashion freedom and was known for leading the way and not following fashion.
Margaret was a beautiful young woman and was part of the chic London set. She was known to have some almighty parties while living at Kensington Palace and the '60s and '70s room reflects her style.
Most of Margaret's dresses here have never been displayed before. The majority were by Marc Bohan for Christian Dior who also dressed Jackie Kennedy. A couple of dresses really stood out to me: one looks like a short wedding dress and incorporates lace from the 1820s.
It was suggested that she was probably given the lace as a gift and found this fashionable way to wear it. The other unusual outfit is a kaftan and turban that she wore to a fancy dress party. She grew to love these loose-fitting garments as they suited her time at her Caribbean home.
This is the room displaying dresses worn by Diana, Princess of Wales. An exhibition curator thought the era could be summed up as "sparkle, shoulder pads and Dynasty" which seemed fitting with these chosen pieces. (On the information board it noted Diana's nickname as "Dynasty Di" which I don't remember but it would have been appropriate.)
One dress is on loan from People magazine in New York who bought this at an auction that they organized.
It's by Jacques Azagury and has never been seen in the UK before but it is the epitome of 80s style with a dropped waist, big shoulders, over-sized bow, and lots of sparkles.
Another dress that hasn't been on display before was worn by Diana from 1986 to 1997 proving these dresses do get worn more than once.
A new acquisition is by Catherine Walker and another fine example of 'diplomatic dressing' as it was for a trip to Brazil shortly after they lost the football World Cup to Argentina so Diana could not be seen to show favoritism and could not wear the colors of either country's flag.
As well as the dresses in each room there are Vogue covers to show the fashion of the time.
QR codes
Three short films can be accessed via QR codes which demonstrate techniques used on some of the dresses such as embroidery and beading. There is free wifi in these rooms.
iPad Fashion Rules on Paper
A bespoke version of the iPad app Paper has been created and there are many terminals throughout the exhibition for guests to use.
There are 16 fashion illustrations grouped into the three key eras: 1950s, '60s and '70s, or the 1980s. It's simple to start adding color or you can choose a blank page and sketch what you can see in the room. Once you are happy with your masterpiece you can add it to a tumblr page or email it to yourself.
Fashion Rules - Visitor Information
This exhibition is on for two years (2013-2015) and some pieces will rotate with others in the collection. Entrance to Fashion Rules is included with admission to Kensington Palace.
Use Journey Planner to plan your route by public transport.
Read more about Fashion Rules from UK Guide Ferne Arfin.
As is common in the travel industry, the writer was provided with complimentary services for review purposes. While it has not influenced this review, About.com believes in full disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest. For more information, see our Ethics Policy.
The last section of renovated public space at Kensington Palace reopened in July 2013 for this 'Fashion Rules' exhibition of dresses worn by Princess Margaret, Diana, Princess of Wales and Queen Elizabeth II.
All three royal women have a personal relationship with Kensington Palace. The Queen and Prince Philip stayed there before he went away with the Navy and he also spent the night at Kensington Palace before their wedding.
Diana and Margaret both lived at Kensington Palace and raised their young families here.
Rules
There are many fashion rules the most stylish need to follow but there are also many more rules when dressing a royal.
The Queen always wore pale colors for official functions back in the '50s as this was needed to stand out on black and white film. The royals still follow the rule of block colors to help them be seen clearly in a crowd.
Diplomatic Dressing
I found this factor of royal clothing most fascinating as when on an overseas visit a royal's attire needs to reflect something of the host country. Great examples on display include the Queen's white dress with the right shade of green from the Pakistan flag incorporated, and Diana's Zandra Rhodes dress which was produced for a trip to Kyoto and as cherry blossom was in bloom at the time the same shade of pink was used.
The Exhibition
There are three sections featuring the Queen in the 1950s, Princess Margaret for the '60s and '70s, and Diana, Princess of Wales for the 1980s room.
Each room has music fitting for the era and helps to evoke that time in history.
1950s
The first room is the 1950s and looks at a time of "Optimism & Innovation". These dresses were worn by Queen Elizabeth II and were all designed by British designers: Norman Hartnell and Hardy Amies. The intricate beading was a way to display British techniques of decoration and all of these dresses have a lot of detail on the back too.
Our Queen is well known for her love of matching hats, shoes and handbags so it is slightly disappointing not to see some complete outfits but as these dresses were all worn more than once they may well have been worn with different accessories.
Queen Elizabeth II was in her early twenties when you became Queen and clearly enjoyed fashion whereas as her sister, Princess Margaret, had a lot more fashion freedom and was known for leading the way and not following fashion.
Margaret was a beautiful young woman and was part of the chic London set. She was known to have some almighty parties while living at Kensington Palace and the '60s and '70s room reflects her style.
Most of Margaret's dresses here have never been displayed before. The majority were by Marc Bohan for Christian Dior who also dressed Jackie Kennedy. A couple of dresses really stood out to me: one looks like a short wedding dress and incorporates lace from the 1820s.
It was suggested that she was probably given the lace as a gift and found this fashionable way to wear it. The other unusual outfit is a kaftan and turban that she wore to a fancy dress party. She grew to love these loose-fitting garments as they suited her time at her Caribbean home.
This is the room displaying dresses worn by Diana, Princess of Wales. An exhibition curator thought the era could be summed up as "sparkle, shoulder pads and Dynasty" which seemed fitting with these chosen pieces. (On the information board it noted Diana's nickname as "Dynasty Di" which I don't remember but it would have been appropriate.)
One dress is on loan from People magazine in New York who bought this at an auction that they organized.
It's by Jacques Azagury and has never been seen in the UK before but it is the epitome of 80s style with a dropped waist, big shoulders, over-sized bow, and lots of sparkles.
Another dress that hasn't been on display before was worn by Diana from 1986 to 1997 proving these dresses do get worn more than once.
A new acquisition is by Catherine Walker and another fine example of 'diplomatic dressing' as it was for a trip to Brazil shortly after they lost the football World Cup to Argentina so Diana could not be seen to show favoritism and could not wear the colors of either country's flag.
As well as the dresses in each room there are Vogue covers to show the fashion of the time.
QR codes
Three short films can be accessed via QR codes which demonstrate techniques used on some of the dresses such as embroidery and beading. There is free wifi in these rooms.
iPad Fashion Rules on Paper
A bespoke version of the iPad app Paper has been created and there are many terminals throughout the exhibition for guests to use.
There are 16 fashion illustrations grouped into the three key eras: 1950s, '60s and '70s, or the 1980s. It's simple to start adding color or you can choose a blank page and sketch what you can see in the room. Once you are happy with your masterpiece you can add it to a tumblr page or email it to yourself.
Fashion Rules - Visitor Information
This exhibition is on for two years (2013-2015) and some pieces will rotate with others in the collection. Entrance to Fashion Rules is included with admission to Kensington Palace.
Use Journey Planner to plan your route by public transport.
Read more about Fashion Rules from UK Guide Ferne Arfin.
- Buy tickets for Kensington Palace from Viator (Buy Direct)
- Four Exhibitions in One Palace
- Kensington Palace Visitor Information
- Kensington Palace History
- Royal London
As is common in the travel industry, the writer was provided with complimentary services for review purposes. While it has not influenced this review, About.com believes in full disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest. For more information, see our Ethics Policy.
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