Fashion Rules: Inside the wardrobes of royal icons
Kensington Palace's latest exhibition Fashion Rules allows
visitors a peek inside the wardrobes of the Queen, Princess Margaret and Diana,
Princess of Wales.
BY BIBBY SOWRAY | 03 JULY 2013 / http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/article/TMG10157775/Fashion-Rules-Inside-the-wardrobes-of-royal-icons.html
Tomorrow will see the opening of Fashion Rules, Kensington
Palace's showcase of gowns belonging to three of the world's most iconic women;
HM The Queen, Princess Margaret and the late Diana, Princess of Wales.
Divided into a number of bijoux rooms, the selection of
pieces on display is tightly edited and only those that most accurately depict
the style, era and responsibility of the three women have been chosen for
display.
It begins with some of the Queen's most intricate and
tiny-waisted gowns - all of which have been lent by the monarch - and were worn
in the 50s and 60s. Hardy Amies and Norman Hartnell were her designers of
choice for the period, and every item was created with the exact occasion in
mind.
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The Queen's dress by Norman Hartnell, which opens the
exhibition Photo: Getty
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From the Queen's sober though spangled gowns, the exhibit moves
to pieces from her sister, Princess Margaret's, wardrobe. Admittedly more
rock'n'roll than her sibling's - there a number of fashion-forward pieces
designed for Margaret by Marc Bohan of Christian Dior - they are still equally
as regal. A Carl Toms-designed 'ethnic' outfit designed especially for a
costume party that was hosted at the Princess's Mustique residence gives a
taster of her more lavish, fun-filled social agenda.
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The dress made by Hardy Amies for the Queen's visit to Nova
Scotia. Photo: Getty
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The final leg is dedicated to Diana, and includes two
dresses purchased by the Royal Historic Palace in the recent auction which
raised over £800,000 through the sale of 10 gowns.
One is the cream and pink-beaded asymmetrical Catherine
Walker gown worn by the Princess in 1991, and the other - which is not
currently on display but will be in a matter of months - the black velvet Bruce
Oldfield gown she wore in an official portrait taken by Lord Snowdon.
All but one of the gowns are typically 80s, drop-waisted,
brightly coloured (something Royals avoided in the age of black and white
television as pale colours would allow them to be seen better), and swathed in
sequins.
Curator Cassie David revealed hopes to one day display
outfits belonging to the Duchess of Cambridge. At present, the mother-to-be is
simply too new on the scene and most of her outfits are still ensconced in her
personal wardrobe, ready to be re-worn in true royal style (many of the gowns
on display were worn on numerous occasions by each of the three women).
So we'll have to wait a little while longer before we get to
peruse Kate's high street and designer duds.
Fashion Rules, Kensington Palace from July 4. For more
information visit hrp.org.uk.
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Dresses that once belonged to Diana take a starring role in
the exhibition. Photo: AP
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Princess Diana's dresses raise over £800,000 at auction
A Victor Edelstein gown the late Diana, Princess of Wales
wore to dance with John Travolta raised £240,000 in an auction of 10 of her
gowns at Kerry Taylor today.
BY BELINDA WHITE AND AFP REPORTERS | 19 MARCH 2013 / http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG9941199/Princess-Dianas-dresses-raise-over-800000-at-auction.html
Ten dresses belonging to the late Diana, Princess of Wales,
including a gown she famously wore while dancing with John Travolta, fetched
over £800,000 at auction in London today.
The lots sold at Kerry Taylor Auctions included some of the
"most important and iconic" dresses worn by Prince Charles's
glamorous former wife, who died in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while being
pursued by paparazzi.
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The midnight blue Victor Edelstein dress Princess Diana wore
when she famously danced with John Travolta fetched £240,000 Photo: EPA
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A midnight blue velvet gown by Victor Edelstein which Diana
wore to a 1985 state dinner at the White House - where she famously twirled
around the dance floor with Saturday Night Fever star John Travolta - was the
star lot selling for £240,000. It was bought by a British gentleman as a
surprise to "cheer up his wife", Taylor revealed.
Two Catherine Walker dresses - one black evening gown worn for a Vanity
Fair photoshoot by Mario Testino in 1997, another burgundy crushed velvet gown
she wore to the Australian premiere of Back To The Future in 1985 - each
fetched £108,000 |
A Catherine Walker dress worn in 1991 which sold for
£78,000. Photos: Rex/Kerry Taylor
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Diana, who became a global style icon and was famed for her
charity work, wed heir to the throne Prince Charles in a lavish ceremony in
1981. They had two sons, William and Harry, but divorced in 1996.
At Diana's request, the 10 dresses were originally sold in a
charity auction in New York in June 1997, just two months before she died.
Florida-based businesswoman Maureen Dunkel bought the
dresses, along with four others. She was forced to put them up for auction in
2011 after she went bankrupt - but only four of them sold.
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A Zandra Rhodes cocktail dress worn in 1987 that sold for
£48,000. Photos: Rex/Kerry Taylor
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This green velvet Victor Edelstein dress (left) sold for
£24,000, while the midnight blue Victor Edelstein dress (right) Diana wore when
she danced with Travolta fetched £240,000. Photos: Kerry Taylor
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