The largest-ever exhibition of the Queen Elizabeth II’s fashion has gone on display at The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace in London, celebrating the late monarch’s personal fashion archive, from her wedding and coronation dresses to treasured childhood fancy-dress costumes, her “rainbow” day wardrobe for official visits, her off-duty style of tweed and tartan, as well as how she used her clothing as a tool for international relations.
‘Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style’ exhibition, which runs from April 10 to October 18, pulls together more than 200 pieces of clothing, millinery and accessories, alongside design sketches, fabric swatches, embroidery samples, photographs, artworks, correspondences, and even invoices, with more than half of the items never been exhibited before, as part of the celebrations to mark the centenary of Queen Elizabeth’s birth in 1926.
Caroline de Guitaut, exhibition curator and surveyor of The King’s Works of Art, said at the press preview: “The ‘Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style’ exhibit reveals for the first time a clear fashion trajectory mirroring the pervading trends of the 20th century, from the 40s new look, 50s glamor, 60s rising hemlines, 70s acid colours and flowing prints to 80s power dressing and beyond, even experimenting with neon colour at the age of 90.
“The Queen found her own style, creating a look that became instantly recognisable to a global audience, and which, in its elegance and also in its idiosyncrasies, would inspire a generation of future fashion designers.
“The Queen made her own decisions about her clothing and most importantly, which designers, couturiers and suppliers she chose to work with, building, in some cases, lifelong, devoted relationships with such towering pioneers of the fledgling British couture industry as Edward Molyneux, Norman Hartwell and Hardy Amies.”
Buckingham Palace opens ‘Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style’ exhibition
The exhibition opens with a look at Queen Elizabeth’s formative years, featuring some of her earliest surviving garments, including her historic christening robe, childhood ballet shoes and even a tiny fairy costume, before moving into how the then Princess stepped into her public role, opting for jewel‑toned velvet coats designed by Norman Hartnell, and darker colours for official public engagements in the 1940s.
This flows into a special showcase of the late Queen’s wedding ensemble for her marriage to Prince Philip at Westminster Abbey in 1947, with a head-to-toe display, highlighting her wedding dress was designed by Norman Hartnell and drew inspiration from Alessandro Botticelli’s Renaissance painting ‘Primavera (Spring)’, to symbolise hope and rebirth for a post-war Britain, alongside her shoes, jewellery, and the Queen Mary’s diamond fringe tiara.
The wedding dress showcases a lot about the Queen and her early style, with a fashionable, yet simple princess-line cut, reflecting the fashion of the day, as well as her dedication to supporting British manufacturing, fabrics, and designers, with Hartnell becoming one of her most influential designers. The gown also used floral motifs and embellishments to represent the “coming of spring” after World War II.
Hartnell also designed her coronation dress in 1953, which has become known as an intricate masterpiece of sartorial diplomacy, with the embroidery depicting emblems of the Commonwealth, including a Tudor rose for England, thistle for Scotland, a leek for Wales, and a shamrock for Ireland, alongside a Canadian maple leaf, a silver fern to represent New Zealand, a lotus flower for India, and a wattle for Australia.
Queen Elizabeth II offers a masterclass in diplomacy through her fashion
The way the Queen harnessed the power of her clothing as a tool of diplomacy is at the heart of the exhibition, showcasing how the monarch used colour, motifs and embellishments to pay respect to the countries and regions she visited.
Highlights include an evening gown designed by Hardy Amies for her tour of Canada in 1959, which includes apple blossom and mayflower embroidery, the emblem of Nova Scotia, while a look by Hartnell, worn in 1976 during a visit to Japan featured draped sleeves inspired by a kimono and cherry blossoms, referencing the country’s celebration of Sakura, and a silk white dress by Angella Kelly from a state visit to Ireland in 2011 was enhanced with shamrocks all of the bodice and styled with a crystal-embellished harp motif, a symbol of Ireland.
De Guitaut added: “The queen had an innate understanding of how fashion could lend itself to diplomacy and developed into nothing short of an art form. Colour or embellishment communicated messages of respect to her host nation before she had even uttered a word of her speeches.
“Clothes acknowledged everything from religious, cultural and social conventions, no matter which country or culture was visited, a master class in diplomatic dressing that spoke volumes about her wish to connect to people and audiences wherever she went.
“The production of her coronation dress, considered to be one of the great pieces of 20th century design, and for which she had insisted that Hartwell should include the emblems of the dominions of which she was then queen, and that they should be embroidered in colours.”
The Queen’s use of bright, monochromatic block colours like lime green, yellow, and fuchsia for her tailoring and daywear is also spotlighted. Described as a pragmatic choice, due to her standing at just 5ft 3in tall, the bold colours ensured she could be easily spotted by crowds. This sat alongside a section dedicated to her off-duty, countryside wardrobe, where she blended couture tailoring by Hartnell and Amies with ready-to-wear clothes from the likes of Burberry, Daks and Simpson, as well as specialist equestrian tailors, Bernard Weatherill. There is a special spotlight given to her love of silk headscarves, especially those designed by French fashion house Hermes, and her famous clear ‘Birdcage’ umbrellas, which were usually described with a colour trim to match her look.
The exhibition closes with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth’s dedication to the British fashion industry, and how her style has influenced many contemporary designers, with looks from Richard Quinn, Christopher Kane and Erdem.
“I felt it was important to work with contemporary British designers, with Erden, Christopher Kane and Richard Quinn, who have all in some way or another, engaged with the Queen’s style, and represented elements of this in some of their collections,” added De Guitaut. “The aim here is also to encourage the future fashion designers of this country to use this remarkable archive, in all its richness, to inspire their creations of the future.”
De Guitaut concluded: “The archive numbers were over 4,000 pieces, and so you can imagine that making the selection has not been without its challenges. However, the idea in principle was to include works by most of the most important designers, couturier suppliers, who’ve worked with the queen throughout her life.”