In this week’s blog, Costume Society News Editor Dr Babette Radclyffe-Thomas reviews Kensington Palace’s new fashion exhibition, Dress Codes.
Kensington Palace’s latest fashion exhibition, Dress Codes, explores the codes and conventions associated with royal clothing. The exhibition celebrates the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection and explores the story of clothing worn at the Royal Court, on royal occasions and by members of the royal family. The collection spans 500 years of royal and court dress and is cared for by the independent charity Historic Royal Palaces. 34 outfits from this collection from the 1780s to the present day are on show in this exhibition in Kensington Palace’s Pigott Galleries.
“Kensington Palace has always been the home of royal fashion, from court occasions in the Georgian period, to its stylish former residents, to our exhibitions today.” Matthew Storey, Collections Curator at Historic Royal Palaces and Dress Codes curator said.
“It had been many years since we’d had an exhibition or display that just showcased and celebrated the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection at Kensington Palace. Many pieces from it have featured in it in our exhibitions and displays at Kensington Palace and other sites Historic Royal Palaces cares for in recent years, but we thought it was about time to give it the attention it deserves! Dress Codes also coincided with a digitisation project for the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection with Google Arts and Culture, bringing the collection to an even wider audience”.
Throughout the exhibition the visitor is introduced to the dress codes through a mixture of historic and contemporary garments. Spread across six rooms, the thematic exhibition comprises four key themes: writing the codes, decoding materials, cracking the codes, culminating with resetting the codes.
“I used a number of criteria to select which pieces to display, as I wanted to celebrate the breadth and depth of the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection. We of course had to include highlights of our extraordinary collection of clothing worn by members of the royal family, including former residents of Kensington Palace, Queen Victoria, Princess Margaret and Diana Princess of Wales.
The collection is around 90% menswear, so I had to showcase some of our extraordinary collection of men’s uniforms. In addition, I also wanted to look beyond the clothing worn by monarchs and courtiers, and show clothing worn by members of the public, and the people who work in royal palaces and sites. Where possible, I also wanted to select clothing that represented global cultures,” Storey said.
The first section, writing the codes, introduces the context for dress codes, and comprises thematically curated cases that explore dressing for ceremony, court, ceremony, politics, work and occasions. The exhibition opens with Diana, Princess of Wales’s glittering red Bruce Oldfield dress which she wore on a state visit to Saudi Arabia in 1986. This is followed by a selection of dress which was worn at court. A men’s court suit from about 1780 woven with silver and embroidered with gold is a highlight. This is shown alongside three modern investiture outfits, including a polka dot draped gown worn by Dame Vivienne Westwood in 2006 when she received her DBE for services to fashion. This Westwood dress is a recent acquisition and is on show alongside the hat Dame Vivienne wore to the ceremony, and a horned tiara from the same collection, on loan from the brand.
“Three key new acquisitions of clothing worn to investiture ceremonies allowed us to represent Britain in the 21st Century, bringing the exhibition up to date, and creating a permanent legacy for the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection. These were the outfit worn by Dame Vivienne Westwood in 2006, and outfits worn by Dame Melinda Simmons and Prof. Sir Aziz Sheikh in 2023,” Storey said.
The case dedicated to ceremonial dressing includes a 1953 Horrockses coronation celebration dress as well ceremonial uniforms from the 1890s onwards. A specific highlight is a Japanese court suit from the early 1900s.
“One of the best things about curating an exhibition like this is you can put many of your favourite pieces in! If I had to choose just one though, I’d choose the early 20th century Japanese Court Suit or taireifuku. The design combines Japanese and Western design features, and directly relates to the history of Japan rapidly industrialising and westernising after the Meiji Restoration of 1868. It shows how clothing can embody and represent major global, political and cultural changes, and exchanges. As an object that represented the meeting of two cultures it proved to be an important source of inspiration for the Young Producers, who were a group of Londoners from cultures spanning the globe,” Storey said.
There are a mix of uniforms worn by those who work in the palace such as a 2019 Yeoman warder uniform. Debutante dressing is another highlight including a Costume Ball Dress from approximately 1845, which is thought to have been worn at Queen Victoria’s 1700s themed ball held on June 6, 1845. The skirt and bodice reuse original 1700s Spitalfields silk. Next to it is a 1958 Worth evening dress on show which was worn by debutante Georgina Grattan-Bellew.
The next room explores ‘rites of passage’ such as the history of white bridal gowns and showcases a 1927 gold lamé damask wedding gown which has never previously been on show. The dress designed by court dress maker Madame Handley Seymour, was worn by the Hon. Ursula Mary Lawley for her 1927 wedding, which was attended by King George V and Queen Mary. The piece has been conserved by Historic Royal Palaces’ own textile treatment conservators and is shown with a tiara and gold shoes.
The next stop along the corridor is ‘decoding materials’ where a wide range of materials for uniforms, day and occasion wear are hung on a large wall display and visitors can feel the wide range of fabrics from the garments on show such as white ostrich feathers and beaded embroidery.
The final large room, ‘cracking the codes’, explores the iconic style of a selection of stylish royal family members and how royal dress was used to communicate their official role. Two garments per royal family member are on show. The display commences with ‘image maker’ Queen Victoria focusing on her mourning clothes including her 1897 black dress with a white cap, and a rare 1870 black bodice worn in her early days of mourning. The ‘fashion leading’ Queen Alexandra’s 1870 Dieulafait and E Bouclier dolman and a 1911-12 white and mauve dress worn to the horse races at Ascot, are followed by three garments worn by the Duke of Windsor, on show for the first time including an 1897 Rothesay Tartan suit inherited from his father, George V, and altered by the Duke, who had a modern zip fly added.
At the end of the case is ‘rule bending’ Diana, Princess of Wales, with a 1984 Jasper Conran suit and a famous green silk velvet tuxedo-style 1992 Catherine Walker dress. ‘Family styling’ includes the matching Liberty print dresses worn in 1936 by a young Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret. A 1978 Thea Porter evening ensemble worn by ‘risk taking’ Princess Margaret is on public display for the very first time, alongside a colourful green embroidered evening gown by the Filipino designer Jose Pitoy Moreno, worn by Princess Margaret in 1980.
In a first for Historic Royal Palaces, they have partnered with three local youth groups, with 25 participants acting as Young Producers on the exhibition. “A community programme with a group of Young Producers, aged 14-17 informed every part of the project, including the ‘dress codes’ theme, and eight extraordinary pieces created by them show how the collection can be an incredible source of inspiration for the next generation in a joyful finale to the exhibition,” Storey said. In the final smaller room, ‘resetting the rules’ showcases these student designs who were inspired by the garments on show. In each exhibition room, pink panels show which garments inspired the young producers.
Throughout the exhibition, visitors are treated to classical music plays, composed by Charlotte Harding inspired by the way the featured garments are made. In her composition, Harding made short sounds to mimic stiches, sharp notes evoke running stitch, and she envisioned panels of fabric as smooth chords that “sparkle like fabric in the light”. In the final room, the music becomes more modern with original songs created by the Young Producers who were inspired by the dress collection. The lighting is quite dark in certain rooms and the use of a deep blue background colour makes the garments stand out especially their intricate detailing.
The exhibition uses an innovative labelling system to give context to each garment, at the start of the exhibition a panel explains to visitors how to read the labels accompanying each garment. Each label has the name of the outfit and wearer, name of the designer, date the outfit was made or used, what dress code the outfit is following, why the code is being followed and how the outfit follows, bends or breaks the dress code.
The exhibition runs until 30 November 2025, and according to Storey, “as to future plans, all I can say that at the moment is that as Kensington Palace is famous for its fashion exhibitions, and Dress Codes only represents a fraction of the extraordinary Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection… watch this space!”
