Dressing the Queen: Two Hundred Years of Makers and Monarchy

by Kate Strasdin

Synopsis:

The hidden story of the people who designed, sewed, stitched and steamed the clothes of Britain's queens, from Victoria to the present day.

From tours and walkabouts to the dazzling spectacle of a wedding or Coronation, the clothes worn by royal women have always been a fascination. Starting with Queen Victoria and moving to the modern Elizabethan age, DRESSING THE QUEEN shows the incredible craftmanship and painstaking effort that go into the making of what is known as the ‘Royal Wardrobe’, from handmade boots to Crown Jewels; country tweeds to delicate stockings.

Dress historian Kate Strasdin reveals a tribe of previously unsung women and men. Some may be more renowned – such as designer Norman Hartnell or suitcase-maker Louis Vuitton – but most are ordinary, highly talented working people from across the British Isles. From rural straw plaiters to wartime coat-makers and refugee glovers, their skilled labour is a vital part of our country’s history.

As we see modern princesses sally forth in fantastically arranged ensembles, we can think again of the vanishing trades that once employed millions – and still remain integral to royal life today.

Kate Strasdin’s Dressing the Queen is not about the fashions royal women have worn, per se, or even their personal styles — though inevitably it does reflect on that somewhat. Instead, it’s very much as the subtitle suggests: “Two Hundred Years of Makers and Monarchy”, with heavy emphasis on the makers. Strasdin attempts to figure out the craftspeople behind royalty’s clothes: not just the designers, or the heads of companies, though she discusses them, but also the people who did the stitching and fitting, who knitted the stockings, and even made the luggage used to transport it all. We also get a peek at laundering, repairing and managing all those clothes.

There were loads of little snippets that I loved learning about: the rushed order for a funeral pall, completed in 28 hours by a rotating group of women who swapped in and out as needed; the dress designed to hang beautifully on the changing body of Queen Alexandra as she developed curvature of the spine, the story only really considered now when dressing mannequins in her clothes to display them and finding that the fit seems outright bad.

It steers away from anything too jingoistic about the royal family, focusing very much on the stories of those who served them, though it isn’t outright critical either (and tends to focus on how warm and human several members of the royal family were with tradespeople)… so I didn’t find it too annoying, despite not being a royal fan. I thought it was important and lovely to unearth these people, some of whom Strasdin finds photographs or videos of, and put stories and names to the faces.

Sometimes it’s hampered a bit by silence, either due to something just being too commonplace (stockings) or too intimate (corsets and underwear) for much to have made it into the meticulous records of the royal family. Still, Strasdin does a good job of speculating and drawing out the details that she can.

All in all, I found it very enjoyable!

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)