Royal fashion tends to be a semi-popular topic of discussion all of the time. However, when it comes to royal tour fashions, news outlets kick into overdrive. Whatever locally-appropriate garment or jewellery is splashed across tweets and websites everywhere. However, this is not a new phenomenon. Print media and souvenir guides have long focused on fashion as a lens of royal tours, through each generation of the House of Windsor. This Style File Friday will be looking at royal tour fashions, and how we see them shared over the last 80+ years!
With 2022 being Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee year, we will hopefully see some royal tours happening. While the pandemic will most likely limit and/or reduce the number and length of tours, I think we will still see a few. And along with that, seeing what they chose to wear!
Queen Elizabeth- State Visit to Paris, 1938
Queen Elizabeth (known now as the Queen Mother) was not originally known for being a particularly fashionable woman. While her wedding dress was very much of its time, it doesn’t fare so well looking forward. However, when her husband took the throne in 1936, she knew that fashion would be key to her public image.
The royal couple was due to visit Paris and Versailles in June of 1938. However, five days prior to the visit, the Queen’s mother died. Given that she was suddenly in mourning, the visit was postponed until the third week of July. And she was still in mourning for the actual visit. Elizabeth turned to the new favourite royal designer, Norman Hartnell, to help solve her dilemma. Henceforth, we have the White Wardrobe.
Historically, Queens of France have worn white as a colour of mourning and Queen Victoria requested a white funeral- Hartnell played that up. He created sweeping white gowns to change the Queen’s proportions and give her the most flattering figure possible. Apparently the King had told Hartnell to use Winterhalter’s paintings as inspiration, and you can see echoes of his work in Hartnell’s designs. (Of course, you have several Winterhalter’s hanging at home when you are the King…) Paris is incredibly hot in July, so Hartnell also ensured that the gowns were light and airy. Queen Elizabeth’s White Wardrobe is still widely touted to this day.
Princess Elizabeth- Canadian Royal Tour, 1951
Canada is quite often the first royal tour that a couple will undertake after marrying. Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh in 1951, the Duke and Duchess of York in 1986, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in 2011 all visited Canada. Elizabeth and Philip’s Canadian tour in 1951 produced several lasting memories of the couple, including their fashion. It is understandable why fashion is so widely recounted; with photographs (and now videos) being spread widely, clothing is intricately tied with image on these tours.
In The Golden Souvenir of the Royal Tour of Canada, the guide recounts that “the Princess is seen wearing a new Hardy Amies gown of white lace threaded with a gleaming gold tinsel pattern; the ‘cracker’ neckline is very up-to-the-minute.” (p.9) Both Hardy Amies and Norman Hartnell featured heavily in Elizabeth’s tour wardrobes in the 1950s and 1950s; they were trusted designers who could create the glamorous styles needed. (We should bring back tiaras on royal tours- just saying…)
The guide also gives us insight into the Duke’s fashion, as well. There is a notable dinner at Rideau Hall in 1951 that lives in Canadian infamy. (That is the official residence of the Governor-General of Canada, the monarch’s representative.) It featured a country-style dinner, that included appropriate fashions. “The Duke christens his new blue jeans, check shirt and red choker (he forgot to take off the price ticket!) and responds with a will to the ‘caller’s’ instructions during a Country Square Dance… In checked blouse, swinging skirt of steel blue with amusing appliqued figures, Princess Elizabeth wends her way gracefully through the intricacies of ‘Cattle in the Crop’.” (p.10)
Duchess of Cambridge- Canadian Royal Tour, 2011
I have to admit, I have a soft spot for this tour. I’ve been a royal watcher since I was a young child, but this is one of the first tours that I remember paying close attention to the fashion. We had all gotten up at the crack of dawn to watch the 2011 royal wedding, and Repli-Kates were in high demand everywhere. I think Canada is often chosen as one of the first royal tours because the visitors tend to receive a fairly positive response, and this tour was no exception. Canadians adored the new Duke and Duchess, especially the Duchess.
Every time Catherine appeared on camera, royal fashion bloggers set out to identify her clothing (sometimes within minutes). While her entire wardrobe from the tour was popular, one outfit stands out- her first Canada Day outfit.
Wearing the Reiss Nanette dress in white and a red Sylvia Fletcher fascinator for Lock & Co, she leaned into thematic dressing to visit Parliament Hill. The maple leaf details on the fascinator were a tad on the nose for some, but I thought it worked perfectly. (When and where else do you wear maple leafs but on Canada Day on Parliament Hill??) Catherine is a conscientious dresser at the best of times, but she set out to woo Canada with her wardrobe and certainly accomplished it on this tour.
When it comes to royal tour fashions, what are your favourites?
Cheers,
The Historian
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