QUEEN MOTHER’S ‘DECADES OF STYLE’ ON VIEW

The Thai Textile Society presents a guided tour of a special exhibition of HM Queen Sirikit the Queen Mother’s wardrobe, at Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles on the Grand Palace’s compound, Na Phra Lan Road, on Saturday at 10am.

Open for public viewing since last November, the “Decades Of Style: The Royal Wardrobe Of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit” exhibition tells the story of the Queen Mother’s dedication and lifelong work to preserve and promote Thai textiles through examples from her extraordinary wardrobe from each decade.

Her Majesty has long been a role model for Thai women, especially in her promotion of Thailand’s traditional crafts. Understanding the power of royal patronage, she took the unprecedented step of commissioning French and Thai couturiers to make traditional Thai village textiles into high-fashion and then wore them during royal visits at home and abroad.

Beginning in the 1970s, Queen Sirikit’s patronage extended beyond her wardrobe as she promoted traditional Thai crafts of all kinds by bringing exquisite products from the Support Foundation along on her travels to show the taste and skill of Thai craftspeople to the world.

The guided tour will be conducted by a museum curator. Included in the programme is a visit to “Woven Dialects”, an exhibition of woven art by textile artist Ploenchan Vinyaratn; and a chance to observe the museum’s new library that holds literature in Thai, English and French.

The fee is 300 baht (200 baht for members). Email contact bkk. tts@gmail.com.