THE QUEEN OF STYLE

As a sensational new exhibition of the Queen’s outfits opens to mark her 90th birthday, Catherine Ostler gets an exclusive preview – and discovers the fascinating stories behind them

As a dazzling new exhibition of Her Majesty’s dresses opens to mark her 90th birthday, we reveal the fascinating tales behind them

The nipped-in waist of the 1940s; the full, feminine silhouettes of the 1950s; the influence of Jackie O’s shift dresses in the 1960s; even a whisper of Dynasty’s power women in the 1980s. Nothing encapsulates the sheer length, breadth and vigour of the Queen’s reign more than a close look at her delightfully rich wardrobe. Here, fashion meets history, both global and personal. With this in mind, the Royal Collection has assembled an exhibition to celebrate Her Majesty’s 90th birthday, called Fashioning A Reign: 90 Years Of Style From The Queen’s Wardrobe. And what a joy it is! You get from these beautiful garments a sense of the relentless energy – the public display on visits, tours and banquets – required by the monarch and all the careful planning that goes into her immaculate presentation. It is a working wardrobe like no other.

Some 150 outfits and many hats are being shown across three Royal Palaces – Holyroodhouse, Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace. It all begins in childhood – when Edward, her uncle, was meant to be king and the young princesses Elizabeth and Mar- garet, in their matching coats, were no more central than Beatrice and Eugenie today. It evolves through the clothes worn by the glamorous new Queen, the young mother, the tireless head of state and the senior presence on the world stage. In this exclusive preview of six outfits across the decades, Caroline de Guitaut, senior curator of the Royal Collection Trust and the exhibition’s creator, reveals their stories... Fashioning A Reign: 90 Years of Style From The Queen’s Wardrobe, Buckingham Palace, 23 July-2 October 2016. See royalcollection.org.uk for dates of all three exhibitions.