All right, I am going to try to play catch-up now! We woke up to a very rainy, soggy day in London town on Tuesday. Fortunately, our plans were all indoors with Kensington Palace and the Museum of London, so the ladies grabbed their umbrellas and headed out. I’d walked so much the day before that I stayed in for the morning. All these lovely photos are from Lindsay.
Late 18-teens portrait in the entrance room of Kensington Palace
This is a dress from "The Last Debutantes" exhibit, which showcases gowns, shoes, gloves, and more donated by the last debutantes to be presented to the queen in the 1950s.
Another lovely gown from The Last Debutantes. This exhibit had film exhibits showing how to make a proper courtesy to a sovereign, how to dance (including steps marked on the floor), and how a proper royal table would have been set.
Ceiling of the great reception room.
Cradle used by Princess Victoria (who grew up in Kensington Palace).
Princess Victoria's bedroom...
The King's Gallery, which is hung with royal portraits.
Court dress worn by a gentleman in the 18th or early 19th century. (Court dress stayed the same for a looooong time -- very formal.)
Close-up of pocket to show the embroidery detail...
Breathtaking court gown shot with silver threads...
And the back view...
Close-up of the stomacher
Sleeve front detail
Detail of back of sleeve...
The ladies all had a fantastic time going through the palace with Suzi. In the meantime, I had arrived at Kensington’s Orangery to greet our surprise luncheon guest, the talented Cathy Hay of Your Wardrobe Unlock’d! Cathy brought along an amazing goody to share with us that involved another dress-up model demonstration, but I will share that in the next post, as I have SO many photos! You can see my pictures of the Orangery in an earlier post, but here are a couple more of our group gathering for a delicious lunch:
Rebecca, Bethany, Suzette, and Ashley...
Me talking with Cathy and Suzi
And a photo of our first course:
Smoked salmon with cabbage and mandarin oranges -- delicious!
Well, next time I’ll share the beautiful dress-up photos from Kensington and tell you about our time in the Museum of London’s fashion collection. For now, I must retire so I’ll be ready to head out to church in Bradford-upon-Avon in the morning!
From Miss Rachel:
WOW… I love the clothes! They are SOOOO pretty. I wish women wore such lovely things nowadays. I found an old vintage-y site that sold clothes (womens’) from the 1920′s-30′s-40′s-50′s times and the dresses were dressy and attractive, but modest and casual. The gowns were a lot more dressy than the everyday dresses and blouses/skirts, but they were still fashionable. I can’t understand how women can’t like those types of clothing. It is so fashionable and pretty.
Wonderful clothes and photos!
~Miss Rachel