Royal Fashions: Court Splendour from the Tudors to Today
Timely online course from the Wallace Collection looking at Royal and court clothing and its symbolism. On day one Jacqui Ansell from Christies Education took us though the clothes worn for coronations and the objects which monarchs can be seen holding and wearing in their portraits. She talked us through how the crown jewels were melted down in the Civil War and how Charles II reinvented them, as well as discussing some of the jewels in the Imperial Crown. She also talked about the idea of court dress and why this was often quite based on the fashion of a previous generation as well as comparing the competing courts of England and France. On the second day she concentrated on George IV and the idea of the presentation at court looking forward to the reign of Queen Victoria. Ansell used Lily Langtry’s account of being presented from her autobiography extensively, highlighting that she was in fact the mistress of the Prince of Wales at that time. She had previously also loo...