Dress Codes

Matching dresses worn by Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret

A glimpse into royal family life in 1930s London

Highlights of Dress Codes will include two matching Liberty print floral cotton dresses, worn in 1936 by Queen Elizabeth II (then Princess Elizabeth) and her younger sister Princess Margaret when they were children growing up in London, on display at Kensington Palace for the first time.

The young sisters often wore matching clothes, their own distinctive dress code. The rare survivals are a very personal example of the royal family recycling and repairing clothing.

The dress worn by a young Princess Elizabeth shows signs of adaptation to accommodate a growing princess, including altered hems and seams. The item may have been passed down to her younger sister, reflecting the economical attitudes of the 1930s that favoured making things last.

Fashionable royal residents of Kensington Palace

Members of the Royal Family follow certain dress codes for their official duties, often using clothing to communicate messages about their roles or the causes they champion.

Dresses worn by Diana, Princess of Wales

See a glittering red Bruce Oldfield gown worn by Diana, Princess of Wales for a state visit to Saudi Arabia in 1987, showcasing the importance placed on dressing correctly for official duties.

Alongside this will be a Catherine Walker green silk velvet tuxedo-style dress, worn to formal family events. This gown was then shared with the world as one of 79 dresses famously auctioned to raise money for HIV/AIDS and cancer charities in 1997.

Explore Princess Margaret's boundary-pushing style

Another Kensington Palace resident known for her style and for playing with royal fashion boundaries of the time was Princess Margaret.

A 1978 Thea Porter evening ensemble will go on public display for the very first time, alongside a colourful green embroidered evening gown by the Filipino designer Jose Pitoy Moreno, worn in 1980.

Rare survivors from Queen Victoria's wardrobe

The show will also feature items worn by the ultimate observer of royal dress codes, Queen Victoria, including a never-before-displayed black mourning bodice, a rare survivor from the early years following the death of Prince Albert. Queen Victoria was born at Kensington Palace in 1819 and spent her childhood there.

Hidden treasures of the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection

The exhibition will also feature clothing worn at court or on state and public occasions, and showcases some hidden treasures of the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection.

Dame Vivienne Westwood's DBE dress

A recent addition to the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection is a dress worn by Dame Vivienne Westwood when she collected her DBE for services to fashion in 2006. The gown will go on show for the first time since being acquired at auction in 2024.

The black polka dot draped gown was one of the designer’s own creations, with a train referencing traditional court dress. The deconstructed design and styling represented Westwood’s rule-breaking values and politics.

Rare early 20th-century Japanese court suit

Reflecting the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection's exceptional collection of men's uniforms, the Dress Codes exhibition will include an extremely rare Japanese court suit dating from the early 20th century.

Featuring gold embroidered paulownia flowers (a traditional symbol or mon of Japanese government), it demonstrates the global influence of European style diplomatic uniforms. The uniform has gone through painstaking conservation by a team of Historic Royal Palaces experts, informed by research with experts in Japan, to prepare it for display.

Pieces designed by Young Producers

In a first for Historic Royal Palaces, the charity has partnered with three local youth groups, with 25 participants aged 14-17 acting as Young Producers on the exhibition. The Young Producers have been an intrinsic part of the development of the exhibition, which has included influencing the exhibition design, making creative responses through storytelling, fashion design and music creation, all of which feature throughout the exhibition to offer a contemporary perspective to the objects.

The final room will showcase clothing designed by the Young Producers, inspired by items from the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection and showing how dress codes can be reset and re-made for today. The partnership demonstrates how the collection is an important source of inspiration today, paving the way for a new generation of young people contributing to the arts and fashion industries.

The works were created over a year-long collaboration between the Young Producers, fashion and music industry professionals and Historic Royal Palaces’ experts, through a series of workshops and on-site tours of the historic collections.