New royal fashion exhibition opens at Kensington Palace

Dress Codes opens 13 March 2025 

Exhibition generously supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation and Avis Charles Associates.

Royal fashion showstoppers will meet unseen treasures in a new exhibition at Kensington Palace opening on 13 March. Spanning the eighteenth century right through to the present day, Dress Codes presents an array of the best and most interesting outfits from the collection, showcasing how the dress codes of the royal family and royal court relate to the dress codes we all follow in our own lives.

The exhibition celebrates the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection, which spans 500 years of royal and court dress and is cared for by the independent charity Historic Royal Palaces. While some pieces will be instantly recognisable, Dress Codes also includes clothing worn by courtiers, debutantes, people who worked in palaces and outfits worn by members of the public to celebrate royal occasions. 

Dressing up for special occasions, or wearing certain clothing to mark different stages or events in our lives, is a key theme of the exhibition. A never-before-seen gold wedding dress from the 1920s will be going on display, comprising a gold lamé damask gown, tiara and gold shoes. The dress, designed by court dress maker Madame Handley Seymour, was worn by the Hon. Ursula Mary Lawley for her 1927 wedding, which was attended by King George V and Queen Mary. The piece has been painstakingly conserved by Historic Royal Palaces’ own textile treatment conservators in order to prepare it for its first public display.  

The exhibition is also filled with clothing worn by members of the royal family, including three former residents of Kensington Palace. Highlights include two matching Liberty print floral cotton dresses, worn in 1936 by a young Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret as children, and a rare black bodice worn by Queen Victoria in her early years of mourning. Dresses worn by Diana, Princess of Wales also feature, including a Catherine Walker green silk velvet tuxedo-style dress and a glittering red Bruce Oldfield dress worn in Saudi Arabia in 1986. A 1978 Thea Porter evening ensemble worn by Princess Margaret 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 by her in 1980. Three pieces of clothing worn by the Duke of Windsor, who is well known for his influence on the history of men’s fashion and for his own sartorial choices, also go on show at Kensington Palace for the first time. These include an 1897 Rothesay Tartan suit inherited from his father, George V, and altered by the Duke, who had a modern zip fly added. A tweed suit also demonstrates the relaxed style of clothing the Duke called ‘dress soft’, with features such as country style fabrics and the use of a belt, rather than the more traditional braces, for his trousers.

While the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection is well known for its historic pieces, it continues to collect today, with Dress Codes demonstrating some of the contemporary pieces recently acquired. This includes a polka dot draped gown worn by Dame Vivienne Westwood when she received her DBE for services to fashion in 2006. The dress was acquired for the collection through Christie’s recent Vivienne Westwood: The Personal Collection auction, with funds raised to support the charities supported by Vivienne throughout her life. Thanks to a loan from the fashion house, the dress will be displayed alongside the hat worn by Westwood to the ceremony, alongside a horned tiara from the same collection as the one she wore on the day, that completed her rebellious look. Other recent modern investiture pieces have also been selected for the display, demonstrating to visitors how the tradition of dressing for court continues today. A sherwani with intricate gold embroidery, worn by Professor Sir Aziz Sheikh to receive his knighthood for services to COVID-19 research and policy in 2023, will showcase how he represented his cultural origins in Pakistan at the occasion. Alongside it, an outfit worn by Dame Melinda Simmons - the UK’s former ambassador to Ukraine - to her 2023 investiture comprises a blue dress with yellow earrings as reference to the country’s national flag. 

The final room of the exhibition will showcase contemporary fashion, with newly designed pieces inspired by items from the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection. 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 making creative responses including fashion design, as well as storytelling and music, bringing their contemporary perspective to the objects. Their responses will feature in the exhibition, demonstrating how the collection remains an important source of inspiration for a new generation of young creatives. 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.

Matthew Storey, curator at Historic Royal Palaces, said: “It has been a pleasure to delve deep into the stores of the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection, to share unknown stars alongside iconic outfits. Working with the Young Producers has shown how fascinating the histories of these garments are, from the personal to the political, and how their design can inspire creativity today. Kensington Palace has always been the home of royal fashion, from court occasions in the Georgian period, to its stylish former residents, to our exhibitions today. I’m looking forward to sharing an incredible range of stunning items with our visitors, including many that have never been seen before, and celebrating the creativity of the remarkable Young Producers.”

Dress Codes opens to the public on 13 March 2025 and will run until 30 November. It is included in palace admission.

www.hrp.org.uk/kensington-palace/whats-on/dress-codes

Dress Codes has been generously supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation and Avis Charles Associates.