(regal music)
- This is Her Majesty The Queen's Coronation dress
and it was worn on one of the most important
and memorable days in The Queen's reign,
her Coronation,
which took place on the 2nd of June, 1953.
And it's also incredibly significant
in the history of British couture,
regarded by many as one of the most important designs
of the 20th century.
The Coronation dress was designed by Norman Hartnell
who was an official Dressmaker to Her Majesty The Queen,
and one of the most important designers
in 20th century Britain.
And he was chosen because he had also created
The Queen's wedding dress,
for her marriage to Prince Philip in 1947.
And also because he was particularly skilled
at producing dresses to be worn
on very significant occasions,
largely due to his great skill
in combining rich fabrics with beautiful embroideries,
which of course suited
these very grand and significant events.
When Her Majesty The Queen asked Norman Hartnell
to design her Coronation dress,
she gave some simple instructions to him.
And those were that the dress should conform
to the line of her wedding dress,
which of course he had designed for her in 1947.
And also, that the fabric should be of white silk satin.
But beyond that, he actually had a fairly blank canvas.
And Hartnell liked to carry out a lot of research,
and particularly for a dress of such importance,
and so he set about studying Coronation dresses
worn by previous Queen's consort over the centuries.
And he used this to inform his ideas
for how the dress would look.
He also thought very carefully,
about how the dress would be seen on the day.
Firstly, in the vast space of Westminster Abbey,
and secondly, taking into consideration
that the Coronation would be fully televised,
the first Coronation ever to be televised in this manner.
And so he needed to think about how it would perform
under all that scrutiny on that very auspicious day.
In addition to Hartnell's research
into historic Coronation dresses,
he also needed to consider what motifs would be incorporated
over that plain white silk satin.
And he actually produced in total,
nine separate designs for submission to The Queen.
Each of the designs differs very slightly
in its iconography.
And in fact, when he presented the eighth sketch,
Her Majesty The Queen was very pleased with it
but she made one suggestion.
The embroidered motifs should include,
not just those of the British Isles,
but also of the realms of Commonwealth countries
of which she would also become Sovereign.
And most importantly,
that those embroidered motifs
should be picked out in subtle colours.
And some of these are very recognisable.
The maple leaf of Canada, wattle for Australia,
and the silver fern for New Zealand.
And this is what transformed the dress
from previous Coronation dresses
that had been worn by Queens and Queen's consort,
into something that was very fresh and modern.
And is part of the reason perhaps,
why the design has stood the test of time,
given that it's now almost 70 years old.
Obviously, one of the key features of this dress,
is its absolutely exquisite embroidery.
And Hartnell had such a talent for combining
these rich fabrics and these different types of embroideries
to such great effect.
And there's no better example
than Her Majesty's Coronation dress.
And we can see here, such a beautiful range of materials,
from pearls to diamantes, bugle beads, and sequins,
all of those surrounding those wonderful emblems
executed in such an incredible range of coloured silks.
(regal music)