Dressing for a royal wedding

 

If you've been following media reports regarding the wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William, this advice will sound familiar. For women attending a royal wedding, "hats are required, and there will be lots of big brims and fitted toques...many will wear long gloves with their short sleeves. Men should be in morning coats [or] dress uniforms."¹ This advice is nearly identical to that given on a recent ABC News segment, Royal Wedding Style Guide for Guests. You might be surprised to learn that the advice referenced above actually dates from a previous royal wedding, that of Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles in July 1981. Though 30 years apart, the dress code specified on the invitations for both royal weddings is nearly identical.

It's interesting that neither invitation specifies appropriate feminine dress; only male attire is referenced directly. Are women expected to somehow intuit suitable dress for historic and formal weddings? The 1981 article referenced above also noted that women shouldn't wear full-length dresses (too formal) or pants (too casual). Worn by Betsy Bloomingdale to the 1981 wedding of Charles and Diana, this silk day dress fits the bill--neither too long nor too short, it was entirely appropriate for the occasion.

Day Dress
Marc Bohan for Dior
Spring-Summer 1981
Silk crêpe, silk chiffon
Gift of Mrs. Alfred Bloomingdale
2006.116.78BC/C

Betsy and Alfred Bloomingdale were invited to the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer by Diana’s stepmother Raine, Countess Spencer. The Bloomingdales traveled to London on Air Force One with Betsy’s good friend Nancy Reagan, then First Lady. A reporter on board this flight noted the festive atmosphere, "not unlike college girls going to a debutante party."² During the flight, the reporter tried to find out what Betsy and Nancy would wear to the royal wedding, but to no avail. Like Diana, who kept her wedding gown secret until the wedding itself, neither woman would reveal her chosen outfit. Though the article hints at a black and white Dior, Betsy wore this peach-colored, silk crêpe Dior ensemble with an olive green cummerbund-style belt and a wide-brimmed straw hat. Nancy wore a similar peach outfit by James Galanos, though they had not planned to match. Betsy's dress was accompanied by a bias-cut cape, seen below.

2006.116.78A-C

Despite the fact that nobody from the FIDM Museum was invited to the royal wedding, we've spent some time speculating about what we would wear, if invited. Though we'd never wear or try on anything in our collection, it does offer a wealth of suggestions and possibilities. Our selections are below. How about you? What would you wear to a royal wedding?

Meghan chose this late '30s crepe day dress. It was worn as a wedding dress by the donor's sister in 1939. The bride couldn't afford to purchase a single occasion dress so chose a blue dress that could be worn again.

Day Dress
1939
Gift of Dora Barber in Honor of Edna B.
S2009.997.1

Carolyn also selected a blue dress, dating from the early 1930s. Carolyn's selection was featured in our recent exhibition, Re-Designing History: FIDM Museum Study Collection, 1850-2000.

Day dress
1930-32
Gift of the Manlove Family
S2006.870.92AB

My selection is a floral pink 1920s dress, discussed in our post on the 1920s silhouette.

Daydress
c. 1926
Gift of Santa Monica City College
95.622.1

 

1 Hyde, Nina. "Fashion Notes." The Washington Post 31 May 1981: F2.
2 Bumiller, Elizabeth. "The First Visit: Nancy Reagan Goes to London." The Washington Post 24 July 1981: D1.

Comments

[k]

They probably don't specify what women should wear b/c they know women will show up in something appropriate, whereas men, well some men, left to their own devices would show up in polo shirts and sneakers - especially the single ones

[Kate]

Great post.. I love learning a bit about FIDM staff through their choices! I'm with Meghan - the blue crepe is just lovely.

[Rachel]

Kate,

After writing this post yesterday, I realized that the blue crepe dress choosen by Meghan reminded me of another dress. The bodice is similar to the
dress worn at a royal-associated wedding, that of Wallis Simpson in 1937. Her dress was also blue, a color Mainbocher called 'Wallis blue." It is faded now, but these images show its similarity to the 1939 dress Meghan selected: http://bit.ly/mDCBaB.

[Kate]

Thanks Rachel! You know, I never knew the Wallis dress was blue. Do you what shade 'Wallis blue' is? That's a serious dye defect... you'd never know it was anything other than the pale creamy colour it is now.

[Rachel]

I'll have to research that, but I think it's a light sky blue with a bit of periwinkle. But it's so hard to describe colors! Let me know if you find anything.

[Hana - Marmota]

I'm with Meghan, too - that's a very lovely dress, and I think its shape would work for me. :-)

[Kel w/ UPrinting Coupons]

I watched the royal wedding from our TV and saw how stylish Kate's wedding gown is. It's like seeing Grace Kelly again. But apart from Kate's gown, it was raining hats that day! There were too much to count. These are very nice by the way, I love the blue crepe day dress.

[Therotaryblog.blogspot.com]

I love that you all chose dresses you would've worn to the wedding :)