It often feels like the Queen has been an older lady (this is me at my most tactful) for literally as long as I can remember, so I thought it would be nice to have a look at this rather lovely Norman Hartnell dress that Her Majesty wore on a state visit to Paris in 1957.
Remember the dress that Queen Victoria wore in Paris that I posted a couple of days ago? Well, I don’t think the pressure to look as elegant as possible when on show in the French capital had abated one whit over the course of a century! I think the Queen probably looked amazing in this gorgeous gown, which is rather poetically called ‘The Flowers of the Fields of France’ – what do you think?
‘Lavish gold and white beadwork encrusts this ivory evening dress worn by Queen Elizabeth II on a state visit to Paris in 1957. The dazzling, jewel-like details of the embroidered design include miniature bees, grasses, wheat and wild flowers. These motifs are worked in relief in faceted glass, gold beads, brilliants and variously shaped pearls, mother-of-pearl and gold petals. It also features an extravagant back bow. The design of this single-occasion gown diplomatically refers to French motifs, including the flowers of France and large gold bees, the emblem of Napoleon. It was intended to both compliment the French nation and draw attention to the Queen.’ — Victoria and Albert Museum description.
This dress was worn on the Queen’s first night in Paris, the 8th of April 1957, when she attended a state banquet at the Elysée Palace then went to the opera and must have been a dazzling sight!
‘The dress was worn with a necklace (of 4 stones with centre drop jewel) and small earrings, a tiara, and long white evening gloves adorned with a bracelet (or small watch) on the left wrist. The Queen also wore the jewelled Badge of the Legion d’Honneur and sash from her right shoulder to her waist (left). She also carried a small white handbag and wore a white fur stole for travelling.’ — Victoria and Albert Museum.
beautiful!
“It often feels like the Queen has been an older lady (this is me at my most tactful) for literally as long as I can remember…” I know, right? Even in her younger years, she just has one of those faces.
Haha, yes, I know what you mean. She was very pretty in her youth, I think and seems to have had an enviable figure as well – it’s astonishing really, when really it shouldn’t be! :)
absolutely gorgeous!! speechless…
*sigh* She never has to fret over a label that says “Hand wash only”!
Heh, no, the mysteries of the laundry remain as mysteries to Her Majesty!
Stunning! All that handwork. You might like to take a look at two books that the Royal Collection has released: The Royal Tour, which has a lot of the Queen’s jewels and clothing covered, and Five Gold Rings, about the Royal weddings – Victoria, Edward VII, George V, George VI and Elizabeth II.
I keep meaning to get copies – will add them to my Amazon list so I don’t forget!
darling. she was so cute. lovely. loved the bow down low in the back. i bet she loved wearing this. i wonder if that’s the only time she wore it? they have to incorporate patriotism in all of it.
It’s heavenly isn’t it? I believe it was only ever worn one more time – to the opera in London. What a shame. I’d be wearing it around the house every day!
Beautiful!
Rather scrumptious and quite glamorous. I wonder how much it weighs. Gone are the days of couture like that. Even the ateliers of designers like the late Alexander McQueen didn’t pull off one-offs like that. That’s the sort of work done in the royal court days of reigns long gone by.
I’d love to know more about how much went into the workmanship in terms of where the beading and jewels/gemstones were sourced and how long it took X number of people to do the handwork Lots of royal decollete showing, too, in that gown. I wonder how much time elapsed from the time she knew she’d need to wow the Parisians to the time she wore the gown.
I bet it weighs a ton! It’s a really remarkable piece of work and yes very reminiscent of the sort of dresses worn in courts many decades ago, the like of which we don’t really get to see any more.
I’m going to do a bit of research into actual man hour times for this sort of thing but I bet it took ages to finish.
It’s surprisingly revealing isn’t it? I found a picture of another dress that the Queen wore in the 1960s that had a plunging back! It really astonished me as I’ve always thought of her taste in clothes as being extremely demure!
Sadly, there really isn’t handwork like that around much any more. Every now and then I’ll see something spectacular around, but nothing quite like that dress. If anyone is interested, the tiara that the Queen is wearing is the Grand Duchess Vladimir one, with the emerald drops, and Queen Mary’s Durbar necklace — all those emeralds must have made a striking contrast to the cream and gold of the dress.
Oh yes, I meant to do a separate post about the jewels as that necklace is one of my favourites – I was surprised that she opted to wear the emeralds with this but I bet it looked amazing. :)
Wow. Utterly stunning. And what a teeny tiny waist!
C’est incroyable! :)
I think a lot of us are in awe at the Queen’s waist right now! x
The Queen was a bit of a fittie back in the day wasn’t she? (adopts Eddie Izzard voice: Fancy the Queen!) I wonder if she’d let me borrow the dress…it’s bloody gorgeous!
Right now I am reading We Are Amused by Brian Hoey, and one section has an entire bit about the Queen’s dresser, and how her clothing is chosen for her. Nearly everything that she wears are one-offs, and everything is very carefully planned ahead of time. One thing that is interesting about the designs of the fifties and sixties is that women did wear quite a bit of support underneath, and the designers apparently took a woman’s natural form into consideration. There’s some real thought there, and the clothing actually looks somewhat comfortable (unlike today, where you need to be thin as a toothpick to carry anything off).
Lovely, Stunning.
Too bad you can’t pull off something like that today.
I wonder what her Shoes looked like.
hmmmmmm?
Probably jewel encrusted too!.
I’m sure they must be – the Queen had a thing for Parisian shoes when she was young. :)
The Queen could be seen as attractive looking. She was never a beauty.
Really, Brian? I have an official portrait from the begining of the reign in which Her Majesty looks rather….ummm…”hot” as I have heard the young folks say. The gown is amazing.
I think the Queen was very pretty in her youth.
Having had the chance to seen her Majesty up close I would have to say to things, in her youth she was far more beautiful than alas photos show, and her complexion even in to advanced middle age was superb.