New exhibition of royal costumes opens in Bath

A new exhibition exploring the fashions of four generations of royals has opened.

Royal Women, at the Fashion Museum in Bath, features clothes worn by Queen Alexandra, Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret.

Curator Elly Summers said they showed the individual style of each woman as well as the evolution of fashion.

Some of the dresses in the exhibition are on loan from the Royal Collection.

Queen Alexandra (1844-1925) was a fashion icon, whose look was quite different from that of her mother-in-law, Queen Victoria.

It is believed the purple silk dress made in 1910 was not worn; it was possibly discarded for mourning clothes on the death of her husband, Edward VII.

After her death in 1925, many of her clothes were sold and her tartan dress was discovered in the 1930s in a vintage shop in London.

Queen Mary's (1867-1953) style stayed constant through dramatic changes in fashions during the first half of the 20th Century.

The mother of George VI was known to be impeccably dressed; for evening wear she wore heavily beaded gowns and for day she wore tailored suits and large toque hats.

The Queen Mother (1900-2002) loved fashion and took a keen interest in designs, fabrics and colours.

Norman Hartnell designed much of what she wore.

His gowns were hugely labour intensive - at this time he employed 400 staff, from cutters and seamstresses to embroiderers.

Unlike her sister the Queen, Princess Margaret (1930-2002) had more freedom to explore fashion.

Many of her earlier outfits were designed by Norman Hartnell, and she became a patron of Christian Dior after she was introduced to his New Look collection in 1947.

Royal Women runs from 3 February to 28 April 2019 at the Fashion Museum Bath.