Enemy silkworms and fabric by coupons: the amazing story of Elizabeth II's wedding dress
'30.01.2021'
Source: Bellalavanda on Yandex.Zen.
The wedding of the future Queen of Great Britain is not an ordinary event. Just two years before it, the Second World War ended, the country lived in austerity, industry was in decline, and people limited themselves in everything, the author of the channel recalls. Bellalavanda on Yandex.Zen.
The Windsors were faced with a choice: should the heiress's wedding be magnificent or limited to a modest celebration. One of the newspapers even conducted a poll: "Should the princess's wedding be the first post-war event that will awaken the traditional joy and fun of the general holidays in the British?" And the British answer was unequivocal: yes!
The royal wedding was to be a national holiday. But what if even the royal family gets food rations? Even the ingredients for the cake were not available - they were sent as humanitarian aid from all over the world!
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The designer Norman Hartnell sought inspiration from the National Gallery. And finally he found what he needed. He wanted to transfer the floral patterns from Botticelli's painting "Spring" to the royal wedding dress.
The master chose satin duchess as the main fabric for the dress. This fabric of a delicate shade of ivory had to be embroidered with hundreds of pearl flowers.
And then two problems arose at once.
Fabric by cards
To buy silk, Elizabeth saved up 100 cards, but this was not enough. British women were so eager to help their princess that they sent in their own cards. Unfortunately, she could not use them, because according to the law, only the one whose surname is indicated on them could cash out the coupons. Parliament has allocated an additional 200 cards to buy fabric.
Enemy unpatriotic worms
The duchess satin for the dress was purchased from the Scottish firm Winterthur. And suddenly it turned out that the silkworms that gave the silk for the dress of the future English queen could be Italian or even Japanese! This is completely unacceptable, because it is impossible to use silk made with the help of enemy silkworms! Hartnell was nearly accused of high treason. Fortunately, it turned out that the worms were from socialist China.
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Embroidery
A lot of pearls were required for embroidery, but in post-war England it was impossible to get the required amount. More than 10 pearls were bought in America, and they had to pay tax to bring them into the country.
Garlands of flowers were placed throughout the dress. Each of those flowers has its own symbolic meaning:
- fleur-d-orange - a symbol of innocence;
- jasmine - happiness, purity and sincerity;
- the rose is the symbol of England.
The train of thin tulle was embroidered with an incredible amount of pearls and rhinestones. The spikelets symbolized fertility, and the flowers repeated the embroidery on the dress.
There was also a little secret: on the hem of the dress, Hartnell ordered to embroider a small four-leafed leaf for good luck.
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The result exceeded all expectations! A-line dress with a shallow neckline and long sleeves, rather austere and closed, but completely luxurious thanks to its rich embroidery. Fragile Elizabeth looked so tender and happy!
And it doesn't matter that even the princess did the makeup herself! But her wedding was for the nation "a flash of color on the common gray path" (Winston Churchill).
And also a fun fact: when the bride's hair was decorated with a diamond tiara, it broke in half. But everything worked out, it was quickly repaired. Another embarrassment: when the newlyweds took pictures after the ceremony, the bride's bouquet disappeared. Where he went, they did not find out. However, these minor troubles did not prevent the marriage: on November 20, 2020, Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh celebrated the 73rd anniversary of family life.
Original column published on the blog. Bellalavanda on Yandex.Zen.
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