Inside the Royal Wardrobe: A Dress History of Queen Alexandra

Queen Alexandra's clothing was used to create images of herself as a wife, mother, and royal, revealing a shrewd and socially aware woman attuned to the popular power of royal dress. More than 130 garments from her wardrobe survive, and the book examines their relationships to issues such as body politics, power, celebrity, social identity, and performance.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 192 pages
Publication date: 10 January 2019
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Queen Alexandra, a wife, mother, and royal figure, used clothing to create images of herself that portrayed her as a wife, mother, and royal. She played a significant role in Britain alongside her husband, Edward VII, and lived her life through fashion. Inside the Royal Wardrobe challenges the common perception of Alexandra as a shallow and disregarded queen by examining the surviving garments of Princess Alexandra of Wales, who later became Queen Consort, to reveal a rich tapestry of royal dress and society in the second half of the 19th century. More than 130 extraordinary garments from Alexandra's wardrobe have survived, ranging from sumptuous court dress and politicized fancy dress to mourning attire and elegant coronation gowns. These garments can be found in various collections around the world, including London, Oslo, Denmark, New York, Toronto, and Tokyo. Curator and fashion scholar Kate Strasdin places these garments at the center of this in-depth study, exploring their relationships to issues such as body politics, power, celebrity, social identity, and performance. Through an object-based methodology, the book incorporates a diverse range of original sources, including letters, travel journals, newspaper editorials, wardrobe accounts, memoirs, tailors' ledgers, and business records. It reveals a shrewd and socially aware woman who was attuned to the popular power of royal dress. This work will appeal to students and scholars of costume, fashion, and dress history, as well as material culture and 19th century history.

Weight: 460g
Dimension: 157 x 233 x 13 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781350102347