Plant Fair at Doddington this Sunday (20th)
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A dress worn by the Queen’s aunt HRH The Princess Mary when she married in 1922 is included in our wedding dress exhibition which has now opened and runs until 8 September.  Also displayed are 60 other unusual, interesting and historic dresses from differing centuries, decades and cultures. All are beautiful.

 

Princess Mary's dress has always been kept and displayed at her home, Harewood House near Leeds. As well as being aunt to Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Mary was also the great granddaughter of Queen Victoria. We thrilled to have secured such an important dress and be able to share it with you. The exhibition is supported by a grant from Renaissance East Midlands.

 

Princess Mary’s dress was made in 1922 by the British fashion house of Reville of London.  It is an ankle-length silk marquisette slip embroidered with pearls and crystals in a trelliswork of roses over a silver lame underdress.   The girdle is made of pearls and silver with wax flowers, just like the ones on Charlotte Bronte's Victorian wedding bonnet. The sleeves are elbow length, and of embroidered marquisette laid over silk net cap sleeves.  At the time, fashion magazine Vogue described the dress as 'a combination of youthful simplicity and royal splendour'. 

 

The train is the most dramatic component, made of duchess satin woven with silver. The train was also embellished with silver thread embroidery and seed pearls, the emblems of many countries of the Empire decorating the length of the fabric, including the English Rose, Irish shamrock, Scottish thistle, Canadian maple and Indian lotus.   The centre of each lotus blossom was picked out in blue thread to recognise the belief that wedding dresses should contain an area of blue for luck. On the wedding day, the train was bordered with Honiton lace.

 

The dress has a quasi medieval look and, compared to later Royal wedding dresses, it is strikingly simple with its tubular shape and short skirt. It offers a fascinating glimpse of 1920s high society and Royal life.

 

Princess Mary was born at Sandringham, Norfolk, in 1897. Her parents were King George V and Queen Mary; she was the third child and only daughter. Her brother George (later George VI) was Queen Elizabeth II’s father. She married Henry Lascelles, 6^th Earl of Harewood in 1922 when she was 24 and he was 39. They had two sons. Princess Mary’s duties reflected her interests of nursing, the Girl Guide movement and Women’s Services. After her husband’s death in 1947, Princess Mary continued to live at Harewood House. By now her title was Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Countess of Harewood. She passed away in 1965, aged 67.

 

Displaying such an important dress as part of our exhibition is not without its complications! The dress is being displayed on a specially built stand which will protect its delicate fabric from accidental damage and unnecessary light. It has had to be escorted from Harewood House to Doddington by a trained conservator who also oversaw its display and positioning. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stately homes from around Lincolnshire are represented. As well as dresses from the Jarvis family at Doddington including Victoria Jarvis’ 1960s Hardy Amies dress and current owner Claire Birch’s 1986 Droopy & Brown ‘Princess Diana-Inspired’ dress, visitors can see both the wedding dress and wedding kimono belonging to Rie Day of Fulbeck Hall; the white silk Princess-line dress with hand-sown pearls and train later used for christenings worn by Easton Walled Garden’s Lady Ursula Cholmeley and a dress designed by Miss Sara Perceval for the daughter of Shervie Price, owner of Harrington Hall near Spilsby. Also included is the wedding dress gifted to Lady Ursula d’Abo of Belvoir Castle – cited as one of The Queen’s most beautiful Maids of Honour at her Coronation - by the Maharani of Jaipur in 1946/7.

 

Dresses of historical interest are included. As well as dresses similar to those worn by Lady Diana Spencer and Lady Jayne Grey, also secured is the dress worn in 1820 by the illegitimate daughter of George IV, who was just 12 years old when she married. The tiny dress is edged with ribbon and net lace with leg o’mutton sleeves.

 

Unusual & local interest dresses are displayed. These include a black wedding dress, a wedding dress for dogs, a knitted dress and a dress made from Lincolnshire Longwool by a shepherdess. Dresses worn in recent years at weddings held at Doddington Hall will be making a return. Dresses belonging to staff at the Hall have also been loaned, including the Nepalese dress belonging to Gauri Limbu. A 1907 silk dress owned by a lady from Skellingthorpe is included, as is a 1940’s gold silk dress worn at a Horncastle wedding. One Skegness dress was worn twice – firstly in 1947 by Mrs Tebb and then again in 1995 by her granddaughter Nola Shaw. A 1939 dress from Boston will be displayed - made of silk painted with flowers the dress was worn many times afterwards as was the practice in post-war Britain. Another wartime dress, loaned by the Beamish Museum, has a matching gas mask cover.  A 1920s dress has been lent, as have a couple from the 1960s.

 

You can follow curator Fiona Baker’s blog if you wish!