***The Museum***


This past Friday, I had the rare opportunity to view the interior of Buckingham Palace. The Queen is on vacation somewhere, and the 19 state rooms are currently on display for the general public (at a rather hefty price!). But what I really desired to see was a special exhibit of the Queen's evening gowns. It was included in the tour of the state rooms, so luckily, I was able to view it.

When I first walked into the room and saw all of the gowns, I was completely overwhelmed and I actually got a little teary-eyed. There were glittering dresses of every hue, sorted by color. To the left, a gorgeous collection of blues; past that canary yellows; then pinks, reds, greens, and on and on! It was a vintage lover's dream come true. Never in my life have I seen so many amazing gowns.... but it makes sense, because honestly how could it get any better than the gowns of the Queen of England? I took in every detail, laughing at how the Queen has changed shape considerably since 1947 (the oldest dress on display, a red velvet number) from hourglass to rectangle. It was also amusing to see that even the Queen was affected by tiedye in the 1970s- why her designer thought it a good idea to incorporate it into an evening gown, I'll never understand.

It may seem highly materialistic that I get so excited about "a bunch of old dresses", as a friend put it. But to me, they're not just dresses, they're history, and I find it fascinating how styles and trends have changed through the years, and how they even affect someone in power like Queen Elizabeth. The dresses mark certain important events; she was rarely allowed to wear them twice. Each one was crafted with exquisite detail, even with elements of the country she may have been visiting- something like a national flower or symbol, to show respect and admiration for that particular country. In addition, there are gowns in the exhibit that mark special dates in the Queen's personal life; what she wore when crowned, what she wore for her official photograph, what she wore at her son's weddings, and on and on. That's why these gowns are important to preserve- because they're not just dresses; they're a special piece of pop culture and world history, and one woman's personal history in one.