Royal Fashion Friday: The Young Queen Victoria

For today’s feature on Royal Fashion, we’ll take a look at some of the gowns worn by England’s Queen Victoria (1819 – 1901).

1842 painting of ‘The Young Queen Victoria’ by Franz Xavier Winterhalter (1806-1873).

Queen Victoria reigned for 63 years and seven months, the longest ever for any British monarch. The Victorian period was marked with significant progress across many different aspects of English life. The movie, ‘The Young Victoria’, which is set for release in the U.K. on March 6, 2009, was based on Queen Victoria’s early reign, and her legendary marriage to and romance with her husband Prince Albert.

Photography was still in its infancy during the reign of Queen Victoria. We are lucky that, in addition to paintings and drawings, a few photographs have survived to give us an idea of the gowns that were in fashion in royal court at the time.

Commemorative photograph of the newly-weds Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, ca 1854 (unknown photographer)

‘The Marriage of Queen Victoria, 10 February 1840’, painting by Sir George Hayter, ca 1840-42 (Commissioned by Queen Victoria)

Mid-19th century gowns were replete with lace and ribbons. The voluminous skirts and elegant silhouettes were achieved through layers of heavy petticoats and underclothes, metal hoops and corsets. The gowns were accessorized with lavish collars, elegant gloves, hats and parasols.

The costumes in the movie, ‘The Young Victoria’, were designed by Academy Award winning Sandy Powell. Among the dresses worn by actress Emily Blunt, who plays the young queen, are a yellow silk taffeta gown and cornflower blue silk dress with antique lace around the neck and sleeves. You can get a peek at these beautiful gowns at the movie’s official site.

These costumes, and other items used in the movie, are on exhibit at Blenheim Palace and Belvoir Castle, which also served as sets during filming. The exhibit at Blenheim Palace opened last February 14, 2009 and will run until March 31 (exhibit information here). The exhibit at Belvoir Castle is from February 27 to March 8, 2009 and will include the bed that Queen Victoria used during a visit there (information here). Guides will be on hand at each location to provide information to visitors.

public domain images (copyright expired). sources: (top) Osborne House, Isle of Wight; (middle) unknown; (bottom) The Royal Collection