6 tips on how to dress for royal occasions, so far from royal history

On the way to a Buckingham Palace Garden Party, an investment in Windsor Castle or a state dinner next to Royals and want to know what to wear?

The curator of a new exhibition in Princess Diana's former homeland has some answers.

The historical Royal Palaces curator Matthew Storey, Matthew Storey, is available using some of the outfits of the show on March 13th in Kensington Palace, how to go to the people, such as history and congress – and some written rules.

Storey says that he and his team have been looking for an imaginative way of presenting some of the 10,000 objects according to which the historical royal palaces are cultivated for the charity, and they decided on the subject of the clothing rules. Although the rules “could appear quite dark, they are actually related to something that we can all understand because we all get dressed every morning,” Storey says to the people.

“We often fight to mark certain moments in our lives,” he says. “And that impressed me as a topic with which everyone could relate and also express who we are, in which life we ​​are in.”

So you brought together a selection of clothes that were worn by Royals and others to show how conventions and rules have developed. When she lived there with her sons Prince William and Prince Harry, three dresses from Diana became famous, including a dress by Green Silk and Tuxedo style by Catherine Walker. There are also some of the Princess Margaret, who was based in Kensington Palace, the younger sister of the late Queen Elizabeth, who died in 2002. (Another highlight is a few Liberty flower dresses who wore the two young princesses in 1936.))

Here are some of Storey's pointer:

Do it right for culture and attitude

Princess Diana's scarlet silk and embroidered Bruce Oldfield dress, which she wore privately in Saudi -Arabia in 1987, “shows how beautiful Diana understood the rules of the royal dressing,” says Storey.

Official visits to overseas are one of the most important activities that members of the royal family perform, says Storey. The full length dress is “beautifully decorated, so it's absolutely perfect for evening clothes.”

“You have to think about practical things like the weather and climate and the kind of activities that you will do. All of this is planned in advance, but you also have to think about the culture of the country. So it is also a form of diplomacy through dress, ”he adds.

“She had to show respect for the culture of the Middle East. And there they also have the high neckline and the long sleeves, “he continues.” So it is also modest. ”

“Diana comes from a teenager who grows up in the country who was not very interested in clothing and enters public life when she becomes a member of the royal family and works with the best British design to dress for her new life,” says Storey. “This shows how perfect it does.”

Adaptation to rules for investments – with a turn.

Designer Vivienne Westwood made some brave additions to the written code for her day dress when she was appointed a lady in the palace in 2006. “It corresponds to the code in the invitation to wear the day dress. But it does it in her own way,” says Storey.

“But she also does it in her own way. So the design of the dress has this deconstructed punk look. She also wears this incredible hat on the back of the head, which has an AR who relates to its active resistance to propaganda campaign.

“So she goes to the palace, which refers to a communist revolutions -che Guevara with a badge that she refers to her campaign.”

“So she sends her political message when she does, and she was also fabulous subversive because she carried her with a tiara that has two little devil horns on her temples.”

Follow the written rules

An Annie Lady Holcroft was worn in 1928 when she was presented in court in 1928 by Annie Lady Holcroft. This custom was “usually connected to younger women who came to adult life and society for the first time. But Annie Lady Holcroft was about 59 or 60 when she wore this dress,” explains Storey.

Lady Holcroft went through the ceremony because she wanted to present her daughter to court – and that could only be done by someone who was also presented.

In the meantime, the clothing worn by the elites on the courtyard were “regulated and codified,” says Storey. “This shows the jump between the 18th century and what happened in the 19th century to bring it into the early 20th century. She would have to wear clothes that complied with written regulations, and these regulations could have been seen in a book mentioned by Lord Chamberlain's Office Dress worn by the courtyard. “”

The rules that they – and their daughter – followed were an evening dress on a train that had to be attached to the shoulders and their hair, which contained the “Three Strauss feathers in a prince of Wales”. She had to wear gloves and wear a bouquet or a fan – she chose the latter. Everything would be checked too.

“It could not have been admitted if her clothes do not meet the two regulations,” added Storey.

Get admission to clothing through prosperity

The judicial action from the 18th^TH Century is the oldest piece in the exhibition and comes from a time before the written rules for certain codes. The polite, royal society was ruled by conventions.

“Wearing the right clothes takes you through the door and then you get all these networking opportunities to meet the right people, to see and see and, if you are lucky, get access to the king's king and ear,” says Storey.

“It sounds egalitarian as if someone could wear the right clothes and go in. But in fact the right clothing was so expensive that it is not an egalitarian at all. Only the people who could afford to dress properly and to really dress the knowledge. ”

This suit consists of elf pond that was brocated with silver metal threads and completed with tiny ivory, pink, green and black “sponia” plugs. There were also thin blue silk tapes broken out. The unusual cuffs were decorated with three buttons and cream -colored silk network sleeves.

This “beautifully embroidered, cut coat is the right style, but it is also the right extent,” says Storey. “It literally has silver thread, real silver, woven through the fabrics. They wear money so effectively when you wear it. And then with metallic embroidery. ”

“It is about showing their wealth and position in society in order to gain access.”

Can't you get enough of People's Royals reporting? Register for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates for Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!

Adaptation to royal celebrations

Storey and his team did not want the show to be as good as members of the royal family or their servants. So he presented some of the public. “Everyone can use clothes to participate or feel part of a royal occasion,” he says.

They chose the clothes of a young girl by Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 in red, white and blue with some of the scenes from the highly expected crowning glory in the center of London.

“The crowning glory was an optimistic moment after the Second World War and the years of rationing and austerity measures that existed next to him. Now a young queen came to the throne,” says Storey. “It has a nice little freezing along the skirt that shows the coronation procession, the queen on the throne, the Westminster Abbey and the Buckingham Palace.”

The dress showed how it was when it might dress up for a street party or something to be part of this great royal event, “he adds.” The patriotic pictures and red, white and blue are the codes there. ”

Merry dress can be continued for years after death

Queen Alexandras Chiffon and top dress from Claire Collins were worn in 1911 or 1912 at the Royal Ascot Race Meeting.

“In the codes of the 19th and the warning of the early 20th century, they had different stages of mourning clothing,” says Storey. Immediately after a mourning, it would be black. Some, like Queen Victoria, could choose to continue this for the rest of her life.

“But they could also go into the half -time, and there they wear white, mauves and shades of gray. Or you can wear normal clothes in any color again, ”says Storey.

Queen Alexandra, who lost her son Prince Albert Victor in 1892, wore these half -contained colors of white, Mauve Gray and Schwarz for the rest of her life (although she wore gold in her crowning glory). “These steamed colors are what she tends to show her emotions and devastation after the loss of your son from 1892,” says Storey.

Tickets for the dress code exhibition at Kensington Palace from March 13 to November 30, 2025 are available here.