The Times British Royal Fashion
£23.80£28.50 (-16%)
Long before Lady Diana’s couture of revenge took the world by storm, or Princess Anne cemented herself as a Gen Z icon, there has been a well-documented fascination with members of the Royal Family and the significance behind their style.
The Times has been documenting this fascination for more than 200 years – from the early Regency period to modern day – and has borne witness to the evolution of the Crown’s carefully curated public image.
With access to the rich history of The Times archive, this authoritative account peels back the layers of silk and chiffon to re-examine the royals who captured the public imagination through their inimitable style.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Times Books (26 Oct. 2023) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Hardcover | 304 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 0008651086 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0008651084 |
| Dimensions | 19.5 x 2.4 x 23.6 cm |
by Wizhi
If you are a royal enthusiast, or know someone who is, this book is worth getting for the photography alone. Also for the wonderful journalistic style, where pictures are accompanied by text written across the years by correspondents, it has a very nostalgic feel to it, historic writing sits side by side with contemporary understanding.
It is arranged by theme, such as weddings, colour, glamour, power etc. indicating how the royals dressed for occasions and how the clothes meant so much more than style and fashion. Of course there are details about the tailoring and the fabrics and the designers, but the overall feeling is of how fashion is and was utilised by the monarchy to achieve their goals and aspirations.
Beautiful and intriguing, this is a book you can dip in and out of over many different sittings. 5 stars.
by The Review Chimp
So I’m not a Royalist, I don’t believe anyone should “rule” over anyone else such as it were, BUT, you cannot deny the impact the Royal Family has had on the country and on the world stage.
My wife, however, is very much into the Royal Family. In fact, I have taken her to Buckingham Palace (they open their doors every so often), to the Royal Mews, and Royal galleries, and all sorts. I may not be a Royalist, but I’m not about to impose my views on people who are, and, if I’m honest, these places are utterly fascinating from a historical point of view.
So Buckingham Place has displays of what the late Queen has worn on their State Visits, and the like, alongside outfits from other senior Royals. This book essentially puts into print Royal fashion, and is packed full of photos from yesteryear and right up to the modern times – you’ll find Kate in there too.
It is a beautifully presented book (it is by The Times after all) and is definitely one for fans of the Royals and in particular of Royal fashion, it’s just a shame the book was damaged either in transit or in storage and just thrown in a box with other items.
by Lisa Loves Literature
My mum is a big fan of the royals, particularly older royals that she remembers from being a child. She has found this book fascinating and is really enjoying the beautiful glossy images in black and white and colour.
There’s a huge amount of information about each image and the spectacular clothing that royals have worn over the last couple of centuries.
This is a heavyweight hardback that feels really good quality and would make a lovely gift for any royal fan.
by PootleFlump
The history of fashion within the Royal Family is a rich subject and this book contains some beautiful photos from across the years. Most of it is obviously taken from the photographic era and centres around the women, and much of the text is taken from Times articles from the time the outfit was worn. There were some beautiful photographs and I enjoyed the text but, if anything, it felt a little lacking in depth. That is hardly surprising – the fashion of each of the women featured (especially Queen Elizabeth II, Diana, Kate, the Duchess of Windsor) could easily fill a book alone and it would be impossible to go into any particular detail over such a vast subject. It’s a lovely book to look at, though, and has a lot of good information so it’s an excellent general history of the subject.
by Hopper
A fabulous book for anyone interested in the Royal Family and fashion. There are a huge number of photos in the book which span across the ages, since photography came into its own, and has a wonderful range of images from all the eras. The contents is in an inspiring order, rather than chronological which I was expecting, it’s in themes and genres so you can easily see how fashion and history has evolved at key milestones. There is some detailed explanatory guidance with each photo, though it’s not overwhelming, but just helps immerse you in the images themselves. It certainly doesn’t go too far in depth on anything but for me there’s so much to look at and consider, if it had too much more information in it, it would be too much (and the book would be too heavy). Highly recommended.
by T. Russell
There’s an interesting difference between senior and junior Royals which this book clearly demonstrates: senior royals adopt a style, and look smart, whereas junior royals lack style and, all too often, good taste. The modern members of the family do themselves no favours as many of these pictures show. ‘Royal fashion’ is very much an oxymoron;’ ‘royal fads’ however are abundant, as the pictures of Princess Marina demonstrate, and these fads were adopted by women of all classes – the Kinks song ‘She’s bought a hat like Princess Marina’s’ reflects reality. As regards the photographs, they include a couple of pictures of the Duchess of Windsor which show her in well-cut clothes which show how attractive she could be, whereas her usual style did her no favours. There are also some stunning pictures of Margaret from her glamorous days before her life was destroyed by stuffy protocol. An attractively produced book which will appeal to anyone interested in costume (or the Royal family) but may disappoint those interested in fashion.
by Arlene Jane Dawson
My daughter is an avid follower of fashion and loves anything to do with the royals.
As you would expect from the Times the pictures are excellent and the historical information accurate.
Great coffee table book for anyone with an interest in the subject