Fashion is Political – the Legacy of Georgian Power Dressing

Historic Royal Palaces Podcast

Historic Royal Palaces

London, Palace, Tower, Historic, Conservation, Royal, Lecture, Learning, Kensington, Hampton, Kew, Banqueting, History, Court, Of, House, Palaces

4.6 • 635 Ratings

🗓️ 18 May 2023

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

From Beyoncé to Billie Eilish, fashion is undeniably personal and political. But the legacy of harnessing fashion as a tool for power and representation goes back to the 18th century and beyond. In this episode Curators Matthew Story, Polly Putnam and Claudia Acott-Williams celebrate the joy of fashion as a symbol of identity at the Georgian Court, and its importance on the Red Carpet today.

This is the second episode in a series where we’re celebrating fashion, identity and the opening of our new exhibition at Kensington Palace called Crown to Couture.

For tickets to Crown to Couture at Kensington Palace go to:

https://www.hrp.org.uk/kensington-palace/whats-on/crown-to-couture/

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome back to the Historic Royal Palaces podcast, the podcast that tells the history
0:06.7	and stories of our six palaces. My name is Matthew Story. I'm a curator here at the palaces,
0:12.1	and today we have the second episode in the series where we're celebrating fashion, identity,
0:17.0	and the opening of our new exhibition at Kensington Palace called Crown to Couture.
0:22.9	Crown to Couture explores the parallels between the 18th century Georgian Court and today's red carpet,
0:29.0	how getting ready in the 18th century for court really wasn't that different from how celebrities
0:33.5	are styled and prepared for the red carpet today.
0:37.3	Just like last time, I'm joined by two of my favourite colleagues,
0:40.7	Polly Putnam and Claudia Aikort Williams.
0:43.3	Polly and Claudia are the curators on the team
0:45.8	that have brought the Crown to Couture exhibition to life at Kensington Palace.
0:49.8	And I'm thrilled that they are joining us today.
0:52.3	Thanks for being here again with me.
0:54.1	Thanks, Matthew. Thanks for having us again with me. Thanks, Matthew.
0:55.0	Thanks for having us again.
0:56.4	When you go around a historic property like one of our palaces,
1:00.2	you see the interiors, the paintings, the furniture,
1:03.8	but I always think the missing piece of the spectacle is what people wore in those spaces.
1:08.3	And I love now that we're in the situation where fashion exhibitions in museums or heritage spaces are now blockbusters.
1:16.0	It feels like we're putting that missing piece of the jigsaw in place.
1:21.6	And I think it's a great thing that in recent years, fashion history has taken its proper place in museums and in people's consciousness.
1:32.3	Claudia, I mean, what can a fashion show tell us about the past?
	...

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