WHAT?  Style & Society: Dressing the Georgians 

WHERE?  The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace , London SW1A 1AA

WHEN? Now until 8th October (check opening days)

WHY GO? For a glimpse of Georgian society.  From the fashionable crowds in St. James’s Park to intimate tete-a-tetes in grand drawing rooms, Georgians liked to show off their finery.  And where better to display this magnificent exhibition of Georgian style, but in the ornate Buckingham Palace art gallery where 200 artworks from the Royal Collection have been cleverly curated to illustrate how significant fashion was at all levels in society.

It’s a glorious romp through an era of opulence, with paintings, grooming kits and full-on frocks and offers a chance to get up close and personal with everyone who was anyone in Georgian society painted by famous artists like Gainsborough, Hogarth and Zoffany. 

Who wore what and why, from aristocrats to ladies’ maids who acquired the hand-me-downs, nothing was wasted and everything repurposed. 

Given that it could take 15 hours a day for a year to produce enough lace for one sleeve flounce, that’s hardly surprising!

Fashion, says the excellent audio guide (a must) acts as a barometer for what is happening in the world, it did then and probably still does now.

IN THE KNOW  Even the most Regal of Georgians recycled prized textiles. Queen Charlotte, married to George lll, fashionably epitomised the era and repurposed remnants from an old dress to cover her precious book of psalms which is on show for the first time.  Waste not, want not !