Skirt

This skirt is part of a ballgown created by Dior for Princess Margaret (1930-2002) in 1951 (see also 68.6/2a and 68.6/2c). The skirt has seven layers: the innermost is made of silk, covered by three layers of stiffened net and two layers of organza on the outside with an additional asymmetric, embroidered organza front panel. The many layers are ingeniously gathered into a 550 mm waist. Originally white, the organza – like many gauze fabrics – has darkened over the years. The embroidery consists of straw, mother-of-pearl shapes and spangles made of wood pulp, gelatine and metal.

The relationship of the Queen’s younger sister with Dior contributed to her rise to a major fashion icon towards the end of the 1940s. When Dior first presented his New Look in Paris, on 12 February 1947, Princess Margaret and her sister Princess Elizabeth were en route to South Africa, their first trip abroad. The Princess soon altered her garments to fit the new style with its nipped-in waist and wide, long skirts. Two years later, on 27 April 1949, Princess Margaret set out for her first continental holiday, visiting Italy, Switzerland and Paris. In between sightseeing in the French capital the Princess found time to visit several couturiers including Jean Dessès, Jacques Fath, Molyneux and Christian Dior. This lead to the first Dior order from the Princess, who acquired a strapless ballgown of tulle with a large satin bow at the back, which she later remembered as her ‘favourite dress of all’.

In the spring of 1950, the Princess ordered another ball gown from the French couture house, from the ‘Oblique’ line. It is said that on this occasion Dior enquired whether Her Royal Highness felt more like a gold or silver person. The Princess chose gold which has been rendered into embroidery in an unexpected way. The main materials are distinctly dull raffia and sequins made of wood pulp covered in straw, however supplemented with sparkling metal sequins, rhinestones and mother-of-pearl shapes. The Princess chose the gown for her official 21st century photographs taken by Cecil Beaton. She first wore it at her birthday party in Balmoral in August 1951 but soon found a grander occasion. On 21 November, Princess Margaret attended a charity ball in Paris in her Cinderella dress, dancing to Cole Porter’s ‘Night and Day’.

Princess Margaret ordered further garments from the designer (one is now in the Fashion Museum in Bath). She probably last met Christian Dior at a charity fashion show at Blenheim Palace in 1954, three years before the couturier's untimely death. The Princess kept her ballgown for seventeen years before donating it to the then London Museum in 1968 together with the Norman Hartnell dress she wore to Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953. At that point the museum was based at Kensington Palace, the home of Princess Margaret after her wedding in 1960.

For further information about Princess Margaret’s relationship with Dior, see Beatrice Behlen, ‘”Does Your Highness feel like a gold person or a silver one?” Princess Margaret and Dior’, Costume, vol. 46, no. 1, 2012, pp. 55-74.