THE QUEEN'S ROBE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1192, 29 July 1911, Page 11

THE QUEEN'S ROBE.

BRITISH MANUTACTUEB,

The Queen's robe for,the Coronation is a'triumph of.tho designer's ami dressmakart (says, an English correspondent). It is not only beautiful in general effect, bat splendidly, achioves the special object of, introducing a number of natioual and Imperial emblems into tho • design . without any sacrifice of grace or elegance. The dress, appeals to tha beholder as an exquisite Wending of two separate parts—

the dress proper and the robe which completes it. The dress is of the Princess type (with skirt and bodice in one piece), and the skirt has a moderately long train of its own. But over the skirt train is the magnificent robe which, depending from the shoulders, stretches for 18ft. Her Majesty has a tall, commanding figure, but even so there will be well over four yards of trail when tho robe is worn. The Princess dress is of deep ivory duchess satin, made in England by tho Queen's special command and desire. The weaversof the fabric are Messrs. Warner, , of Braintree, and the county of Essex has every reason to feel proud of the production. Certainly ijo foreign looms could have woven more exquisitely beautiful eatin; The design and making of the dress were entrusted to Messrs. Reville and Rossiter, of Hanover Square, but tho embroidery was done by the ladies of the Princess Louise Needlework School in Sloane Street.

.£xquisito' Embroidery. . This embroidery is truly wonderful work, and shows up all tho more effectually because of the simplicity of the stylo of gown upon which it is placed. The pattern introduces the English rose, the Scottish thistle, tho Irish shamrock, the Star of India, the lotus lily of India, and English oak leaves and acorns. All theso emblems aro worked in finest gold thread, and in order to produce the desired effects of light and shade, eight or ten different threads have been used, and tho blending of theso is carried out with the utmost skill.

The lower edge or border of tho design, almost corresponding with the edge of tho skirt, is of oak leaves and acorns. Above this is a band of gold embroidery, cunningly -worked so as to simulato water, meant to represent "Seas of Empire," upon which float lotus lilies. The water .band and its oak leaf edging extend completely round the skirt. Springing from the upper edge of the "Seas of Empire" band are representations of the stems of roses and thistles rising towards and culminating in a magnificent Tudor rose at the centre <A the corsage. Widely separated at their bases, the stems bend gracefully inward, and at intervals blooms are thrown out.

The frontal design is reproduced on tho back of tho skirt, although almost totally concealed when the robe or outer train is in position. The bodice is cut very Jon , , and is edged with gold shamrocks. Tho sleeves are short—reaching barely to tho elbows—and have "V" shaped openings oil their outer sides, tho two sections of each sleeve thus formed being caught together by huge thistles worked in tho finest of gold thread. Beautiful Lace. The low cut of the bodice gives ample room for the introduction of a tucker of most exquisite lace, which is inset in two layers. Filmy hand-made lace of fine gold thread exactly similar to that upon the bodice is used for trimming the sleeves, which are bordered with tiny oak leaves.

The > material of the robe, or larger train, is silk velvet, which was woven by Messrs. Warner at their Sudbury factory, and the utmost enro was taken to secure the true royal shade of purple. The design for the robe is by Messrs. Wilkinson, of Conduit Street, and that of its embroidery comes from the Princess Louise SvXqoJ, The embroidery, is in

gold thread, as in the case of the dress, and the idea of the introduction of national emblems has been adhered to.

Fully extended tho robo measures- sis yards by a yard and a half. The rose, shamrock, and thistle nre cleverly blended upon this superb train, the ornamentations being somewhat sparse on tho depending section of the dobe, but gradually becoming closer and more harmonised from tho ground-level outirnrdx culminating in a most elaborate and effective- design, with a crown abovo tho Queen' 9 monogram for a centre-piece. With such artistic skill has tho pure gold thread been worked into tho velvet that the "M" and tho crown appear to be super-imposed upon a delicate framework of shamrock leaves. This exquisito central feature of the design is enclosed by roses and thistles, tho leaves and blooms of which are all wrought in the gold thread except the tips of the thistle blooms, into which fine silk thread has been introduced, giving a most realistic representation of the delicate purple tinga to be found on the fully-opened natural bloom.

Ermine Lining. j The odgo of the embroidery comprises rose medallions connected by chains of oak leaves and acorns. The whole border is outlined on its inner face by representations of tender oak sprays just bursting into bud, and on its outer face by a plain, narrow band of gold lace. The effect of all this elaborate gold work upon the rich purple ground is superb. The robe is lined throughout its whole length, with ermine, and for every white skin used to form the lining there is the tiny black tail of tho animal. To cover so large an area many hundreds of skins were required, and care was taken to secure only the best. The ermine lining is much wider than the robe, and this arrangement allows a deep turning to form an effective outer edge to the velvet. Thus the whole underside of the great train is of ermine, and its upper surface a mass of purple and gold, bordered by ermine. The cap.e, which is of regulation shape and depth (about eighteen

inches down from the shoulders), is also of ermine.

Tho shoes which her Majesty wore with this splendid Coronation gown were of white kid, embroidered in gold, to match tho dress, and in a similar design. Formerly it was tho custom for a Queen to robe at the Abhey for her Coronation, but her Mujesty wore the dress above described from Buckingham Palace, and appeared alike to spectators on both journeys, except that on her return sho wore her crown.

Mrs. Smith, furrier, Windsor Buildings, Willis Street, desires to intimate that sho will shortly bo closing for the summer months, and that all goods are being sold at remarkably low figures.

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