Secrets of the Royal Dressmakers: The Memory Dress Author Reveals What Goes Into Royals' Iconic Looks (Exclusive)

On the occasion of the release of her new novel, A dress to rememberauthor Jade Beer looks at the behind-the-scenes drama and glamor of real dressmakers in the palace.

From the same author as The last dress from Paristhe novel revolves around a dress once worn by Princess Diana, an elderly woman named Meredith who owns it, and her neighbor Jayne who wants to help when Meredith can’t remember where her husband has gone. It is a story about love, intergenerational friendship and a nice peek into the world of royal tailoring.

‘The Memory Dress’ by Jade Beer.

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But the lives and work of real seamstresses are just as fascinating as their fictional counterparts. Here, Beer shares with PEOPLE some of the stories she came across in her research and interviews.

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Catherine Walker and Princess Diana

Probably the most famous and closest working relationship between the great British royal family and their seamstress. The late Walker was fiercely protective of the relationship the two forged during their 16 years together and hired a PR firm to keep her job out press. What began as an invitation from the palace in 1981 asking her to make maternity dresses for the princess — who was then pregnant with Prince William — Walker dressed Diana for more than 20 overseas tours, designing some of her most legendary looks, including the famous ‘ Elvis dress.

Diana, Princess of Wales wears a blue sequined chiffon and lace dress designed by Catherine Walker.

Anwar Hussein/Getty

On Diana’s first tour of Australia in March 1983, she ran out of clothes and Walker received a panicked phone call asking for five more outfits. “There was a tight brief and a deadline of only four days,” Walker said in her book Catherine Walker, Autobiography of a Private Couturier to Diana, Princess of Wales. “Our chief engineer at the time moved into the study over the Easter weekend and slept on the sofa bed…while I worked at the drawing board.”

It wasn’t until Walker was diagnosed with breast cancer that she allowed anyone else to suit Diana. She herself measured the princess only three times during all those years.

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Angela Kelly and Queen Elizabeth II

The Queen’s personal assistant until the monarch’s death, Kelly worked on the “commodore floor” at Buckingham Palace and oversaw her outfits for more than 300 engagements a year. She managed a “materials room” where archival fabrics are stored, tested for creasing and placed under fans to see how they react to strong breezes.

She kept detailed “wardrobe diaries” of what the Queen wore and where to avoid repetition and would diplomatically inform guests of looks to avoid once the Queen’s outfit was decided. She knew the queen’s preferred sleeve length (three-quarter length or full length, never flared around the wrist), that she preferred a two-inch heel, handbags with longer handles, and that she wouldn’t wear a hat after 6 p.m.

Queen Elizabeth II before the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games.

JOHN STILLWELL/AFP/Getty

Kelly oversaw the production of two identical dresses (one for Her Majesty’s stunt double) for the 2012 Olympics as the Queen appeared to be parachuting into the Olympic Stadium with James Bond. Both dresses never expired in storage at the same time, so that even the Queen’s family would be surprised by the trick.

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Jenny Packham and the Princess of Wales

Dressing Princess Kate, the future Queen of England, is very different from dressing in Hollywood, when pieces are usually sourced from vintage fashion archives or hot off the catwalk and never seen on another famous body. Not so with Kate, who orders from the current collections before the dresses are made to measure for her. Jenny’s insistence that the entire creative process — including pattern cutting — be in-house allows for complete discretion.

Her private cellar in Mayfair with a hidden garden below the main showroom is where the bridal collections are displayed and is ideal for secret meetings. This may explain why Kate often wore looks from Jenny’s wedding collection, most notably the Aspen and Wonder dresses.

It can be months between Kate ordering a dress and wearing it – even if it’s been seen on a high-profile celebrity. Wearing the right clothes for a certain occasion and time trumps any need to be the first to be seen in something.

Princess Kate and Angelina Jolie in two versions of the same dress.

LEFTERS PITARAKIS/AFP via Getty; Kevin Winter/Getty

Angelina Jolie wore Jenny’s red Grecian-style one-shoulder dress in May 2011, before Kate wore a silver version in November of the same year. Her spring/summer 2011 catwalk pearl and rose sequin dress was worn by Blair Waldorf in the episode Gossip Girl the same year, before Kate wore it again in 2016.

And keen fashion watchers will note that Princess Kate wore the Goldfinger dress at the world premiere No time to die 2021 (and now in the 2023 bridal collection) was similar to the Bruce Oldfield dress Diana wore to the premiere A look to kill in 1985.

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Stuart Parvin and Queen Elizabeth II

Parvin designed for the late queen for more than 20 years, starting in 2000, when he made her a yellow wool shantung coat and matching dress without ever seeing her measurements. She used a photo of herself with that look as a picture sent to the public on their wedding anniversaries. “She loved my signature sharp shoulder,” he tells Beer.

Queen Elizabeth II in Stuart Parvin’s ensemble.

Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty

Making his first evening gown for the Queen was equally challenging. Parvin was given three weeks to design and make a dress that would take some designers six months to make. “They were missing an evening dress for a state banquet in Jamaica,” he says. The palace chose the fabric, “powder blue lace embroidered with cobwebs, set on silk crepe. It had an asymmetric chiffon drape that concealed the cleavage that allowed her to walk easily. It was on every cover, everywhere in the world and ended up being a very worn dress.”

His drafts were always sent to the Queen in full color and were faxed back to him with handwritten notes explaining any changes. “She chose the look according to the sketches, not like most people, according to the rails.” Editing was limited to one two-hour visit to the palace to finalize four or five looks, which were then tested under different lights to ensure they photographed well. Parvin ordered his fabrics from Joel & Son who are known for very small quantities of one design, to ensure exclusivity. Almost all of Parvin’s hats were made by Rachel Trevor-Morgan, who would cook the colors in a pot until the exact shade was achieved.

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Bruce Oldfield and Princess Diana

“She wanted the glamor that we could give her. And she got it,” Oldfield wrote in his autobiography, Rootless who dressed Diana for 10 years, starting in 1982. Her rehearsals at Kensington Palace always took place when she wasn’t picking up her children from school. “Then she would give us an hour and a half—enough for three rehearsals, coffee and conversation… She disliked pomposity and used to call me ‘oily Oldfield’ when I was particularly cuddly… however friendly she was, she was never quite failed the royal front.”

Princess Diana with three-month-old Harry.

Alamy

Oldfield created some of her signature looks: the blue dress she wore to Prince Harry’s christening, a red and white suit to meet the Reagans at the White House, and a red evening dress for a birthday ball in 1985.

“She would look for a mirror, worried that her shoulder pads were too big or her skirts too short… these anxieties and the constraints of protocol meant that while she was the most fantastic advertisement for us, there was also something of a double-edged sword about her dressing. .”

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A dress to remember by Jade Beer is on sale now, wherever books are sold.

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Source: HIS Education