Camilla, Queen Consort, Wears Bruce Oldfield for the Coronation of King Charles III
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LONDON — And the queen wore a Bruce Oldfield couture dress to the coronation of her husband, King Charles III.
Queen Camilla wore a white gown with gold details to match her husband’s white robes. She wore the same necklace that Queen Elizabeth II wore for her own coronation in 1953. The necklace was made by Garrard and presented to Queen Victoria in 1858.
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“I am honored to have been asked to design such an historic gown for Her Majesty. This really is the most important commission of my life. Very exciting and very special,” Bruce Oldfield told WWD.
“I have been designing outfits for the queen for over a decade now. The coronation dress is a style and silhouette that Her Majesty likes very much and it is sophisticated and appropriate for an occasion of grandeur such as this.
“An interesting element of the gown is that it reflects a more fluid and modern representation of the king and the queen consort’s affection for nature and the British countryside. I think it is always a good idea to look back at history — not just to the late Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation gown, but to those before her as well, which I did,” he added.
Camilla’s crimson velvet robe was originally made for Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.
Her gown was made in Battersea, London made to imitate a coat dress. The dress features an embroidered underskirt underneath and was made from Peau de Soie, a silk fabric.
The embellishments on the dress includes garlands of abstract wildflowers from fields and hedgerows; daisy chains; forget-me-nots; celandine and scarlet pimpernel to represent Camilla and Charles’ love for nature.
A rose, a thistle, a daffodil and a shamrock are embroidered onto the front hem of the underskirt and the cuffs to represent the four nations of the U.K.
Camilla’s shoes were made by Eliot Zed from the same silk fabric as her dress.
Bruce Oldfield is a royal family favorite who used to make clothing for Princess Diana. In March, the British media had speculated that Queen Consort Camilla would chose him to design her dress on the big day.
Fashion-wise, the Queen Consort has never drifted from her sensible uniform of below-the-knee dresses and traditionally muted evening gowns, but once in a while she will mark the occasion with a big designer name.
She appears to be taking a page out of her late mother-in-law’s style book, forging a signature look that’s meant to outlive runway trends. She’s never been one to hop from brand to brand — her trusted rotation of labels includes Burberry, Dior, Roy Allen, Anna Valentine and Fiona Clare.
At last year’s Trooping the Colour parade, she wore a blue ribbon-effect coat and dress by Bruce Oldfield.
“That’s why royal women will keep going back to someone like Bruce Oldfield because he really understands how to dress them for the bodies and for the occasions that they need outfits for,” said Bethan Holt, author of “The Queen: 70 Years of Majestic Style” and “The Duchess of Cambridge: A Decade of Modern Royal Style,” in an interview with WWD.
“That’s the mark of a great British designer, someone who can take their own ego out of it, and just ultimately create beautiful clothes which make women feel great,” she added.
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