Style & Society: Dressing the Georgians
The King’s Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse
22 March – 22 September 2024
Reopening under its new name of The King’s Gallery, the art gallery at the Palace of Holyroodhouse relaunches its exhibition programme with Style & Society: Dressing the Georgians, exploring life in 18th-century Britain through the fashions of the day.
It will be the 40th exhibition to be held in the Gallery since it opened in 2002 and the first in 18 months while the Gallery underwent essential maintenance works. A new scheme of £1 tickets, available to those receiving Universal Credit and other named benefits, will launch with the opening of the exhibition.
Style & Society: Dressing the Georgians will bring together almost 100 works from the Royal Collection, including paintings, prints and drawings by artists such as Thomas Gainsborough, William Hogarth and their contemporaries.
At the heart of the exhibition will bea selection ofsurviving period clothing and accessories, alongside paintings showing comparable items. Together, these works will build up a layer-by-layer picture of what the Georgians wore – from the functional dress of laundry maids to the glittering gowns suitable for court – between the accession of George I in 1714 and the death of George IV in 1830.
After a successful run in London, new additions have been made with distinctly Scottish links. These include two depictions of George IV by Fife-born artist Sir David Wilkie, painted to mark the first visit by a reigning monarch to Scotland in almost 200 years.
In the largest of these, the King stands proud in full Highland dress of Royal Stewart tartan, making a statement of unity with the monarch portrayed as heir to both the Hanoverians and the Jacobites following over a century of conflict. Also on display is a portrait by Louis Gabriel Blanchet of Bonnie Prince Charlie, showing the Jacobite leader as a defiant prince.
The 18th century was a period of discovery, with new inventions influencing fashion accessories. Imagery on fans – which could be revealed and concealed – gave women an opportunity to participate in topical conversations from which they might otherwise be excluded.
A French fan from 1783 depicts the second successful manned flight of a hot air balloon with a central vignette showing the balloon flying above Paris – to the delight of elegantly dressed crowds below.
Other accessories on display will include a miniature of Queen Charlotte, rings from her famed jewellery collection and jewel-encrusted snuffboxes.
From the introduction of military uniforms to the evolution of childrenswear and developments in haircare, and with notable loans from Historic Royal Palaces, the Fashion Museum Bath, The Bowes Museum, and The School of Historical Dress, this exhibition will explore what fashion can tell us about all areas of life in Georgian Britain.
As part of Royal Collection Trust’s charitable aim to ensure that as many people as possible can access and enjoy the Collection, the organisation is proud to launch a new scheme of £1 tickets for the exhibition, available to those receiving Universal Credit and other named benefits.
In addition to £1 tickets, The King’s Gallery will continue to offer a range of concessionary rates, while visitors who purchase standard tickets directly from Royal Collection Trust can convert them into a 1-Year Pass, allowing free re-entry for 12 months.
Anna Reynolds, curator of Style & Society: Dressing the Georgians, said: ‘Clothing and historical fashion can tell us an enormous amount about life in the Georgian period.
“It was a time of rapid change, including particularly momentous events in Scotland with attempts to restore the Stuart line to the throne and George IV’s visit north of the border – the first by a reigning monarch in almost 200 years.
“We are delighted to be launching accessible tickets with the opening of this exhibition, allowing more people than ever to learn about this exciting period in our history.’
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