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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 21, 2016 0:42:32 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 21, 2016 1:04:13 GMT
I cannot lie ~ one of my big motivations for visiting the palace was because i wanted to see the Fashion Rules Restyled exhibit. I took a photo of the entrance poster and accidentally cut off the title, but here is more information on the exhibit.These projections on the wall were very effective ~Magazine covers were on display throughout the five rooms of the exhibit. It was amazing how many of them I remembered from the Princess Diana era!There is much more to show of this fashion exhibit and of the palace itself, but right now I have to go to bed. Please check back later.
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Post by bjd on Jun 21, 2016 5:43:23 GMT
When you see the size of the gardens, it's hard to believe it's in the middle of the city. And it's part of life: there's even a picture of an American tourist in there. The silhouette on the left reminds me of the criticism Diana was getting from French fashion magazines for dressing like a frump in the 1980s.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2016 19:06:01 GMT
The '80s silhouettes were very difficult to pull off, I know from hard-won experience. Massive shoulder pads, puffy skirts and big bows, all on the same dress? Sheesh!
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Post by mich64 on Jun 21, 2016 19:58:48 GMT
Loving this Bixa. I really enjoy visiting exhibits like this and will stop and read almost every word.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 22, 2016 23:59:28 GMT
Ha ~ caught me, Bjd!
Gawd, the eighties! I shudder to think how fashion comes back around and we might have to endure that again.
Thanks so much, Mich. Sorry to be so pokey with this thread, but here is some more of the fashion exhibit. (and yes, the Palace will be featured as well)
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 23, 2016 0:12:42 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 23, 2016 0:24:29 GMT
This is so Scarlett at the barbecue ~ I just love it!
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 23, 2016 0:35:38 GMT
Back in the public reception area, we haven't yet left fashion behind ~Not surprisingly, Princess Diana is still a presence at Kensington Palace, even to the wallpaper in a hallway ~The public doesn't have full access to the palace. There are quite a few doors such as these ~
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 23, 2016 8:24:50 GMT
And now for some earlier history ~
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Post by htmb on Jun 23, 2016 16:46:06 GMT
Certainly colorful! Keep 'em coming, Bixa!
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 25, 2016 23:01:44 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 25, 2016 23:23:03 GMT
[This] mantua is made from French silk brocade, an enormously expensive fabric dated to the early 1760s. Woven with a design of stripes and scrolling garlands in silver and trimmed with sparkling silver lace, the dress ...is believed to have belonged to Mary, Marchioness of Rockingham, who was married to Charles, 2nd Marquis of Rockingham. sourceFormer fashions in food ~
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Post by mich64 on Jun 26, 2016 1:08:36 GMT
Fascinating. How much time did you spend viewing these exhibits Bixa?
The menu book would have been of interest to me. I think I have said in some of my threads of how much I enjoy visiting the kitchens in castles, palaces, fortresses, etc. Often wish I could get past barricades and get a closer look.
Gorgeous photos Bixa, you captured a lot of the detail of some of the gowns.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2016 4:30:04 GMT
A fascinating glimpse into an alternate universe for me, a place where the revolution has not yet taken place. It is still quite difficult for me to understand why the have-nots of Britain still put up with this. At least the Irish managed to escape, even though they paid a very heavy price in blood.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 26, 2016 6:41:43 GMT
Mich, I don't know -- I was there for hours, even though I didn't linger over much of the exhibited stuff. It was pleasant because it wasn't crowded and parts of it -- the Fashion Rules and the Victoria Revealed sections -- were particularly interesting to me. Also, there is a good gift shop and the gorgeous sunken garden, both of which needed my attention. Victoria and the garden will be covered in this thread, but I can't do it right now as I'm leaving for a 3 day tour of gardens. (you have no idea how many garden pics I already have to foist on you all) Note that the clothes shown on the dummies are mostly made of paper. I love the "living shadows" from some of them. Actually, it's hard to understand why even the haves would accept a monarchy, but it's their tradition & I'm enjoying looking at its artifacts. Hmmm ...... maybe there will be a referendum!
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Post by mossie on Jun 26, 2016 7:01:42 GMT
Kerouac, you forget we had our revolution well over 100 years before France, when Charles1 was beheaded. Since then the monarchy has been a figurehead and a powerful stabilising influence. The present Queen is much admired and will be deeply missed when her time comes. She is also the envy of most of the worlds heads, who simply do not have such presence.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 26, 2016 16:04:26 GMT
Fascinating....even as a Brit it's unlikely that I would eer visit one of the palaces, I rarely 'do' stately homes (except when dragged there by one of my sisters)as I'm uncomfortable with the class system, really has no place in modern societyas far as I'm concerned. I have no idea what we should do about it I hasten to add....(chicken!)
My goodness Bixa....you're in the UK? how long for?
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 27, 2016 21:17:05 GMT
Cheery! Yes, I am in England right now -- a dream come true for me. Specifically, I'm in Lingfield, Surrey on a garden tour. Tomorrow we are going to Sissinghurst and to Great Dixter. ASK ME how excited I am! The tour ends @midday on the 29th. Even though I'm not ready to leave England, on the morning of the 1st, I go off to Paris. I need to finally finish up this Kensington Palace thread so I can begin bludgeoning you all with my zillions of garden pictures. So ........... moving right along, we come to ~This is The King's Gallery, ... designed by William Kent to contain the finest paintings of the Royal Collection. The largest and longest of the state apartments at Kensington Palace, the King's Gallery looks pretty much as it was when decorated for King George I in 1727. The King's Gallery was used for displaying pictures as well as for exercise and it is dominated by a copy of Van Dyck’s noble portrait of Charles I on horseback at its east end. The dial positioned over the fireplace is still connected to a wind-vane on the roof so that the King could see which way the wind was blowing, where his navy was likely to be heading, and when the posts were likely to arrive. Created for King William III, it is still (amazingly) in working order. sourceThis bust was in the far corner of the room and the only sign on it was the "do not touch" one. I was fascinated by the use of different types of stone used to create it ~
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Post by htmb on Jun 27, 2016 21:23:43 GMT
Now, THAT's a tribute!!!
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 27, 2016 21:33:01 GMT
The young woman in this picture told me that she is @5'2" tall. Contrasting her with the robe of anointment in the case will give you an idea of how very tiny Queen Victoria was ~
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 27, 2016 21:54:27 GMT
We will now conclude the visit to Kensington Palace by going outside and visiting the sunken garden. Please view the slideshow fullscreen and on HD ~ thanks!
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Post by lagatta on Jun 28, 2016 23:38:21 GMT
I love the little lad enthralled with the dollhouse and all the tiny replicas of 19th-century life.
I don't want to fall into "psychohistory", but nowadays I think many would view Victoria as deeply depressed for many years after the death of her beloved Albert, with a prudery she didn't display earlier in life, putting a huge amount of weight on her tiny frame. But obviously "Victorianism" can't be reduced to that.
Such a beautiful garden; I also got a kick of the art gallery and exercise room.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 30, 2016 14:11:19 GMT
Thank you, LaGatta. That sweet little guy walked in front of the first picture I took of the dollhouse -- he was fascinated by it. His dad told him to get out of my way, but I said that I needed the boy for scale & asked him if he'd mind being in the picture. He graciously obliged. Excellent comment on Victoria & her excess of mourning, LaGatta. The docent in one of the younger-Victoria sections told me that V's insistence on extended national mourning was actually ruining the British fashion industry until designers & manufacturers decided to incorporate mourning shades as style. This rejuvenated the industry & also led to our contemporary popular perception of a sober-colored Victorian era.
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Post by tod2 on Jul 7, 2016 12:42:29 GMT
It is Thursday the 6th and I have just come to page through all your wonderful photos Bixa! I wish I could have seen them sooner and passed a comment but alas it could not be so... I loved seeing the magnificent wrought-iron black and gold gate in front of the palace although it evokes sad memories. The first of being in London two days after Diana died and the waist deep flowers against the gate and right down the pathway. Then a year or two later when I placed red roses on the gate to mark the anniversary of her death.
You lucky devil you - going right inside! The wonderful sight of the dresses worn by the Queen and family seemed to look better on the people than on the mannequins! I was delighted to see Diana is still all over the wallpaper and in photographs. Don't Kate and William live there too?
Now to view you garden photos properly...tried yesterday but was summonsed away...! You have done a stirling job here Bixa - I don't know how you manage to post photos and be on holiday - amazing!
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 29, 2017 18:33:05 GMT
Belated thank you, dear Tod! I hope that you will enjoy this next installment, which is the update for June, 2017. I returned to Kensington Palace because I wanted to see their current exhibition, called Diana: Her Fashion Story. I'm starting off this 2017 section with some shots of the gardens and the palace, but be warned ~ the fashion section is for hardcore Diana devotees. The Sunken Garden has been replanted and named The White Garden in honor of Princess Diana. It was opened in April and will be open to the public until September of this year. If you look at Reply #21 in this thread, the last picture in that reply is a video of the Sunken Garden taken last year at this time. Compare and contrast! Let me honest here: since I spent a lot of time in the palace last time, this time I just galloped through in order to hurry and get to the fashion exhibition. I yam what I yam. I did take a few token pictures, though, including the magnificent clock that I failed to capture last year ~ The King's Gallery ~ View out the window of the Gallery. It's blurry because of the old window glass ~ The countess looks as though she's been cleaned & spruced up since last year ~ Ceiling of the clock room ~ It's hard to get close enough to the top of the clock to really see it, especially with the glare from the lights ~ There are four sides, each with a different scene. Each of those scenes is fronted by a bas relief group in silver. Imagine my surprise when I looked at the photos on the computer and found that all the silver "cut-outs" were exactly the same!
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 29, 2017 23:32:40 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 30, 2017 3:23:09 GMT
Those dresses look incredibly old fashioned without her in them. If you had said they were gowns from the 1920's, it would have been easy to believe.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 30, 2017 8:07:29 GMT
Well, maybe from the 30s and 40s. I don't think women's clothing was very form-fitting in the 20s. Let me explain here that I deliberately disguised myself as a clunky tourist to keep from intimidating other museum-goers with my dazzling sense of style. Moving right along ~
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Post by lagatta on Jun 30, 2017 11:27:50 GMT
I just hated those big boxy shoulders in 1980s clothing. A friend and I had collections of shoulder pads removed from garments, and we had deliberately chosen clothes with the least of the damned things.
Diana's style changed dramatically after the split.
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