The Assembly Rooms and Museum of Costume -- in the Jubilee Year
by Candace Leslie

Published January, 2002. For current exhibits, contact the British Taourism Authority , www.visitbritain.com

It has been half a century since Queen Elizabeth II's accession to Great Britain's throne. The milestone is impressive for the Queen - she is only the fifth British monarch to have served for fifty years. This joyous and rare anniversary is appropriately known as the Golden Jubilee, a time of celebration throughout the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. Should you be traveling to Britain in 2002, your chances of catching a glimpse of the royal lady are much more likely than in any other year. There is even a website telling where she will make some of her public appearances.

However, for a "closer look" at the Queen than you could possibly get among the crowds, make a visit to the special exhibition at the Museum of Costume at the Assembly Rooms in Bath, England. When you come away from this elegant exhibit you will feel as if you have truly been in the company of royalty. In a spacious, softly lighted gallery, 14 of the Queen's most fashionable evening gowns are on display through most of the Jubilee year. Each is accompanied by photographs of Her Majesty as she appeared at various state occasions from 1954 to 1979, along with explanations of the rationale behind the design of each beautiful garment and its accessories. Designed by Sir Norman Hartnell, Sir Hardy Amies, and Ian Thomas, the styles are generally modest and understated. Although there is little that is flamboyant or daring, each dress exhibits the intentional emphasis on fitting the specific occasions at which each gown would be worn. Consideration was also given to the local traditions of any foreign destination where the Queen would be traveling and appearing on a formal state occasion.

As befits a queen, much use is made of silks and velvets, pearls and gold beads,sequins and embroidery. Looking at the photographs, you feel as if each gown is "just right" for the occasion, or, more often, multiple occasions. Like most women, the queen has made use of her dresses more than one time. For example, a pink and white organza gown designed by Hardy Amies was first worn for a 1963 dinner party for Commonwealth Prime Ministers and on numerous other events including a gala performance of Tosca with Maria Callas at Covent Garden in 1965, a reception in British Guyana in 1966, and the film premier of Doctor Dolittle in 1967.

Jubilee: Dresses from the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen will run until November 2, 2002. No place could be more fitting than The Assembly Rooms and Museum of Costume in the city of Bath for this outstanding exhibit. This southwest city has been a tourist destination since the Roman soldiers first soaked their sore muscles in the healing waters of the natural hot springs. In the early 1700s, the English dandy, Beau Nash, came to town and soon turned Bath into a showplace of "polite society." Guided by Nash's strict codes of behavior, the gentry and the elite learned to mingle with one another, something that had never happened before. His rules became both famous and popular - no hard drinking, no wearing of swords, explicit codes for proper dress and deportment. Through the 18th century, the population grew from 3,000 to 35,000. As it grew, property developer Ralph Allen and architect John Wood the Elder created the enchanting city that still attracts visitors from around the world. Terraces and crescents offered fine apartments. Well lighted streets assured safety.

Nash favored public mingling and discouraged private entertainment so, naturally, the growing population of fashionable socializers needed places to meet and be entertained, to dance and play cards, to visit and gossip, to dine or simply to be seen. One of the most amazing of the public gathering places to be built were the Assembly Rooms -"assemby" being defined as the ìa stated and general meeting of polite persons of both sexes, for the sake of conversation, gallantry, news and play." Construction began in 1769. The first public event, a combined concert and dance, took place on September 30, 1771.

Today the Assembly Rooms appear much as they did when social whirling was in full swing. Strolling through the ballroom, the card room, the octagonal room and the tea room on a sunny afternoon, the place seems exceedingly spacious, airy and bright. But when one begins to imagine 800 guests, the ladies in their great full skirts, fireplaces blazing, hundreds of candles brightening up the dark nights of winter (and using up the oxygen), musicians playing or an organ rumbling, the rooms take on a fairy-tale quality. The cascading crystal chandeliers, decorative Corinthian columns and ornate swags, and the very size of the rooms are breathtaking. Even today it all seems quite new, and in a way, it is. The Assembly Rooms suffered serious neglect in the nineteenth century and bombing during World War II in the twentieth. But in 1991, following a long and costly restoration, the Rooms reopened once again to a welcoming public.

Like a museum within the museum which is the building itself, one of the largest and finest collections of fashionable dress is also open to the public. The Museum of Costume presents the changing style of dress for men, women, and children over a period of 400 years -from the late sixteenth century to an annual "dress of the year" chosen by a leading fashion expert. From embroidered undergarments to designer denims, hoop skirts and bustles to PVC jackets and boots, muslin mourning dresses and Parisian corsets, the story of fashion unfolds through beautiful displays of historic attire. There are shoes, hats, handbags, and beaded gloves. Many of the treasured garments are one-of-a-kind survivors of the centuries. Displayed in chronological order, they show how fashion trends have changed, often affected by historic events. For example, the outbreak of the French Revolution marked a return to simpler styles from the days of powdered wigs and ruffled wrists. Queen Victoria's reign emphasized modesty of dress. Men wore business-like dark suits, a good foil to the dirt and dust of the industrial age. Scientific breakthroughs in new synthetic fabrics have accounted for continuing changes in fashion,as well.

The temporary exhibition, Jubilee: Dresses from the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, presents one more chapter in the ongoing story of costume that the museum tells so well. Although Her Majesty's gowns are made of the finest fabrics and decorated with jewels, one will recognize many of the styles. Many a past senior prom will have witnessed more than one of the simple patterns worn by the Queen. The exhibition has its nostalgic side, as well as its historic. It is a treasure.

Anytime is a fine time to visit Bath's Assembly Rooms and The Museum of Costume. This year of 2002, the year of Jubilee, offers the special reward of this fine display of royal gowns and accessories that may never be seen together again.

IF YOU GO

The Queen's Jubilee celebrations will take many forms. The Queen plans to tour within the United Kingdom from May through July. The Queen will attend a National Thanksgiving Service on June 4, 2002 at St. Paul's Cathedral in London. To keep up with what is going on this Jubilee year, write Golden Jubilee Office, 85 Buckingham Gate, London SW1E 6PD, England. To reach the information hotline from the US, dial 011 44 845 000 2002. You can visit the official website at www.goldenjubilee.gov.uk

In Bath, the Assembly Rooms and the Museum of Costume are open daily (except December 25 and 26) from 10 AM to 5 PM. Bennett Street, Bath BA1 2QH, England. Phone from US: 011 44 1225 477789. The website is  www.museumofcostume.co.uk and you can send an e-mail to costume_enquiries@bathnes.gov.uk

The official website for Bath is www.visitbath.co.uk . When visiting, consider purchasing the Bath Pass for entry into 30 historic sites and attractions. You can also purchase passes online before leaving the US at www.raileurope.com/us/rail/passes/the_bath_pass.htm

Photo Captions:

Photo 1: Her Majesty The Queen in a turquoise silk crepe evening dress (designed by Ian Thomas) with white silk crepe sleeves embroidered with blue, turquoise and iridescent sequins, diamante and beads at a banquet given by Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Al Sabah at the Salaam Palace, Kuwait in November 1979. Courtesy: Colin Davey Camera Press Ltd.  

Photo 2: The Queen arrives at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, for a gala performance of Tosca, July 1965, wearing an embroidered pink silk dress designed by Hardy Amies. Courtesy of Hulton|Archive.

Photo 3: Fireplaces  provided heat in an 18th century ballroom in Bath, England.  Lighted by chandeliers, the ballroom could accommodate 800.

Photo 4: Brocaded silk dresses and man's suit of cut velvet - 1760's - 70's.  By the 1770's, women's hair styles were fasionably high and full. Courtesy of Assembly Rooms & Museum of Costume