It is about 10 years since I wrote on Arachne about an exhibit of Queen Victoria's clothing at Kensington Palace. To properly protect the gowns, individual mannequins were custom made to fit the clothing. It was then that textile professionals realized that she had lost an astonishing 4" in height in her later years, a fact that seemed to never have been noted. In 1837 she was believed to have been 4' 11". Her late 1890's dresses suggest a height of 4' 7" or at most 4' 8". Per pg. 171 of "In Royal Fashion - The Clothes of Princess Charlotte of Wales and Queen Victoria 1796-1901" by Kay Staniland - published by Museum of London 1997. There is a lot of lace content in this lavishly-illustrated book. I've given enough information that those who would like to order the book from Interlibrary Loan will be able to do so, especially in this year of a royal wedding. A lot of "Queen Victoria" files exist, going back years, at _www.mail-archive.com/lace@arachne.com/index.html_ (http://www.mail-archive.com/lace@arachne.com/index.html)
Jeri Ames in Maine USA Lace and Embroidery Resource Center - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
