Ballgown Collection

The Tatler cover - Fashion for debutantes - party
Front cover of society magazine, The Tatler featuring a photograph of people doing what looks like the twist at the annual ball of the Heythrop Hunt held at R.A.F. Little Rissington

The Special Private Despatch by Margaret Bradley
A colour illustration of lady dressed in a glamorous ballgown accepting a love letter from a unseen gentleman. Date: 7th December 1927

Harrods ballgown of nylon net, 1958
Advertisement for a Harrods ballgown of nylon net and lace with a billowing skirt on a fitted swathed top. Perfect for a debutante, though inadvisable to stand near open fires while wearing it

Advert for Courtaulds, makers of rayon fabric. The gown depicted is made by Liberty's. In the background is a scene from Ranelagh Gardens in the 18th century. Date: 1954

Young womens dresses, 1913
Young womens dresses: one in white crepon and orange taffeta, the other in embroidered white fabric. Robes de jeunes filles: l une en crepon blanc et taffetas orange, l autre en drap blanc brode

A woman writes a letter on a somno in a messy
A woman writes a letter on a somno (night table containing a chamberpot) with her feet on a pillow, while her dog chews a lace collar and a cat sleeps on her ballgown

Mlle. Melcy as Amelie in Un Mari qui se Derange, 1846
Mlle. Melcy as Amelie at a masked ball in Un Mari qui se Derange by Cormon and Grange, Theatre du Gymnase Dramatique, 1846

Queen Mother at the English Speaking Union Dinner, New York
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel during a visit to New York in 1954 for a dinner of the English Speaking Union. On the left is William V

Couple at Downhill Only Club celebration, 1954
Downhill Only Club for skiers, celebration of the start of the season in London. A couple - Miss Vora Mackintosh, who was in the British skiing team, with Mr Jack Shaw-Stewart - share an aperitif

Grosvenor Ball, 1954 - guests
The third annual Grosvenor Ball at Londonderry House, on Park Lane in Mayfair, London. (The building was demolished in 1965.) Guests Mrs R M Hicks, wearing a beautiful tiered ballgown

Couple at the Cambridge Uni Conservative ball
A couple - Miss Colette Hinedson and Mr Leslie Thornton-Wallis - dancing the samba (apparently!) at the Cambridge University Conservative Association Ball. Date: 1949

To the Ringlets of 69 by Lewis Baumer
Impression of a young woman of 1869, the year in which The Graphic magazine was first published. This picture, by Lewis Baumer, better known for his pictures of pretty flapper girls

The 1958 Season - Dresses for Dancing into the Dawn
Two suggestions for dance dresses for debutantes for the 1958 Season, the last year in which debs were presented to the Queen at Buckingham Palace

Happy young woman in a silk (or tafeta) ball gown. Date: circa 1940s

Tatler cover - Paris translated, 1959
Front cover of The Tatler - an issue devoted to showing how the latest fashions from Paris and Rome can be translated into clothes you can buy in the shops now. Date: 1959

English woman in the fashion of February 1799.. English woman in the fashion of February 1799. She wears a headband with cockade, and white ball gown, fur-trimmed

English woman in the fashion of December 1798.. English woman in the fashion of December 1798. She wears a headdress of pearls, feathers and veil, ball gown with ribbon waist, decorated bust panel

Tatler front cover, London Fashion Week - Jill Kennington
Front cover of The Tatler magazine celebrating the start of London Fashion Week and featuring sixties model, Jill Kennington

Advert for Muse fragrance 1948
Advertisement for Muse perfume by Coty featuring a beautiful woman sitting on an elegant seat wearing a ballgown while a would-be suitor stands behind her. Date: 1948

Musical Terms Up to Date - Adagio - very Slow! A pretty young girl sits expectantly, whilst her elderly suitor takes a LONG TIME to make his move! Date: circa 1905

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