DRESS BILL OF DUCHESS

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXI, Issue 4958, 20 February 1937, Page 5

DRESS BILL OF DUCHESS

COST OF CEREMONIAL DRESS. VELVET AND ERMINE. London February 7. A duchess will find her dress bill for the Coronation ceremony will reach £432 sterling. Of this £336 will go to the crimson-velvet three-piece robe, including train, and erminetrimmed cape, and the remainder for the white or gold Court dress, which will cost £6O, and the coronet £25. Gloves and shoes are £5 per pair, stockings £l, says the Sunday Times, pointing out the magnificent and costlier “uniform” woman possess. A peeress’ robe is only wearable once or twice in a lifetime, at coronations. On the same scale of expenditure, and using hand-woven velvet, costing 80s a yard, and other most expensive materials, such as ermine, a marchioness must spend £304 on a coronation robe; a countess £2BB, a viscountess £267, and a baroness £246. The differences are largely due to less ermine, and shorter trains, required by lower ranks, but peeresses, who are content to wear -rabbit, instead of ermine, and machine-woven velvet or other cheaper material, can save between £135 and £l7B, according to their rank. All, however, will have the further expense of tiaras, necklaces, clips, brooches and other jewellery.