Fashioning the Crown

Name: Fashioning the Crown
Price: 39.99 AUD
Availability: InStock
ISBN: 9780571400508

A Story of Power, Conflict and Couture

Justine Picardie

$39.99

Paperback

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English

Faber & Faber
31 March 2026

History of Art & Design Styles; History of fashion; Biography; Biography: royalty

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*Features over 100 sumptuous images
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From the birth of the house of Windsor in 1917, its leading women - Queen Mary, the Queen Mother, the Duchess of Windsor and Queen Elizabeth II - faced abdication and assassination, revolution and the rise of fascism, the threat of invasion and all-out war. Their sartorial decisions, alongside those of their royal husbands, projected power and perpetuity, diplomacy and defiance. In this cinematic story of espionage and exquisite couture, Justine Picardie reveals the undercover lives of the creators behind the facade - including Hardy Amies, Cecil Beaton, Norman Hartnell and Edward Molyneux - and traces the ways in which visual iconography safeguarded the monarchy even when their reign seemed to be hanging by a thread.

Drawing on original research in the Royal Archives and her own experiences at Balmoral, Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace, Picardie explores the family feuds and international conflicts that challenged the Crown, and how royal fashion is wielded as a weapon.

By: Justine Picardie
Imprint: Faber & Faber
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 153mm,
Weight: 690g
ISBN: 9780571400508
ISBN 10: 0571400507
Pages: 384
Publication Date: 31 March 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Justine Picardie is the author of six books, including Miss Dior: A Story of Courage and Couture, and the international bestseller, Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life. She is a contributing editor to Harper's Bazaar and was formerly an investigative journalist for the Sunday Times and columnist for the Telegraph. She was also editor of the Observer Magazine and features director of Vogue.