There’s no expense spared when it comes to creating costumes for The Crown. Princess Elizabeth’s wedding dress alone cost a whopping AU$69,000.
Emmy-winning costume designer Jane Petrie says fashion “flies forward” in season three, with the psychedelic ’60s happening.
“We’ve moved now in to the 60s, away from the first two series which were very subdued,” says costume designer Amy Roberts. “And now we’re in to colour.”
For your exclusive insight to The Crown‘s costumes in the new season, watch the video in the player at the top of the article. Then, take a look back at the best fashion moments from the first two stunning seasons…
ROYAL WEDDING
According to Claire Foy who played the Queen in the first two seasons, the wedding dress “weighed a ton”.
(Image: Netflix)Due to wartime rationing, when Princess Elizabeth married Philip Mountbatten in 1947, she had to save up clothing coupons to pay for her wedding dress. Hundreds of women posted her theirs (but she sent them back).
The dress was ivory silk, with a four-metre train symbolising post-war rebirth. It was decorated with 10,000 tiny pearls. Claire Foy (above with Jared Harris, who played her father George VI), said Elizabeth’s wedding dress “weighed a ton”.
WELL SPOTTED
We love this chic polka dot look.
(Image: Netflix)For her 1952 Kenya visit, Elizabeth wore this polka-dot suit.
Its hourglass shape was influenced by Dior’s “New Look” that was fashionable at the time.
DARK DAYS
Elizabeth in her mourning outfit following her father’s death.
(Image: Netflix)Elizabeth was told of her father’s death while in Kenya. A mourning outfit was delivered to Heathrow Airport, which she changed into before disembarking.
During her visit to Kenya in 1952, Elizabeth’s father, King George VI, died suddenly, forcing the princess to make a sad journey home.
AUSSIE TOUCH
The Australian wattle features on Elizabeth’s coronation gown.
(Image: Netflix)The Queen’s coronation gown in 1953 took eight months to make. Among the embroidered floral emblems it features is the Australian wattle.
CROWNING GLORY
The crown the Queen has often worn for portraits is the George IV State Diadem.
(Image: Netflix)The are several crowns in the official Crown Jewels. The one the Queen has often worn for portraits is the George IV State Diadem.
Commissioned in 1820, it contains 1333 diamonds. The diadem features roses, thistles and shamrocks, representing England, Scotland and Ireland.
GOING GLAM
Fifties glam at its best.
(Image: Netflix)Elizabeth may not have been as stylish as her sister in the 1950s, but she knew how to get glammed up for a night out on the town with Philip (Matt Smith, left).
Check out the fur stole, long gloves and, topping it all off, a tiara.
RIDING HIGH
Margaret was quite the fashion icon in her day.
(Image: Netflix)Even when Princess Margaret (Vanessa Kirby) – here with her true love, Peter Townsend (Ben Miles) – was dressed for horseriding, she still managed to look stylish.
She and Elizabeth were both fans of silk scarves, but Margaret liked to experiment. She sometimes wore hers elegantly knotted around her neck rather than always as a headscarf.
STYLE ICON
Royally gorgeous!
(Image: Netflix)Margaret cared about fashion far more than Elizabeth did, and also had the time to fly to Paris for Chanel shows. She became a style icon of the 1950s, with people talking about “the Margaret look”. Able to push the boundaries more than the Queen, she liked to wear low-cut dresses.
Vanessa Kirby, who calls herself “not particularly fashionable”, says she learnt a lot by playing Margaret.
GOLDEN GIRL
TV was still black and white when the Queen filmed her first televised Christmas message in 1957.
(Image: Netflix)The Queen was looking very Christmassy in gold lamé for her first televised Christmas message in 1957.
Of course, TV was still black-and-white, so no one would have known the colour.
HAVING A BALL
Dancing the foxtrot with Ghana’s president Kwame Nkrumah.
(Image: Netflix)Elizabeth, in a ball gown, did dance the foxtrot with Ghana’s president Kwame Nkrumah in 1961. But it didn’t quite change history the way The Crown suggests it did.
The Queen and Prince Philip meet JFK and Jackie Kennedy.
(Image: Netflix)Elizabeth was feeling intimidated about meeting Jackie Kennedy, wife of US president John F Kennedy, because of her glamorous reputation. She was right to be.
Jackie looked sleek, chic and very 1960s in her French-style Chez Ninon gown, making Elizabeth appear slightly frumpy and dated in her A-line tulle dress.
The Crown Season 3 is now streaming on Netflix.
Want more behind-the-scenes access? Pick up The Crown special edition of TV WEEK Close Up, on sale now.
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