'When you go to Court... be sure to put on fine clothes'

The clothes worn to the English Court may not at first seem very interesting. But they should appeal to historians for two reasons. First, these extraordinary creations of silk, lace, satin, and gold and silver thread, in some cases so beautiful as to be works of art, in others simply extremely convincing visible signs of their wearers' wealth and status, represent an enormous expenditure of time and money. In London, as in the other capitals of Europe, making clothes to be worn at court was a major industry. As Paul Fritz has shown, in the eighteenth century the periods of court mourning could have such a catastrophic effect on the capital's economic activity that tradesmen and workers held meetings to request a diminution in their length. The effect of the court on the clothes trade was so important that in 1840 Punch wrote that, 'It is well known for the good of trade, chiefly... the Queen holds her Levees'. Like Queen Charlotte before her, Queen Victoria also held balls partly in order to encourage the English clothes industry.