Wedding Dress
1933 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Wedding dress outfit consisting of an embroidered silk satin dress and tulle veil.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
|
| Materials and techniques | Embroidered silk satin with pearl and glass beads and satin appliqué, tulle with metal wire, trimmed with wax |
| Brief description | Wedding dress outfit consisting of an embroidered silk satin dress and tulle veil, designed by Norman Hartnell, London, 1933 |
| Physical description | Wedding dress outfit consisting of an embroidered silk satin dress and tulle veil. |
| Dimensions | Dimensions taken by Conservation for Wedding Dress mounting, 2009. |
| Production type | Haute couture |
| Gallery label | Society wedding dress
Norman Hartnell (1901-79)
London
1933
British Pathe filmed society beauty Margaret Whigham and her husband Charles Sweeny as they emerged from London's Brompton Oratory. The film shows crowds of women jostling with photographers to catch a glimpse of the bride and her magnificent Hartnell wedding gown. Her dress, which incorporates a nine-foot train, is an early example of a wedding dress designed for the day.
Silk satin and tulle, embroidered with glass beads
Given and worn by Margaret, Duchess of Argyll, for her first marriage to Charles Sweeny, 21 February 1933
V&A: T.836-1974(2011) |
| Credit line | Given by Margaret, Duchess of Argyll |
| Object history | Worn by Margaret Whigham, later the Duchess of Argyll, for her marriage to Mr Charles Sweeny in the Brompton Oratory, 21 February 1933. The dress took a team of 30 seamstresses six weeks to make, and the bride thought it shockingly expensive at £52. The veil (T.306-1978) was donated a few years later, in 1978, and is catalogued with the dress (T.836-1974). Margaret Whigham was the only child of Helen Mann Hannay and George Hay Whigham, a Scottish millionaire who was chairman of the Celanese Corporation of England, North America, and Canada. After being educated privately in New York City, where she moved one week after her birth and lived until the age of 14, and making her debut in London in 1930, she announced her engagement to Charles Guy Fulke Greville, 7th Earl of Warwick. This wedding did not take place as she had fallen for Charles Sweeny, an American amateur golfer, and decided she was not sufficiently in love with Lord Warwick. Margaret and Charles Sweeny divorced in 1947, and in 1951, she became the notorious Duchess of Argyll, third wife of the 11th Duke of Argyll. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.836-1974, T.306-1978 |
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| Record created | September 16, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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