They Wear It Well
State museum exhibit gives a glimpse into the artistry and history of designing fashions for the rich and powerful
by Angela Wibking
Royalty & Elegance: Selections From the Pat Kerr Collection
Through Jan. 26
Tennessee State Museum
505 Deaderick St. 741-2692
Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.; 1-5 p.m. Sun. $8 admission
Memphis-based fashion designer Pat Kerr has created gowns for Tipper Gore, Martha Sundquist and Sophia Loren. Millions of consumers also know her work from the ad campaign for Estee Lauder’s “Beautiful” perfume, which features one of Kerr’s romantic wedding gown designs.
In her long and successful fashion career, Kerr has rubbed shoulders with society’s elite, so it’s no real surprise that her private collection of fashions and textiles, a portion of which is now on view at the Tennessee State Museum, includes items once worn by Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Diana and Marilyn Monroe. People may be surprised to learn, though, that what gets Kerr most excited isn’t an evening gown worn by a celebrity, but a bit of lace made by an English woman named Mrs. Bidney. “She was Queen Victoria’s favorite lace maker,” says Kerr, a self-confessed lover of lace whose collection includes pieces that date to the 1600s. “She was the lead lace maker for Victoria’s wedding gown.”
Though that prize isn’t in Kerr’s collection, several pieces of lace-adorned clothing created for the 19th century English queen are, including a wedding veil, silk stockings, a handkerchief, knickers and a nightgown. “The industrial revolution in England put lace makers out of business—until Queen Victoria reestablished it with her patronage of lace made in Honiton,” Kerr explains. A small town in England’s Dorsetshire region, Honiton had been known for its exquisitely detailed lace-making in the 17th century, but by the time the young Victoria became Queen in 1837, the art was nearly lost. The queen’s patronage, beginning with the making of her wedding dress in 1840, revived the English lace industry; the gown required the efforts of 800 lace makers working for four months.
“They had the luxury of time for handmade lace that we will never have again,” says Kerr. Today the designer loves to incorporate handmade, often antique or heirloom, laces into her own designs, especially for brides. “I always encourage brides, if they happen to like lace, to bring me lace that has been in their family to use on the wedding dress, on the veil or even on the garter or wedding ring pillow.”
Kerr’s fascination with lace began as a young girl when she designed clothes for her dolls. It continued in college, when she began to collect antique textiles, and it escalated when she lived in London for 20 years and was able to haunt flea markets and estate sales there. “The more I saw of lace, the more intrigued I became,” she recalls. It wasn’t just the beauty that appealed to Kerr, though. “Countries fought wars over who were the original lace makers—though I like to think the original lace maker was the spider.”
According to Kerr, lace took on symbolic and political significance as early as the 16th century, when British royalty decreed it illegal for anyone to appear richer than the monarchy. As a result, Queen Elizabeth and other royals of the time forbade the use of lace, gold or silver on clothing. Lace continued to be an important political tool in the 17th century, in particular at the court of Louis IV of France. Fearing members of his court would amass wealth and then use it to finance a coup to overthrow him, the king demanded an extravagant style of dress for members of his court. Both men and women were required to wear fashions using yards of expensive handmade lace, thus diminishing their financial resources.
Though individual pieces from Kerr’s collection of antique lace, textiles, costumes and royal memorabilia have been included in special exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and other institutions, this is the first time a large selection has been exhibited. Even so, the 102 pieces at the state museum represent only about 2 percent of the entire collection, according to Kerr. Besides the royal examples of lace, the exhibition includes four gowns worn by Princess Diana that were purchased by Kerr in 1997 at the famous Christie’s auction. The gowns are being shown for the first time. Clothing and memorabilia from Edward VIII, who gave up the British throne in 1936 to marry American divorcée Wallis Warfield Simpson, is another highlight of the show. Included are a handkerchief made to celebrate the coronation that never took place and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor’s wedding album, with photographs by Cecil Beaton.
Other highlights of the exhibit include a black jersey and taffeta evening gown and a 1950s lace bar belonging to Marilyn Monroe. There are also several noteworthy pieces with local ties, including the Kerr gown worn by Tipper Gore to the presidential inaugural balls in 1993 and two Kerr inaugural gowns worn by Tennessee first lady Martha Sundquist. Though Kerr has created clothing for famous women the world over, she’s not one to design and tell. “I feel passionately protective of my clients,” she says. A few celebrities do give her permission to relate some details of her working experiences, however. Sophia Loren, for example, once ordered an original design from Kerr—over the phone. “She called on a Monday and wanted a dress to wear to a televised ceremony honoring her in Washington, D.C.—that weekend,” Kerr recalls with a laugh. The designer took Loren’s measurements—offered by the star over the phone in centimeters—and whipped up a stunning strapless black gown. “I Fed Ex-ed the dress to Washington and she wore it that night.”
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