A Cautionary Tale To The Rich And Famous About The Lingerie They Leave Behind
August 01, 2008
Strange but true. A pair of Queen Victoria’s bloomers, a nightgown and a chemise were auctioned off this Monday in a Derby, England auction house. Apparently, after her death, The Queen’s wardrobe – underwear and all – was distributed to the members of her royal household back in the 1890’s. One of the Queen’s Ladies-in-waiting was given these garments then. Unlike other household heirs that prefer to maintain her garments in private, this woman’s thoughtless heirs put them up for auction.
With a 50 inch waist on the bloomers, the pair is hand-made in fine cotton, has an open style crotch (two legs that are attached to a draw-string waist) and bear a monogrammed "V.R." for Victoria Regina along with a Crest. The chemise has a 66 inch bust. The nightgown draws out the fact that the Queen stood less than 5 feet tall.
The bloomers fetched $8,000, the chemise sold for $4,000 and the nightgown went for $11,000. Barbara Rusch, a commercial property manager and 30-year collector of Queen Victoria items purchased the bloomers. The photo on the left shows the bloomers being modeled by one of the auction house employees.
For more details on this story, visit The Star.
Posted by Tomima at 11:19am
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