ermine & Lady Elizabeth Bowes Lyon as brideArchived Message
Posted by Nellie on September 2, 2012, 6:43 am, in reply to "Re: Queen Mary"
mauriz and Paisley - here is another good pic, I think, of the ermine worn by Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon on her way to her wedding.
--Previous Message-- : --Previous Message-- : Thank you, mauriz. : Is the all-white fur ermine? : : Yes, I would think so. Ermine minus the : black tail tips. The tails tend to be more : yellowish than the rest of the fur, so they : often were faked by using other parts of the : skin with the black tips attached, whenever : the tails were considered necessary for the : desired effect, i.e. creating an : iconographic reference to reign and purity : (think of the robes of judges). Sometimes : black dots were just "painted" : onto white fur to create that effect. When : wearing ermine was not limited anymore to : certain classes and for a time became the : epitome of luxury, you could find both - the : use of the tail tips to make clear : "look, it's ermine" and a more : understated use only of the better parts of : the pelt. I find it somewhat significant : that fashionable queens like Marie José and : Marie would wear their fur capes without the : black tips, but Mary would choose to have : them used. : : Here's a fashionable example with black tail : tips from 1923-25, an evening cape by Worth, : worn by Mrs. Joseph Pulitzer, Sr. : (Collection of the Museum of the City of New : York)