Be Dazzled! Norman Hartnell: Sixty Years of Glamour & Flash

“This reviewer certainly left its pages with an entirely different opinion about someone whom I had previously dismissed as the ‘Johnny one note’ who was only known for creating the queen’s wardrobe.”

According to Wikipedia, “Sir Norman Bishop Hartnell was a British fashion designer. Royal Warrant as Dressmaker to HM the Queen, 1940; subsequently Royal Warrant as Dressmaker to HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Royal Warrant as Dressmaker to Queen Elizabeth II, 1957.”

That’s the problem with history: Sometimes associations or shining moments tend to overshadow an entire life’s work, clouding perspective of the full oeuvre. Sir Norman Hartnell was, of course, best known as the “dressmaker” to both the present Queen of England and her mother. And he has been given a bum rap. There is no question that this position became his claim to fame, coloring everything during his life—especially his professional life.

But Be Dazzled! Norman Hartnell: Sixty Years of Glamour and Flash proves he was so much more.

Sir Norman Hartnell was a first-rate haute couture designer as well as a proponent of the roots of ready to wear. Little known or recognized facts about his professional life and works include that he was a founder of the British equivalent of the Chambres Syndicale of Paris, that his ateliers rivaled those of Dior and Givenchy, that he literally created thousands of pieces of apparel and accessories for the queen and her mother, that it was he who created the Queen Mum’s look, and that every outfit for either of them was made—start to finish—in the Hartnell workrooms.

What is overlooked is that Mr. Hartnell was a first-class designer of immeasurable talents whose single association with the House of Windsor has been perhaps the double edged sword that prevented him from the kind of adulation that was, let’s say, given to Christian Dior, and yet made him nonetheless as well known.

Mr. Pick has shown us, by way of photos, press clippings, and original drawings, that Norman Hartnell should not be remembered as just the queen’s dressmaker, but also as a leader in international fashion design who had enormous skill when it came to construction, innovation, and development of haute couture in England, as well as contributing to the burgeoning appearance of ready to wear in postwar England.

Mr. Pick also reminds us of the vision that it took to create for two queens, of the royal order, and plants the seed that Mr. Hartnell, no doubt, became an incredibly wealthy man by delivering those thousands of royal outfits over 40-odd years. It certainly made me wonder: “Who paid for all this understated extravagance?”

Regardless of the implications of haute couture funded, perhaps, by the realm’s taxpayers, Mr. Pick has delivered a piece of fashion history that needed to be told. Be Dazzled! Norman Hartnell: Sixty Years of Glamour and Flash provides a source of enlightenment for the most seasoned of fashion aficionados and followers and deserves a place in the library of fashion.

This reviewer certainly left its pages with an entirely different opinion about someone whom I had previously dismissed as the “Johnny one note” who was only known for creating the queen’s wardrobe.