Queen Victoria’s Bloomers Sell for Nine Thousand Dollars?
Well this is an interesting lingerie tidbit. In fact, it is a new twist on buying vintage lingerie! It seems that Queen Victoria’s 1890s handmade knickers went on auction, expecting to reap about $1000.The purchaser, however, paid a cool price tag of $9000 (US / CDN).
Acquired earlier this week at a British auction in Derby England, the royal knickers boast a fifty inch waist with drawstring and open-crotch. Barbara Rusch, the Toronto, Canada woman who is the lucky winner, has collected Queen Victoria’s items for the past twenty-five years. Not only was she the winning bidder of the bloomers but she also obtained a Queen Victoria chemise, with a bust size of sixty-six inches, for a mere eight thousand dollars. It was valued at six hundred dollars.
Most of Queen Victoria’s undergarments were embroidered with her initials VR (Victoria Regina) crested with her crown above. In addition to the knickers and chemise, Barbara also owns a pair of pink hand-embroidered silk stockings and other pieces from Queen Victoria’s garments and jewelry.
As the president of The Ephemera Society of Canada, Barbara has permitted her private collection of Queen Victoria items, entitled “Ephemera from the Age of Victoria”, to be displayed for the enjoyment of the general population.