dress

This dress of yellow velvet dates from the 1920’s and was owned by Cara Broughton, a former New York heiress who moved to London with her English husband Urban Broughton around 1909. After the death of Urban in 1929, Cara was named as the 1st Lady Fairhaven, a result of a peerage that was in the process of being bestowed upon her late husband. At this time she resided at Anglesey Abbey in Cambridgeshire, a property she jointly owned with her eldest son Huttlestone. The dress is heavily decorated with hems of gold lace which are even evident on the satin underskirt. Extensively worked beading sits above a rope of pearls which hang to the front of the garment. This dress is from the Fairhaven Collection which comprises the most glamorous examples of costume and accessories of the early 20th century.