Textile Historian and RSN Tutor, Alexandra Makin, Wednesday 7 May 2025. 7pm UK

The early medieval period in Britain (450-1100) was an exciting time. It was a melting pot of ideas, cultures and technology that produced some of the most wonderful and inspiring art that has survived to this day.

This art included embroidery that was worked in wool, silk and metal threads on fabrics of wool, linen and silk. Some of these textiles, wool and linen, were made in Britain while silk travelled far, across cultures and geographical territories to the shores of early medieval Britain. These fabrics were some of the most important things people owned and they could be made more precious through embroidery.

Alexandra Makin is an RSN trained professional embroiderer and textile archaeologist specialising in the early medieval period (450-1100 CE). Her talk will introduce you to the wonderful world of early medieval textiles and embroidery in Britain. It will give an overview of how they were made, who made them, their uses and their layered meanings within society.

Author, Kirstie Macleod, Wednesday 4 June 2025. 7pm UK

Following the inclusion of The Red Dress in the RSN 150^th anniversary exhibition, creator of the global collaborative embroidery project Kirstie Macleod will share news and insights from the last few years of the dress’ ongoing journey. This will include discussing the much-anticipated book, The Red Dress: Conversations in Stitch, which brings together stories from individuals involved in the project as well as new voices and perspectives.

Published on 21 May 2025 by independent publisher Quickthorn Books UK, the book will share the deeper stories of garment and its embroiderers, including the many links with the RSN, alongside Kirstie’s personal experiences. Thematic essays also explore wider issues the dress prompts for its audiences such as empowerment, finding voice, feminism, community and healing trauma. The book will shine a light on the impact The Red Dress has had and the many collaborative projects that have begun as a result such as the growing number of ‘sister dresses’ under the Calico Garment Initiative.

RCT Curator, Kathryn Jones, Wednesday 2 July 2025. 7pm UK

The Edwardian era is seen as a golden age of style and glamour, but there is so much more to discover beneath the surface. This was a period of transition, with Britain poised on the brink of the modern age and Europe edging towards war.

Edward VII and Queen Alexandra lived lavish, sociable, fast-paced lives, embracing new trends and technologies. Yet in their collecting we also see a need to retain tradition and record the rapidly changing world around them, as if to preserve a fading way of life.

Join Royal Collection Trust Senior Curator, Kathryn Jones as she examines some of the works of art with which they surrounded themselves, including items of dress and jewellery, and put them in the context of this rapidly evolving period.