Pearly Kings and Queens: Research

This module, Conceptual Design is the biggie worth 40 credits. For this first term project we were organised into groups and told to research pearly Kings and Queens. My group included Sian, Kuv, Jack and Graham. This is what I came up with for the research part of this project:

The pearly Kings and Queens originated in the year 1875 and were founded by Henry Croft (1862 - 1930). Some Pearly Kings and Queens still reign today in their various London districts. The Pearlies were costermongers or street vendors of fruit and vegetables, and their distinctive costumes are said to have sprung from a big cargo of buttons from Japan in the 1860's.

It seems that one of the costermongers sewed some of the buttons round the edge of his wide-bottomed trousers and the fashion caught on. Traditionally costers elected 'Kings' to lead them against bullies seeking to drive them from their pitches. Each individual area of London had a King and his 'donah' or wife. and both were elaborately turned out.




The magnificent suits, hats and dresses, handed down together with hereditary titles, are sewn with mystic symbols, stars, moons, suns, flowers, diamonds, trees of life, eyes of Gods and fertility designs. Each outfit can have as many as 30,000 buttons on it and can weight as much as 30 kilograms or more.

Nowadays these suits are worn at charity events, christenings, weddings and funerals. Where there is a special charity drive the Kings and Queens ride in splendour on their decorated carts. At the annual autumn Harvest Festival service at St Martin-in-the- Fields Church in London, the Pearly princesses take bouquets of vegetables as thank offerings.

Source: http://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/PearlyKingsQueens.htm