No British monarch can be crowned without wearing the Colobium Sindonis or ‘shroud tunic’ beneath their regalia. A tradition for 1000 years, it’s a simple, sleeveless linen shift that symbolises their throwing off of worldly vanity, and allows them to stand bare before God (but not before the assembled guests).

For the permanent exhibition at Kensington Palace, Victoria Revealed, I was asked to create a replica of Queen Victoria’s 1838 Colobium Sindonis, which was missing from her coronation ensemble. With just a single photograph available, intensive research was needed of texts, artists’ works and 19th century pattern books and religious clothing to capture the most authentic replica.

To make the garment with materials and techniques as close to the original, I worked with a supplier that still uses traditional methods of weaving lace and linen. The tunic was finished with pick-stitching on its edges – a fashionable stitch of the period – and went on display in 2017.