Bette Davis as Elizabeth The First in 'The Virgin Queen' Designed by Mary Wills

Three piece red wool traveling suit consisting of [C204- 1/ 4] fully boned and fitted bodice, lace-up closure at rear, ornamented with self covered buttons, four rows of beige file piping at front, full red on red cotton sleeves boldly ornamented with black trim in a scroll motif surrounding the initials [ER] capped with a crown, trimmed at waist with black velvet cording with gold aglets that extends down the front of the skirt. [C204- 2/4] matching full skirt, [C204- 3/4] matching waist-length cape lined in black satin, trimmed with black fox; [C204- 4/4] prop white neck ruff bordered with black satin ribbon; [C204-5] prop white cotton and tulle petti-coat gathered at the waist The cape and skirt have cloth labels sewn into the garments which read [A-744 J#07 BETTE DAVIS].

Mary Wills received an Academy Nomination for Best Costume Design for her work on the film.

Miss Davis wore this garment in the latter scenes of the film where Elizabeth visits Sir Walter Raleigh in the Tower of London and grants him permission to resume his travels.

Bette Davis reprieved (in Technicolor) her role of Elizabeth I, the queen doomed to live a lonely existence. She originally played the role sixteen years earlier in the film “The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex,” 1939. Bette Davis often threw personal vanity aside in her roles and it is evident in this film in which she allowed her forehead to be shaved and to have her body padded to better represent the queen’s ample figure.

This costume was purchased from the Bally’s Hotel, which previously housed the MGM Grand Hotel and suffered from a fire in 1980. Many of the costumes which were being shown and sold in the MGM gift shop suffered from severe water damage and were bagged and forgotten for years. When the costume was purchased by The Collection in 1992, it was covered with white mildew and the fur on the caplet had completely fallen apart. Surprisingly, after, cleaning and fur replacement, the gown appears like new.