英維多利亞女王燈籠褲成藏品
A set of roomy bloomers that once belonged to Queen Victoria are back in royal drawers.
The underwear — which has a 56-inch (142-centimeter) waist — has been added to Britain's Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection at Kensington Palace. The undergarments have a matching chemise, are embroidered with a "VR" and are believed to date from the 1890s.
Queen Victoria had a 20-inch (51-centimeter) waist as a young woman. But curator Alexandra Kim said Tuesday that "over the years, particularly having given birth to nine children, that changed entirely."
The collection purchased the bloomers for 600 pounds ($993) earlier this summer. Kim said it's likely they were handed down to a servant after the monarch's death.
There are about 12,000 items in the collection, housed at Kensington Palace in London. It includes photographs, prints, sketches, diaries — and famous outfits.
Among the sartorial treasures are the tweed suit made for the 1981 honeymoon of Princess Diana, a safari suit sported by Edward VIII — later the Duke of Windsor — and a silk waistcoat worn by King George III before his death in 1821.
The collection has been recognized as being of national and international importance by Britain's Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, Historic Royal Palaces said in a news release.
Some of the 12,000 items — though not Victoria's bloomers — are on display. A 12 million pound ($19.8 million) project, to be completed by 2012, is intended to allow more of the collection to be displayed at Kensington Palace.
英國維多利亞女王曾穿過的一套燈籠褲如今又回到了王宮。
這條內衣褲日前被肯辛頓宮收藏，成爲英國皇家禮服館藏中的新成員。這條燈籠褲的腰圍爲56英寸（142釐米），還有一件配套的寬鬆內衣，內衣褲上還繡有“VR”的字樣。經認定，這些衣物的歷史可追溯到19世紀90年代。
維多利亞女王年輕時的腰圍爲20英寸（51釐米）。但據藏館館長亞歷山大•金於本週二介紹，“隨着年齡的增長，特別是在生了九個小孩後，女王的身材完全變了。”
該藏館於今年夏天早些時候花了600英鎊（合993美元）買下了這條燈籠褲。金說這套內衣褲可能在女王去世後留給了一個僕人。
英國皇家禮服館藏共有約1.2萬件藏品，存放在倫敦的肯辛頓宮。這些藏品包括照片、印刷品、素描、日記，還有名貴禮服。
在這些縫製的珍貴藏品中，有1981年爲戴安娜王妃蜜月定製的花呢套裝，有愛德華八世（也就是後來的溫莎公爵）穿過的一套狩獵服，還有國王喬治三世1821年在他去世前曾穿的一件絲質馬甲。
歷史皇家宮殿在一個新聞發佈上說，這些藏品已被英國圖書史館認定爲具有國家和世界級意義的文物。
這1.2萬件藏品中的其中一部分目前正在展出，不過維多利亞女王的燈籠褲不在其中。目前正在進行的一項耗資1200萬英鎊（1980萬美元）的工程於2012年完成後，肯辛頓宮將能展出更多的藏品。
Vocabulary:
roomy:spacious（寬鬆的；寬大的）
bloomers:燈籠褲
chemise:a woman's loose, shirtlike undergarment （女性用的）無袖寬鬆內衣
sartorial: of or relating to a tailor, tailoring, or tailored clothing （縫紉的）
safari: an overland expedition, especially one for hunting or exploring in eastern Africa非洲的（狩獵）旅行
sport: to wear proudly 誇耀地穿戴（Summer or winter he sports a white suit. 不論冬夏，他都惹人注目地穿着一身白色西服。）
