The Queen's finest fashions go on show

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The largest exhibition of the Queen's clothes and accessories ever shown in Scotland will open at the Palace of Holyroodhouse to mark her 90th birthday.

The display being held in Edinburgh from April 21 has been selected to cover the Queen's life and reign, and includes evening and daywear.

It is one of three separate special exhibitions entitled Fashioning a Reign: 90 Years of Style from The Queen's Wardrobe to be held at the monarch's official residences during 2016 - each displaying a different selection of outfits.

Exhibitions at Buckingham Palace from July 23 and at Windsor Castle from September 17 will follow.

Queen Elizabeth II in her newly gifted Korowai cloak in Rotorua during her 1954 tour. Photo / NZ Herald archive

In total more than 150 outfits worn by the Queen will be presented across the three sites, many chosen because of their close association with the location.

The Palace of Holyroodhouse has been the setting for many significant official occasions during her reign, including in 1962 when she wore a Hartnell evening gown of pale-blue silk faille for a gala performance of Rob Roy at the Royal Lyceum during the state visit to Scotland of King Olav of Norway.

Sir Norman Hartnell, who first worked for the then-Princess Elizabeth in the 1940s, produced many evening dresses in her wardrobe.

The exhibition at Buckingham Palace will present outfits worn from the 1920s to the 2010s from ceremonial and military attire to ensembles worn at family celebrations, such as weddings and christenings.

The Windsor Castle event will bring together outfits from evening gowns and elegant daywear to fancy-dress costumes worn by the young Princess Elizabeth for wartime family pantomimes.

- AAP