Pale blue long silk chiffon and silk evening dress with fitted bodice, long draped sleeves and godet skirt. Embroidered on length of sleeves and flare of skirt with clusters of cherry blossom in pink silk chiffon, sequins and crystals. 

For the first ever visit by a reigning British monarch to Japan in 1975, the Queen wore this silk chiffon and silk evening dress by Norman Hartnell, the draped sleeves (derived from the Japanese kimono) and skirt embroidered with tumbling sprays of cherry blossom made of delicate pink chiffon highlighted with crystal beads, the blossoms referencing 'sakura', the Japanese national celebration of spring blossoms. Ian Thomas recalled how the cherry blossom in the South of France, on one of his visits there with Hartnell, had inspired the design.