joseph scissorhands

A strong sense of deja-vu was experienced when viewing this exhibition Fashion in the 18th Century. A Fantasized Legacy at the Palais Galliera, Paris. It was virtually a carbon copy of Marie Antoinette Style seen at the V&A Museum (here) just a few of months earlier. Both shows concern themselves with the impact of 18th C. fashion styles in their day, and the rich legacy of period fashion still fuelling the imaginations and designs of contemporary fashion designers and milliners. Both shows include(d) actual items of clothing worn by Marie Antoinette herself, shoes and a velvet choker in the V&A show, and a white corset in this exhibition. The white silk corset is interesting because it seems so simple. It has a wooden stay at the front which means it acted as a brace. It laced up at the back and has short sleeves indicating it was used for formal court wear or other similar occasions. These items are rare survivors indeed since Marie Antoinette's wardrobe was largely destroyed in the turmoil of the revolution. An exceptional chance then to see items worn by the late queen. Fashion during the Age of Enlightenment created very defined characteristics. Silhouettes for women were particularly striking with waists uncomfortably cinched in by unforgiving corsets, and huge voluminous skirts created from sumptuous fabrics such as toile de jouy. There were also the extravagant accessories in millinery and jewellery as well as incredibly extravagant hairstyles which grew in size and volume to epic proportions, well documented here in period prints and an amazing modelled red ship headpiece based on the masted period ships of the day which well-to-do women wore as fashionable headpieces. It is amazing that their are so many surviving examples of period dress from this time still kept in good condition given the daily wear and tear they recieved. The exhibition opens with many examples that are characteristic of these formal dresses, then taking us through several more rooms of these ornately embroidered dresses and men's topcoats from the era before we land in the final rooms devoted to modern fashion designers who have appropriated the looks for their own collections. As with the Marie Antoinette Style exhibition the historical looks of Age of Enlightenment fashion iare supported in this show by the inclusion of paintings, book illustrations and accessories such as shoes etc. of the era. The final galleries are filled with stunning modern gowns based on their reinterpretations of the Enlightenment Age from the likes of Coco Chanel, Vivienne Westwood, Louis Vuitton and an amazing powder blue outfit by John Galliano for Christian Dior which was a personal favourite. The last room of the exhibition features a stunning white Chanel two piece ensemble covered in translucent white sequins. There is a look at how modern media captures the spirit of the 18th C. age for viewers providing visual codes adopted by popular culture through magazine articles and photographic stills from Sophia Coppola's film on Marie Antoinette, and Madonna's Vogue video in which she famously appropriated the style. The aesthetic appears to naturally embrace the camp, kitsch and queer through the work of artists and photographers and drag queens for whom Age of Enlightenment style still continues to inspire. Lovers of period costume dramas such as Bridgerton, as well as fashion in general will adore this exhibition. Having completed this exhibition I then made my way to the Palais Galliera's lower galleries to revisit Tisser, Broder, Sublimer. Les Savoire-Faire De La Mode.(Weaving, Embroidery, Embellishing. The Crafts and Trade of Fashion), last visited in January of this year (here). Of the two Palais Galliera exhibitions I must say I much preferred this one, which also included lots of period dresses and accessories as well as contemporary fashions all beautifully enhanced with dazzling arrays of floral decorations in a range of surface embellishment techniques by studios specialising in embroidery etc. It was just as amazing an exhibition as when I first saw it in January, and I was more than happy to have the chance to see once again the couture outfits and the extra fine work created by the nimble fingers of the petite mains in the specialist studios.