The exhibition “Costumes of the Belle Epoque” is on display in the costume gallery of the State Hermitage’s “Staraya Derevnya” Restoration and Storage Centre. The pieces on display here show how European fashion has changed over the course of half a century, from the beginning of the 19th to the 20th centuries.
The concept of the Belle Epoque emerged around 1919: the starting point is traditionally considered to be the 1880s-1890s, a time of scientific, technological, economic and cultural progress. In the history of the Russian Empire, this period was called the “Silver Age”.
They decided to trace the “evolution” of everyday and evening attire in “Staraya Derevnya” through the costumes of the last Russian empresses Maria Feodorovna and Alexandra Feodorovna, as well as members of the imperial family and their closest circle.
Many of the costumes were shown for the first time at the exhibition; they were restored before taking their place in the collection. In addition, several hundred mannequins made from a special soft material were specially commissioned for the exhibition.
Among the most striking pieces of the exhibition are dresses with intricate cuts and original decoration by one of the first representatives of haute couture, the French fashion designer of English origin Charles Worth. They can be compared with the later laconic outfits of the Parisian couturier, who became famous in the first quarter of the 20th century, Paul Poiret, who actively fought against corsets.
The new exhibition at the Costume Gallery is a tribute to the memory of the Hermitage curator, the outstanding textile researcher Tamara Korshunova. She is the author of the first monograph on costume in the Soviet Union, translated into many European languages, a collector of a collection of costumes and accessories, and the organizer of the first national exhibitions on fashion and fashion designers.
