Fashioning fashion: European Dress in Detail, 1700 – 1915
An exhibition of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
in the German Historical Museum
Project management: Dr. Regine Falkenberg, Dr. Tim Urban
With Fashioning fashion: European Dress in Detail, 1700-1915 the German Historical Museum is presenting – exclusively in Germany – a unique collection of historical garments and accessories from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. More than 200 years of European fashion history are on display. The renowned Belgian scenographer Bob Verhelst has specially designed the exhibition architecture for Berlin. Glamorous women’s costumes and elegant men’s suits are adorned with elaborately fashioned trimmings. Luxurious clothing of the wealthy haute-bourgeoisie and nobility are shown, including such highlights as the gold-embroidered dress of a Portuguese queen and the turban of the designer Paul Poiret. Fascinating fabrics, exquisitely tailored raiments and precious décor are all to be seen in the museum’s show.
The spectacular exhibition takes us through four chapters focusing on the aesthetic and technical developments of fashion history:
Timeline shows in chronological sequence the changes in the silhouette of women’s dresses and the evolution of men’s suits from brightly coloured to their traditional dark hue.
Textiles informs us about the variety of surfaces that come about through complex weaving, colouring and printing techniques.
Tailoring deals with the process of turning plain material into clothing, with special emphasis on forming, bracing and constricting techniques.
Trim presents the finery of fashionable clothes: delicate laces, magnificent fine-wire embroidery, artful silk trimmings and colourfully patterned and sequined accessories.
Focus fashion
Fashioning fashion decks out the Permanent Exhibition of the German Historical Museum as well: a special show of 25 textile treasures acquaints us with historical material. Paintings, graphic works, fashion magazines and porcelain figures are on view in the upper floor of the Zeughaus. Focus fashion presents the objects in the context of fashion and cultural history, connected with one another by a line of bright green dots.