Paris 1913, and the fashion magazine of choice for the
city’s bright young things was the Journal des Dames et des Modes. A century
on, us lucky Dublin dwellers have the opportunity to see what was so inspiring
about this short lived publication. Costumes Parisiens: Fashion Plates from
1912-1914, currently running at The Chester Beatty Library, showcases the
exquisite prints that illustrated the magazine during those last years of what
was known as the Belle Époque.
Edith Dunn – already a renowned collector of French Impressionist and
Post-Impressionist paintings before she became the second wife of Chester
Beatty – persuaded her future husband to acquire the Journal, among
other fashion periodicals. Many of the
almost 150 prints bought by him are now on show in the Library that bears his
name and are testament to how these illustrations were the interface between
fashion and art. The work of artists including Erte, Georges Lepape, Louis
Barbier and Paul Iribe featured prominently in the pages of the Journal,
indicating that fashion was an important element of the whole decorative arts movement.
What do these charming prints tell us about how the
fashionable women of a century ago dressed?
Back then, the most important accessory for a woman enamoured of haute
couture was a wealthy husband, or papa, linked on her arm. According to the
Library’s research, the ladies-who-lunched during that pre-war period could spend
thousands of pounds per month on the latest fashions. Chester Beatty’s first
wife, Ninette, is reckoned to have spent an average of $850 a month in 1910 on
the family’s wardrobe, with even the servants decked out in specially designed
livery.
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| Bakst's costumes for Ballet Russes |
As for the garments, the most fashionable silhouette of the Belle Époque was a flowing, draped line which was radically different from the
corseted, restricted style of the late Edwardian era.
Paul Poiret, the first couturier to use draping in his designs, remarked that the exaggerated 'S' shape of the late 19th century made a woman “look like she was hauling a trailer.” He took credit that his empire line dresses “freed the bust” and negated the torture of the whalebone corset.
Paul Poiret, the first couturier to use draping in his designs, remarked that the exaggerated 'S' shape of the late 19th century made a woman “look like she was hauling a trailer.” He took credit that his empire line dresses “freed the bust” and negated the torture of the whalebone corset.
There are four
actual garments on display in the Library's exhibition which show not only that
draping (often with small pieces of lead in the hemline to make dresses hang beautifully) but also the intricate beading and embroidery worked into luxury
fabrics such as silk and cashmere.
During these years just before the tragedy of the Great War, wealthy
women would have changed their clothing three or four times a day. A short
black and white film which forms part of the exhibition shows a young woman in her
boudoir getting dressed. The grandest occasion was most likely a
trip to the opera or ballet,
and the exotic evening fashions paid more than a
passing nod to Diagilev’s Ballet Russes which had arrived in Paris to great
sensation in 1909.
Along with Leon Bakst’s
costume designs for the ballet, there was also the influence of even farther East,
in particular, les Japonais.
Japanese
posters, which had wrapped many of the object d’art shipped in boxes from the
East, had already inspired many of the
post-Impressionist artists with a seemingly more simple approach to drawing and
painting. The most recognisable inspiration in fashion terms was the kimono. Basically constructed from rectangular pieces
of embroidered silk or satin, the kimono was not only worn as an indoor
garment in it's original design, but also became the desired shape for what is this writer’s favourite
garment of the Belle
Époque – the opera coat.
Because columnar evening dresses were of flimsy silk or muslin, it
was necessary to wrap up for an evening out in one of these coats – also known as cocoon coats –
which were often fur lined. That kimono
shape of inverted triangle – broader at the shoulder and tapering down to a
narrower hem – is also apparent in the fashionable coat shape of winter 2013
(referred to recently in The Guardian’s fashion pages as ovoid), but in a much shorter version.
What hasn’t
changed either is that the biggest buyers of haute couture these days remain the
extremely wealthy with a loaded husband or father in tow– currently, Saudi wives and princesses. But for anyone with an interest in fashion’s ephemeral
history, or just needing to escape the noise and bustle of Christmas shoppers on the city streets,
a visit to the Chester Beatty’s Costumes Parisiens is a calm, informative haven. And totally free.
Costumes Parisiens continues at the Chester Beatty Library,
Dublin Castle, Dublin 2 until 30th March 2014 www.cbl.ie
