Costume and Commemoration
Royal Jubilees Remembered
Costume and Commemoration
Royal Jubilees Remembered
Dior Museum Grandville France
DIOR EN ROSES
Always a pleasure to visit this lovely childhood home of M. Dior. Not only is the museum a full of exquisite Dior creations, but the grounds are spectacular. The current exhibition has roses in the title and there are lots of roses in the gardens.
The House of Dior has had many different skilled people at the helm since Christian Diors untimely death in 1957, but the quality, charm and beauty of the clothes remains unchanged.
Starting on the ground floor, here are some photos from my visit last week......
Pretty and Practical in a glass case.
Several small objects from the Henfield Museum Costume Collection arranged ready for you to see when the museum reopens......
If you prefer to go straight to the costume collection, here's the link for that feast of gorgeous costume.
Henfield Museum Costume Collection
Henfield Museum on Facebook has weekly posts about the costume collection.
Starting on the left there is a fine example of a mid Victorian painted silk fan, complete with its own box. The box has a painting on silk lining the lid.
Pretty lace on a small hanky next. The hanky has its own voile sachet, complete with embroidered design and pink silk pad to keep the hanky safe. This is the smallest sachet of a set of three, the largest being a nightdress case. c1930s.
The final item on the left of the case is a tapestry style evening bag. c1900. The gold chain handle is just the right length to dangle from your wrist and the cut steel studs make the frame sparkle. Inside is just as lovely. There is a pocket for a mirror and a tiny champagne coloured silk purse has been handmade and added to the inside.
On the right hand side we are into practical territory, with the addition of a treasured fragment of a dress kept as a memento. The exquisite beaded panel, carefully cut from some long ago dress, sparkles and impress still. It is tambour work and carries the remains of coffee coloured chiffon as a backing. c1930s
A small but well stocked needle case is next. It has a label from Kirkby, Beard and Co. The picture on the front is of a dimpled young miss dressed in the style of the 1920s. Kirkby made Kirbigrip hair pins. In the 1860s they made more than twenty million a week!
Buttons are necessary and these cards of linen covered buttons reflect how many were used for shirts and undergarments. They were made flat so as to go through a mangle. 20th century.
And finally we come to a tiny shift. It is a sewing exercise and beautifully done. The button and button hole on the shoulder is perfect. The dress measures 22cm/9" from shoulder to hem. 20th century.
Situated 18km from the city of Mulhouse in eastern France.
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Permanent wave machines and an example of the finished product |
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Devices to make curls, to straighten your hair and to set it in waves. |
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Note the large roll of brown paper on the counter. Used to wrap customers purchases. |
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Many different styles of dwelling are represented in the buildings that are reconstructed in the museum. Most are furnished in era appropriate ways. There are shops and artisan works too. |
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Cobbles and a donkey |
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A venerable door. Wallpapered at some stage to bring it up to date! |
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A lot of chimneys have huge storks nests. When I first saw a stork I thought it was a model. Until it moved... |