Posts in the gold category

Evening Coat circa 1925

Photographs © Zach Hilty/BFA.com

Photographs © Zach Hilty/BFA.com

Photographs © Zach Hilty/BFA.com

Photographs © Zach Hilty/BFA.com

This iridescent blue and silver evening coat with Orientalist motifs (rocks, trees, pagodas, figures) demonstrates how the Countess Greffulhe continued to be attracted to the glittering exoticism of the pre-war years.

Evening coat (no label), circa 1925
Gold lamé, embroidery, and sequins
GAL1964.20.24, gift of the Gramont family to the Palais Galliera
Proust’s Muse, The Countess Greffulhe runs through January 7, 2016 at The Museum at FIT in NYC.

palais-galliera-logos-sm

This exhibition was developed by the Palais Galliera, Fashion Museum of the City of Paris, Paris Musées.

Egyptian-inspired Evening Ensemble

The Museum at FIT's: opening party for Proust’s Muse, The Countess Greffulhe
Photographs © Zach Hilty/BFA.com

Photographs © Zach Hilty/BFA.com

Marcel Proust was inspired by the Countess Greffulhe when he created the character of the Duchesse de Guermantes. But he also drew on elements of her style for another character, the Princesse de Guermantes. In one scene in The Guermantes Way, he placed the two women together: the former “typically French” in her “exquisite refinement,” the latter more “poetic” and “dressed up.” This evening ensemble, with its motif of hieroglyphics inspired by the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, seems more in accordance with the style of the Princesse de Guermantes.
Evening ensemble (no label), circa 1925
Bolero: gold and green lame, metallic lace, pink silk crepe de chine lining
Dress: gold and silver metallic lace, silk tulle embroidered with metallic threads
Foundation: Gold and green lamé
GAL1964.20.23ABC, gift of the Gramont family to the Palais Galliera

Proust’s Muse, The Countess Greffulhe runs through January 7, 2016 at The Museum at FIT in NYC.

palais-galliera-logos-sm

This exhibition was developed by the Palais Galliera, Fashion Museum of the City of Paris, Paris Musées.