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Worth Evening Cape

By The Museum at FIT
In Objects
Tagged with 1896 cape installation silk Worth
On 13 Oct | '2016

© Patrick Pierrain / Galliera / Roger-Viollet

Photo by Eileen Costa. © 2016 The Museum at FIT

Photograph © Zach Hilty/BFA.com

During his visit to Paris in 1896, Tsar Nicolas II of Russia gave the Countess Greffulhe a rich court robe called a khalat from Boukhara (in present-day Uzbekistan, but then part of the Russian Empire). She had it transformed into an evening cape by Jean-Philippe Worth, and was photographed wearing it by Otto Wegener. Eight years later, she had the cape altered slightly in conformance with contemporary fashion, creating a sensation when she wore “her great Russian cape of cloth of gold” to a gala benefiting wounded Russian soldiers.

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

Worth
Evening cape, known as the “Russian cape,” circa 1896, altered 1904
Embroidered maroon silk velvet with a roseate pattern, metal yarn, machine lace, braid with multi-colored silk thread, gold lamé taffeta, cotton tulle
GAL1980.189.16, gift of the duc de Gramont to the Palais Galliera

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

Worth: garden-party dress

By The Museum at FIT
In Objects
Tagged with dress pink Worth
On 5 Oct | '2016

© Julien Vidal / Galliera / Roger-Viollet

Élisabeth, the Countess Greffulhe, wore this dress on May 30, 1894, to a garden party given by her uncle, Count Robert de Montesquiou. It was at this party that she met Marcel Proust. Writing for Le Gaulois under the pseudonym “Tout-Paris,” Proust described her appearance: “Madame la comtesse Greffulhe was delightfully attired in a pink lilac silk dress printed all over with orchids and covered in silk chiffon of the same shade, her hat was in bloom with orchids surrounded by lilac gauze.”

Many years later, Proust was partly inspired by the Countess Greffulhe to create the fictional Duchesse de Guermantes. However, he transferred her love of pink and mauve to another character, Odette de Crécy, who first appears in his novel as the mysterious “lady in pink.” Orchids are also explicitly associated with Odette’s love affair with Swann.

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

Worth
Garden-party dress, 1894
Silk taffeta printed with orchid motif, silk chiffon
GAL1964.20.7, gift of the Gramont family to the Palais Galliera

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

Exhibition Images – Proust’s Muse, The Countess Greffulhe

By The Museum at FIT
In Objects
Tagged with exhibition installation press
On 30 Sep | '2016

Proust’s Muse, The Countess Greffulhe opened a week ago today to great fanfare. We’ve had write-ups in Avenue Magazine, Fashion Unfiltered, Harper’s Bazaar Chile, The Observer, Vogue, and the Wall Street Journal.
And don’t miss, the Wall Street Journal’s video of Tanya Rivero interviewing Valerie Steele who describes in detail a number of the incredible dresses in the exhibition!

Since the Palais Galliera does not allow its exhibitions to be photographed, we have provided installation photographs, by staff photographer Eileen Costa, that you may view and share from our Flickr album.

The exhibition design was conceived and developed by MFIT’s architect Kim Ackert together with Valerie Steele and Olivier Saillard, with lighting by Eric Steding. Note, in particular, the use of mirrors. As the Observer describes, they “force the viewer to really look at the clothes from every angle, to gaze, to stare in awe, to really admire the craftsmanship behind every piece.” Laura Jacobs at the Wall Street Journal states that “Ms. Steele brings both ardor and restraint to “Proust’s Muse,” as well as a subtle sense of the reverberations between life and art, the mirror and the camera.”

Proust’s Muse, The Countess Greffulhe runs through January 7, 2016.

Maison Soinard

By The Museum at FIT
In Objects
Tagged with 1887 dress Maison Soinard pink
On 14 Sep | '2016

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

In 1878, at the age of eighteen, the beautiful Princess Élisabeth de Caraman-Chimay married the wealthy Viscount (later Count) Henry Greffulhe. Most of the bride’s trousseau was made by Maison Soinard. Almost a decade later, she commissioned from the same couture house this elegant day dress in one of her favorite colors, old rose.

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

Maison Soinard
Day dress, circa 1887
Antique pink silk satin, brown silk velvet appliqués
GAL1964.20.3 gift of the Gramont family to the Palais Galliera