Shoes

© Galliera / Roger-Viollet

© Galliera / Roger-Viollet

One of the most famous scenes in Proust’s novel occurs near the end of The Guermantes Way, when the Duchesse de Guermantes, “lifting her skirt,” begins to step into their carriage. Catching sight of her foot, her husband exclaims: “Oriane, what are you thinking of! You are still wearing your black shoes! With a red dress! Go upstairs, quickly, and put on your red shoes!” It is a devastating moment, because their friend Swann has just been telling them that he is dying – something they prefer not to hear, since they are late for a party.
In real life, another friend of Proust’s, Madame Strauss, did once put on black shoes with a red dress, and her husband angrily ordered her to change, but it was not under such circumstances of cruelty and selfishness. Proust simply ran upstairs to fetch the other pair of shoes. Thus, a writer takes elements from life and transforms them into art.
Proust’s Muse, The Countess Greffulhe runs through January 7, 2016 at The Museum at FIT in NYC.


Lagel-Meier
Pair of high-heeled shoes, circa 1905
Sheared velvet, leather
GAL1964.20.75, gift of the Gramont family to the Palais Galliera

palais-galliera-logos-sm

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

Worth Tea Gown

L: © Stéphane Piera / Galliera / Roger-ViolletR: Photo by Eileen Costa. © 2016 The Museum at FIT

L: © Stéphane Piera / Galliera / Roger-Viollet
R: Photo by Eileen Costa. © 2016 The Museum at FIT

Photograph © Zach Hilty/BFA.com

Photograph © Zach Hilty/BFA.com

The Countess Greffulhe often chose clothing of a brilliant green color, because it complemented her auburn hair. Her audacious style is epitomized by this extremely elegant tea gown, simultaneously a reception dress and a robe d’intérieur, which she wore to receive intimate friends at home in the late afternoon. The large motifs on the gown are typical of the spectacular historicizing textiles commissioned by Jean-Philippe Worth, director of the era’s most famous couture house.

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


Worth
Tea-gown, circa 1897
Blue cut velvet on a green satin ground, Valenciennes lace, lining in shot silk taffeta
GAL1964.20.4, gift if the Gramont family to the Palais Galliera

palais-galliera-logos-sm

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

Worth “Lily Dress”

L: © L. Degrâces et Ph. Joffre / Galliera / Roger-Viollet R: Photo by Eileen Costa. © 2016 The Museum at FIT

L: © L. Degrâces et Ph. Joffre / Galliera / Roger-Viollet
R: Photo by Eileen Costa. © 2016 The Museum at FIT


L: Photo by Eileen Costa. © 2016 The Museum at FIT      R: Photograph © Zach Hilty/BFA.com

L: Photo by Eileen Costa. © 2016 The Museum at FIT
R: Photograph © Zach Hilty/BFA.com

The Countess Greffulhe patronized the greatest couturiers of her time, but she was often the real creator of her dresses. This is certainly true of the famous “lily dress.” It has a princess line that was atypical for the period, but very flattering to her tall, slender figure, and the Bertha collar resembled bat wings, alluding to Robert de Montesquiou’s personal symbol, the bat. Finally, the motif of fleurs de lys refers to a verse he composed in her honor: “Like a beautiful silver lily with black pistil eyes.” She had herself photographed by Paul Nadar, wearing this dress and posing in front of a mirror.

Robert de Montesquiou by Boldini, 1896. Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Robert de Montesquiou by Boldini, 1896.
Musée d’Orsay, Paris

“Her dresses, invented for her or by her, must resemble no one else’s,” observed the press, adding that she preferred to look “bizarre” rather than “banal.” The writer Edmund de Goncourt admired her “supreme aristocratic and artistic elegance,” but he also once described the Countess Greffulhe as “a distinguished eccentric,” adding that she reminded him of a “female version” of Count Robert de Montesquiou.

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



Worth
Evening gown, known as “La Robe aux Lis” (the lily dress), circa 1896, altered later
Black silk velvet, ivory silk satin appliqués in the form of lilies embroidered with metal sequins and glass pearls; modern collar
GAL1978.20.1, gift of the duc de Gramont to the Musée Galliera

palais-galliera-logos-sm

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

Proust’s Muse Exhibition Video

In this exhibition video, Valerie Steele, director and chief curator of The Museum at FIT, talks about the history of fashion within Marcel Proust’s work and the legendary wardrobe of Proust’s muse, Élisabeth de Caraman-Chimay.

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.

Worth Evening Cape

© Patrick Pierrain / Galliera / Roger-Viollet

© Patrick Pierrain / Galliera / Roger-Viollet

Photo by Eileen Costa. © 2016 The Museum at FIT

Photo by Eileen Costa. © 2016 The Museum at FIT

Photograph © Zach Hilty/BFA.com

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

palais-galliera-logos-sm

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

Proust’s Muse Symposium

Cover for La comtesse Greffulhe L’ombre des Guermantes

Cover for La comtesse Greffulhe L’ombre des Guermantes


On Thursday, October 20, 2016, The Museum at FIT will hold its 16th fashion symposium, Proust’s Muse. The day-long symposium begins at 10 a.m. with Laurent Cotta and Valerie Steele in conversation about Proust’s Muse, The Countess Greffulhe. They are followed by Laure Hillerin, the Countess’s biographer, Françoise Tétart-Vittu on the golden age of Paris fashion, and Philippe Thiebaut on the dandy-poet Count Robert de Montesquiou.

There will be a lunch break from 1 to 2 pm, resuming with a lecture by Caroline Weber on the Countess Greffulhe and the costume balls of fin‑de‑siècle Paris, followed by five more exciting talks on fashion, art, literature, and dance in Paris, concluding with a look at the influence of the Countess Greffulhe on contemporary fashion. Finally, from 5:15 to 6 pm there will be a live concert with music inspired by Proust’s Muse, the Countess Greffulhe.

For more details and to register for this FREE event, please visit our website.

Worth: garden-party dress

© Julien Vidal / Galliera / Roger-Viollet

© Julien Vidal / Galliera / Roger-Viollet

Photograph © 2016 The Museum at FIT.

Photograph © 2016 The Museum at FIT.

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

palais-galliera-logos-sm

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

mfit-event-prousts-latin-americans-Ruben-Gallo


How did Latin America influence Marcel Proust’s life & work? On Thursday, September 29 at 6pm, The Museum at FIT welcomed Rubén Gallo, professor of Latin American literature at Princeton University, for a presentation of his new book, Proust’s Latin Americans. Professor Gallo presented the amusing social history about the friendships & love affairs among a circle of Latin American friends that included the composer Reynaldo Hahn, Proust’s Venezuelan lover; Gabriel de Yturri, an Argentinean dandy; José-Maria de Heredia, a Cuban poet and early literary model; Antonio de La Gandara, a Mexican society painter; and Ramon Fernandez, a brilliant Mexican critic turned Nazi sympathizer.


A book signing followed the presentation. Video of this Fashion Culture event will be made available soon.