Maison Soinard

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

© Julien Vidal / Galliera / Roger-Viollet

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

About the Countess Greffulhe

By The Museum at FIT
In Photograph
Tagged with 1887 Countess Greffulhe Otto photograph
On 13 Sep | '2016

Photograph by Otto, the Countess Greffulhe in a ball gown, circa 1887.
© Otto/Galliera/Roger-Viollet.

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

Élisabeth de Caraman-Chimay, the Countess Greffulhe (1860–1952), patronized the greatest couturiers of her day, but her audacious personal style was very much her own. As the press observed: “Her fashions, whether invented for her or by her must resemble no one else’s,” adding that she preferred to look “bizarre” rather than “banal.” In this, she resembled her uncle, the dandy-poet Count Robert de Montesquiou, who inspired Marcel Proust’s notorious character, the Baron de Charlus, just as the Countess Greffulhe inspired Proust’s immortal character, Oriane, the Duchesse de Guermantes.

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

Proust’s Muse, the Countess Greffulhe Exhibition Trailer

By The Museum at FIT
In Videos
Tagged with Valerie Steele video
On 12 Sep | '2016

Valerie Steele offers a glimpse into The Museum at FIT’s new exhibition, Proust’s Muse, The Countess Greffulhe, based on La Mode retrouvée: Les robes trésors de la comtesse Greffulhe. Don’t miss the exceptional wardrobe of a woman who was a famous beauty and fashion icon of the Belle Époque. Opens Friday, September 23, 2016. Video by Noir Tribe Media.

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

Welcome to Proust’s Muse, from Dr. Valerie Steele

By The Museum at FIT
In Valerie Steele
Tagged with Valerie Steele
On 11 Sep | '2016

Cover of La Mode retrouvée

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

Several years ago, at the Dior couture show, I was sitting next to Olivier Saillard, director of the Palais Galliera, The Fashion Museum of the City of Paris. When he told me that he was organizing an exhibition on the Countess Greffulhe, I knew that I had to bring it to New York. The Countess Greffulhe was a true fashion icon and one of the inspirations for Marcel Proust’s immortal fictional character, Oriane, the Duchesse de Guermantes. My second book, Paris Fashion (1988) had a chapter on “Proust’s World of Fashion,” but I never dreamed that these clothes still existed. They are truly extraordinary!

Proust’s Muse, the Countess Greffulhe runs through January 7, 2016 at The Museum at FIT in NYC and is based on the exhibition, La Mode retrouvée: Les robes trésors de la comtesse Greffulhe.

This blog runs concurrently with the exhibition and will include unique object posts, exhibition videos, press, and other exhibition related material that will introduce you to the Countess Greffulhe and the exhibition Proust’s Muse, the Countess Greffulhe.

— Valerie Steele, director and chief curator of The Museum at FIT