Exhibition: Impressionism and Fashion

L'impressionnisme et la mode @Musée d'Orsay in Paris

I was amazed by the accuracy and exquisite level of this exhibition. Not only it shows you great pieces of impressionism art, some of them even brought from NYC, but also it is a really detailed journey in the history of the late XIX century, and how the Industrial Revolution changed the ways of life.

As Baudelaire said: “ The daily metamorphosis of exterior things”, although Impressionists did not try to portrait with precision the physiognomy or exterior details in their paintings, they did try to show how society was changing and how the new concepts of luxury, glamour and elegance were expanding through more people now.

The concept of department store was created, examples of that are: Le Printemps (read also posts 1 & 2), Le Bon Marché, or the already closed Les Grands Magasins du Louvre. Where the crucial figure was the "Industrial Designer", who at the beginning of the exclusive clothing business just had created some prints and embroidery, now was included in the creative development of women clothing. Some important names here are Charles Pilatte, Emilie Mille, Etienne Leduc and Leon Sault. Even Cézanne took some inspiration from sketches from this Magazines de mode, as well as, Le Magasin Pittoresque, in the painting "La conversation" ("Les deux soeurs" ).  Another big fashion magazine of that time was La Mode Illustrée.

Charles Pilatte sketches

La Mode Illustrée 

Nevertheless, with this new fashion industry growing so fast, a lot of exquisiteness became the it pieces of this period. First the corset, that allowed women to show great and almost surreal silhouettes. And the second was the crinoline, which gave form to those big and puffy gowns, made with a weft of horse- hair and a warp of cotton or linen thread.

Crinolines and Corsets

One of the best examples of the luxury and high standards at that time was the wide range of dress code. There was the evening wear, which changed a lot depending on the age and the occasion. For example:

• For a special dinner and theatre: Higher neckline, not revealing shoulders, 3/4 sleeves. the more the skirt trailed along the floor, the more elegant it was.
• For balls and evenings at the opera: Low/ off- the- shoulders necklines, elaborated hairstyles, lots of silk!.

Opera gown

Theatre gown

The during-the-day dresses were much simpler and usually it was white the most common choice.

Day dresses

One of the things that I read in the exhibition that really stick on my head was that in these years the concept of inhering the grandma's dresses changed completely! This ended up being seen as a dishonored practice!

The accessoires played also a big role in this time, the most important were:
Hats, gloves and boots.

When it comes to messieurs, they were really simple but not effortless, do not fool yourself! The Dandysme "...was absolute simplicity, which is, indeed, the best way of being distinguished", said Baudelaire  #andheknowsbest

Portrait of Renoir by Frédéric Bazille

James Tissot- Le cercle de la Rue Royale

Moreover, a quote by Arsène Houssaye that summarizes the feeling of the exhibition: "La parisienne n'est pas à la mode, elle est la mode". And to finish, two of my favorites #masterpieces and some images at the Musée d'Orsay.

Manet- La Parisienne

James Tissot- October

images @abc.es