How a London dandy is dressed

The exhibition “Two Centuries of British Fashion. From the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum"

The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) has the world's largest collection of design objects. It contains a wide variety of things: glass, porcelain, metal, furniture, children's dollhouses, fabrics and old radios. In addition, the museum displays paintings by Turner, Blake and Gainsborough, Constable, paintings by European masters, sculpture, and about half a million photographs, starting with the very first examples. Famous artists, architects and, of course, the most famous couturiers, such as Vivienne Westwood and John Galliano, are inspired by the contents of the V&A Museum's storerooms.

This is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, founded in 1852, but given its name in 1899 because the Victorian era was particularly important for British design. The richest collections allow the museum to organize a wide variety of exhibitions - from dinosaurs to surrealism.

The museum brought to Moscow an exhibition dedicated to the history of European fashion of the 18th-19th centuries. The best fashion designers, cutters, tailors, embroiderers and lacemakers worked not only in England, but also in other countries for the needs of fashionistas in the United Kingdom. The exhibition provides an opportunity to trace how the tastes of high society have changed, assess the degree of influence of European and national traditions on them, and enjoy the richness and variety of costumes and artistic textiles over two centuries.

Refined ladies' dresses of the Rococo era, rare examples of typical English court and home ladies' dress of the 18th century, dresses for walking and riding, transparent, flowing tunics of the era of the so-called “naked” fashion and fancy capes and coats of the late 19th century - exquisite outfits of the English nobility emphasize the uniqueness of each era. The extravagant French Lyon silks presented at the exhibition - a tribute to the passion for French fashion - create a striking contrast with the exquisitely patterned English fabrics of the famous silk weaving plant in Spitalfields and with examples of English printed textiles of the late 18th - early 19th centuries. Luxurious men's suits, decorated with intricate embroidery and numerous decorative buttons, stand side by side with dandy suits that are characterized by minimalism and noble restraint. Although the central element of the exhibition is a collection of costumes worn at the British court, the exhibition also presents rare examples of artistic textiles and fabric designs of the 18th-19th centuries and dozens of accessories, including fans with mother-of-pearl and bone looms and painted screens, miniature folding umbrellas - parasols, scarves decorated with embroidery, ladies' and men's shoes of extravagant shapes, hats and handmade lace of the rarest quality and sophistication of the pattern.

The uniqueness of the Moscow exhibition is that many of the brought items are usually available only to a narrow circle of specialists. Moreover, according to the director of the Kremlin Museums, Elena Gagarina, many of the exhibits on display were restored specifically for this occasion. Preparation for the exhibition took three years. The current exhibition is the beginning of a joint project with the V&A on the history of costume - in December the exhibition “Men's ceremonial costume of the Russian imperial court, 1721-1917” from the collection of the Kremlin Museums will open in London.

Nikolai Kosov, First Deputy Chairman of Vnesheconombank, which acted as the general partner of the project, said at the opening of the exhibition: “We are pleased to help ensure that the people of our countries understand each other better and better. And this mutual understanding will ultimately lead to the fact that those issues that seem problematic will find their solution.”

Elena Gagarina, director of the Kremlin Museums, and Nikolai Kosov, first deputy chairman of Vnesheconombank (the general partner of the exhibition), are pleased - Muscovites will be able to admire British fashion until November 16

Daria YURIEVA