Revisiting 18th Century Fashion - review

The Palace of Versailles and Musée Galliera are staging an exhibition, Revisiting 18th Century Fashion, in the apartments of the Grand Trianon, at Versailles. It hinges on the understandable interest in that era displayed by contemporary dress designers. The dialogue between the era of the Dangerous Liaisons and the present-day works so well it is often hard to date the 60 selected garments. In fact only a quarter of the exhibits, taken from the Galliera collection, are historic, very few items of clothing having survived the French revolution.

The exhibition brings to life the delightful pink-marble Italianate palace. A succession of reception rooms and apartments, flooded with light from high windows, dazzle the eye with masses of silk taffeta, lace, and gold or silk embroidery. You fully expect to run into Madame de Pompadour or Marie-Antoinette. The epitome of refinement, the Grand Trianon was designed by Mansart but now attracts far fewer visitors than does the main palace.

The show starts in the Salle des Gardes with a display centring on an habit à la française, with its embroidered blue silk jacket, waistcoat and breeches, dated 1765.

In 1990 the late Alexander McQueen, then chief designer at Givenchy, revisited this precursor of the three-piece suit with an outfit in silver lace. Vivienne Westwood preferred steel-coloured silk, whereas Jean-Paul Gaultier opted for a jacket in metallised organza.

The first sign of fresh interest in this period came in the 1950s, with superb evening dresses by Christian Dior and Pierre Balmain, illustrated by two ball gowns embroidered with gold and dotted with pearls. After the interruption caused by the 1960s and hippy culture, it was only at the 1980s that catwalks once again witnessed such lavish use of silk and corsets returned to emphasise the female form.

The exhibition features a satin dress by Westwood inspired by a portrait of Pompadour by Boucher. It is provocatively named Vive la Cocotte (long live the kept woman). But probably the most accomplished reworking of 18th century styles has been done by Christian Lacroix, with his complex patchworks, embroidered with coloured gems and meshed with gold and silver.

Oddly from a modern perspective, while adoring lavish display, the Enlighte ment also dreamt of getting back to nature.