Fashioning Fashion: European Dress in Detail, 1700-1915

Fashioning Fashion: European Dress in Detail, 1700-1915, currently on show at LACMA (until 27 March) examines developments in textiles, tailoring techniques and elaborate trimmings in Europe over a span of 200 years.

Organised into four sections - Timeline, Textiles, Tailoring and Trim - the exhibition examines in detail the changing shape, texture and innovations in fashion. 'The addition of this extraordinary collection is a coup simply for its breadth and depth,' says Sharon Takeda, curator of the exhibition. 'But even more significantly for its overall quality and number of extremely rare pieces.' 

Timeline offers a chronological view of both male and female fashions. Shades of white are used to allow comparatives between the changing silhouette of women's dress for example - emphasising the changing waist and hemlines. The male timeline, in contrast, uses colourful examples to showcase how 18th century men could rival their female counterparts' ability to impress with lavishly decorated waistcoats, and concludes with the subdued 1911 pinstriped suit, the forerunner of the business suit, which has hardly changed for over a century.

Textiles follows developments in fabrics and explores the way technical innovations have affected price, timing and the design of the final garment. Tailoring explores how these materials have been manipulated and how cutting, padding, stitching and structure have been used to make garments conform to the fashionable expectations of the time.  

The final section, Trim, displays the artistry of embroiderers, quilters and lace makers called upon to decorate the most intricate of garments, such as a ladies cream silk satin robe à la français from England with weft-float patterning and silk passemanterie (trimmings).

Fashioning Fashion is a rare chance to explore in one place two centuries of intricate and sumptuous garments - from an evening mantle with silk embroidery, glass beads and ostrich feathers designed by late 19th century French couturier Émile Pingat to three-piece suits and gowns worn at the royal courts of 18th century Europe - and to examine how technological innovations, the availability of materials and political events shaped the fashions of pre-twentieth century Europe.