La mode retrouvée

Palais Galliera, Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris, from 7 November 2015 to 20 March 2016.

La Mode Retrouvée (Fashion Regained) exhibits the treasures of Countess Greffulhe's wardrobe.

Countess Elisabeth Greffulhe (1860-1952), a highly respected and admired, elegant and charismatic patron of the arts and sciences, fascinated the society of the late 19th and early 20th century.

Many artists were captivated and inspired by her: Marcel Proust based the character of Duchess of Guermantes in his novel In Search of Lost Time on the Countess Greffulhe, the composer Gabriel Fauré wrote Pavane for her. Her passion for arts and sciences led her to promote Wagner's operas like Tristan and Iseult as well as Russian ballets and Fauré's music. She encouraged Paul Nadar, a young photographer, who took countless pictures of her. She supported Pierre and Marie Curie's research on radioactivity by financing the Institute of Radium.

As patron of the arts, she also took special care of her wardrobe. Full of the most luxurious fabrics: velvet, lace, gold and silver threads, silk, embroidery, her outfits were made by the best fashion designers: Charles Frédéric Worth and later his son Jean-Philippe Worth, Maison Soinard, Nina Ricci, Jeanne Lanvin, Vitaldi Babani.

Her appearances in public were always magnificent: she wore astonishing and priceless dresses, jewellery, hats, gloves, shoes. Whether she was wearing a kimono, a Mongolian fur coat, a 'khalat' coat from Uzbekistan given to her by the Tsar Nicholas II of Russia in 1896, a 'Byzantine' dress that she wore to her daughter Elaine's wedding and eclipsed the bride's dress, velvet coats and dresses, feathers or oriental motifs, her outfits were carefully selected, phenomenal and greatly admired.

Countess Greffulhe represents the 'Parisian aristocrat' with her perfect silhouette, her charismatic and intriguing character, her beauty and elegance, with her rich, diverse and breathtaking wardrobe ranging from romantic to seductive, from exotic to classical, from the late 19th century fashion to fashion trends of the Roaring Twenties.

If you miss La Mode Retrouvée in Paris, it will be exhibited under the name Proust's Muse in New York City, at the Museum at FIT in September 2016.

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