No matter how well informed I may think I am, reality has a habit of whispering a few words in my ear by way of correction. I am quite grieved that for some reason this exhibition came under my radar and I didn't find out about it until the day it had finished.
It was the largest and most splendid show of Greek traditional dress ever to have been seen in London with over forty superb costumes from the 18th to the early 20th century.
What is important about many of these dresses is that they were sometimes worn until the fourth generation - that is by great-grandmother, grandmother, mother and daughter. So all that painstaking and precious stitching had great meaning and purpose. This is slow fashion - as opposed to the fast fashion of today and I idly speculate about how that changes all the dimensions of how we consider the investment of time in our garments.
There is a lovely pdf catalogue of this exhibition which you can download by
clicking here.
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I love traditional costumes. They are beautiful and made to last, as you mentioned here. The world has become a bit boring as we wear similar things almost everywhere now.
ReplyDeleteSlow fashion, what a fantastic phase! How wonderful it would have been to wear a dress handed down through generations. Styles change so rapidly, I thought my daughter would like my wedding dress and kept it specially, sadly, my son decided to cut a strip of fabric from the hem line right up to the bodice to make a doll's dress - naughty boy!
ReplyDeleteThis however, has highlighted for me the 'throwaway' nature of garments and clothing - I am so thankful for the recent popularity of vintage fashions. It has allowed many of us the opportunity to make and wear clothes that express who we are much more than a garment costing pennies that will be 'out of style' in a few months. I am learning to enjoy the process of making, not just the process of wearing!