Interviews
Museum of Vancouver shows pre- and post-WWII fashions
20 Nov '14
2 min read
A historical journey highlighting the changes in women’s fashion that took place during the pre-war, wartime and post-war eras is on offer in the form of an exhibit going on at the Museum of Vancouver, British Columbia.
Dubbed as ‘From Rationing to Ravishing: The Transformation of Women’s Clothing in the 1940s and 1950s’, the exhibit aims to reflect how historical events like the World War II can change and shape the daily lives of people and how it can have lasting impacts on the overall society.
With a vast collection of over 80 haute couture, Vancouver-made period garments and accessories on display, the event gives an insight into the silhouettes preferred by the designers during the changing times such as masculine shaped apparels made from rationed fabrics became a style statement during the war, peacetime saw the departure of frugality in fabrics and return of womanly silhouettes and the 1950s welcomed girlishness through lavishly decorated clothing trends.
Curated by the museum’s guest curators Ivan Sayers and Claus Jahnke, the featured exhibits include wartime wedding dresses made from parachute cloth, Boeing Vancouver overalls, cocktail dresses and post-WWII high fashions designed by renowned European couturiers like Christian Dior, Cristobel Balenciaga and Elsa Schiaparelli.
One of the major attractions of the event includes a black wool and satin number by the Parisian couturier Madame Gres who crafted the dress with some 80 pieces of cloth, stitched with intricate cutting and complex construction techniques, abiding by the fabric rationing mandates of that period.
The Vancouver museum exhibit will run until March 8, 2015. (PB)
Dubbed as ‘From Rationing to Ravishing: The Transformation of Women’s Clothing in the 1940s and 1950s’, the exhibit aims to reflect how historical events like the World War II can change and shape the daily lives of people and how it can have lasting impacts on the overall society.
With a vast collection of over 80 haute couture, Vancouver-made period garments and accessories on display, the event gives an insight into the silhouettes preferred by the designers during the changing times such as masculine shaped apparels made from rationed fabrics became a style statement during the war, peacetime saw the departure of frugality in fabrics and return of womanly silhouettes and the 1950s welcomed girlishness through lavishly decorated clothing trends.
Curated by the museum’s guest curators Ivan Sayers and Claus Jahnke, the featured exhibits include wartime wedding dresses made from parachute cloth, Boeing Vancouver overalls, cocktail dresses and post-WWII high fashions designed by renowned European couturiers like Christian Dior, Cristobel Balenciaga and Elsa Schiaparelli.
One of the major attractions of the event includes a black wool and satin number by the Parisian couturier Madame Gres who crafted the dress with some 80 pieces of cloth, stitched with intricate cutting and complex construction techniques, abiding by the fabric rationing mandates of that period.
The Vancouver museum exhibit will run until March 8, 2015. (PB)
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