An exhibition of old-fashioned clothing opened in Versailles Apr 12, 2009

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An exhibition named “The Grand Court and Royal Ceremony” opened at the Palace of Versailles. The show is dedicated to clothing worn at the court of the French king and its influences on the preferences of European aristocracy. About 200 original costumes of French courts men were displayed at the Palace of Versailles dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries. During that time just about every European court gave credit to French luxury and style, which allowed Paris to become the fashion capital of the Old World. France does not currently posses the largest collection of noble clothing therefore most of the exhibits were brought in from leading European museums such as, Victoria and Albert Museum of London, St. Petersburg’s Hermitage, the Royal Museum in Stockholm, Grünes Gewölbe of Dresden, and Dutch castle Rosenborg.

Some of the costumes are debuting at such large scale exhibitions reports PR Newswire. The dresses of aristocrats are surrounded by a collection of original jewelry, accessories, and art. The sponsor of the exhibition is world known fashion house Chanel. Carl Lagerfeld, lead designer at Chanel, says that “blinding simple folk with the luxurious clothing and jewelry was one of the best methods of keeping them at considerable distance from aristocrats; the clothing of that time created a social barrier, which seemed unsurpassable”. The dresses and their details were a way of communicating important information about the events awaiting the courts people: knighthood, royal weddings, crowning, and other similar events.

Most fine cloth, embroidery, lacing, decorations, surfacing materials, and just plain precious stones had the court prepared for any event. The creators of the dresses, which conform to all the formalities of court etiquette, were highly skilled professionals and innovators of their time. The exhibition will open July 28th and the price of the tickets to the Palace of Versailles will cost 15 Euro.