The Gilded Age of Fashion: 1890-1914
From dresses with full skirts, puffed sleeves and tightly corseted bosom to the lean silhouette and high waist of the pre-war years, take a journey through time. In the Gallery on the 1st floor of the Toronto Reference Library, examine fashion plates depicting styles from a period of more than two decades between 1890 and 1914. This period was one of peace and prosperity, referred to by the French as "La Belle Epoque" (the Beautiful Age).
Highlights of the show include the handcoloured pochoir fashion illustrations of George Barbier and Georges Lepape and the clothing line of "The King of Fashion" Paul Poiret. For background on Poiret view this video clip.
The Fashion exhibit will also feature original Canadian costume designs for plays by George Bernard Shaw and Oscar Wilde. If you've seen stage productions of The Importance of Being Earnest, Pygmalion or Mrs. Warren's Profession, then maybe you've seen the costumes that were created from these designs.
The Gilded Age of Fashion: 1890-1914 runs from October 19, 2013 to January 4, 2014. Admission is free. Join us for the following free programs:
Designing for the Shaw November 26, 2:00 p.m.
Vintage Fashion: Reliving the Gilded Age November 27 , 7:00 p.m.
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No study of fashion during this period of history could possibly be complete without a thorough consideration of the absolutely stunning fashions of the men and women of the lands of the Ottoman Sultans.