Thursday, 20 April 2017

Couture comes to Chatsworth


Chatsworth House in Derbyshire has housed some of the most fashionable women English society has ever laid eyes upon. And now for the first time in the stately home’s history, Chatsworth, home to the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, is staging its largest ever exhibition celebrating some of those stylish ladies, in ‘House Style: Five Centuries Of Fashion At Chatsworth.’

Curated by couture enthusiast and editor at large of American Vogue, Hamish Bowles, the exhibition brings together a variety of special Haute Couture pieces as well as clothes treasured by the Cavendish family who have lived at Chatsworth for generations. Gowns by Jean-Phillipe Worth, Christian Dior and Alexander McQueen feature inside while Gucci and Vetements make a surprise appearance too. Gucci shot their Cruise 2017 collection in the gardens of Chatsworth and are also the main sponsors of the exhibition which charts the outfits of the famous women who have swept through the house’s halls - the most famous being Georgiana the 5th Duchess of Devonshire. Described as the “Empress of Fashion,” Georgiana was a national style icon and socialite during the eighteenth century. And a fun fact for you, she was also the great-great-great-great-aunt of Princess Diana, another woman known for her immaculate sense of style. 

As well as Georgiana, model Stella Tennant, granddaughter of Andrew Cavendish the 11th Duke of Devonshire, Adele Astaire, sister to Fred, and the notorious Mitford sisters are just a few other famous names whos clothes are featured in the exhibition. For those of you who were wondering, the six Mitfords sisters were the Kardashians of their day. The siblings were the cause of widespread controversy through their dalliances with Adolf Hitler, politician Oswald Mosley and Esmond Romilly, Winston Churchill's nephew. Nobody could have accused them of being boring.

“Chatsworth is a real treasure house and the characters of generations of Cavendish family members who have peopled its rooms and gardens and landscapes is revealed as vividly through their choice of clothing and adornments, as through the canvases and lenses of the great artists and photographers who have memorialised them through the centuries,” Hamish Bowles told Vogue regarding the exhibition. Fashion, art, history… what’s not to love?

House Style: Five Centuries Of Fashion At Chatsworth is open until the 22nd October, 2017.

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