There may be intriguing fashion exhibitions all over the world, but sometimes you find suprising fashion-related displays also in less known museums.
In Bologna for example there is the Museo del Patrimonio Industriale (Museum of Industrial Heritage) which has a wide range of displays on three floors.
The itinerary takes visitors through collections of scientific instruments, models and machinery, objects relating to construction materials, plus information on innovative inventions.
On the second floor visitors can discover instead five centuries of Bolognese productive excellence with dioramas, exhibits, scale models and audio-video installations. The centerpiece of the section is a functioning 1:2 scale model of a Bolognese silk mill (a machine that disappeared in the 19th century).
Technological progresses allowed the silk industry to spread around Bologna in the 15th century. Production took place within the city walls: silk cocoons were purchased in a square (now Piazza Galvani), while the weaving was done at home by hundreds of women and the fabric was finished in artisans' workshops. At the height of the silk industry in Bologna, over 100 silk mills were in use in the city.
Among the products manufactured there were also silk veils and in the museum there are some reproductions of veils based on paintings and created by Tessy Schoenholzer.
The first example posted here and shown from two different perspectives refers to a headdress from the 15th century. Here the silk veil was used to complement the cone-shaped or cylindrical headgear called hennin (this reconstruction is clearly based on Rogier van der Weyden's "Portrait of a Lady").
The second example refers instead to a Renaissance headdress, with the double width silk veil covering the hair plaited or tied in a bun.
The third image is dedicated to all those fashion students, historians and researchers interested in mourning attires: this is a widow's headdress based on the "Portrait of a young widow of the Medici Family" by Jacopo Chimenti da Empoli (1620 ca. ). Widows used to wear a wide silk veil bonnet with a corner of the fabric covering the forehead.
Last but not least, the final image relates to a more flamboyant style from the 18th century. The silk veil was enriched here with ribbons and laces that gave a finishing touch to the voluminous hairstyles favoured at the time.
All images in this post courtesy of Serena Di Virgilio
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