In yesterday's post we mentioned the exhibition at Palazzo Morando, a Milan-based museum dedicated to the history of fashion and the fact that its archive mainly features a selection of donations from local people.
At the moment there aren't many good news coming from the capital of fashion. Milan Fashion Week is indeed closing on a dark note: the Coronavirus alert is currently high in the Lombardy region where there were 89 confirmed cases this morning, two of them in Milan.
Football matches were suspended in the North of Italy and the celebrations for the Carnival in Venice were cancelled. Giorgio Armani announced last night that he will still hold his runway today, but behind closed doors and in an empty theatre (Laura Biagiotti opted for the same solution), while the show will be streamed on the brand's website, on Instagram and Facebook.
Some museums are also closing down, but Palazzo Morando is still open. So, while precautionary measures are being taken and to exorcise the fear of psychosis, let's look at its archive and in particular at the recent donation the Palazzo received of three dresses from the 18th century.
Discovered in the Mantua area by Enrica Morini and Margherita Rosina, the gowns belonged to two fashionable ladies and the designs are considered exceptional for their impeccable condition.
An analysis also revealed that the dresses weren't restored, but their textiles, embroideries and decorations stood the test of time and were well preserved. All the dresses comprise a fully boned handstiched bodice with elbow length sleeves with the boning structure extending below the waistline.
One of the three dresses, a sack-back gown (robe à la française) in a vivid green shade features an elaborate multi-coloured floral trimming. The museum started a research on the gowns that will lead to a publication and an exhibition later on this year, probably around November. Let's hope that, by then, the Coronavirus emergency will have become a long distant memory.
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