That which is hidden from view. Secrets of female beauty

In the estate "Izmailovo" opened the exhibition "What is hidden from the eyes. Secrets of female beauty. The exposition presented on Izmailovsky Island introduces the fashion of the 19th - early 20th century in the most mysterious area of women’s clothing. It’s about underwear. The project not only demonstrates the art of craftswomen who created robes for ladies, but also recreates the atmosphere of the female world of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The exhibition presents clothes, magazines, household items and furniture of the 19th - early 20th centuries from the collection of the Moscow State United Museum-Reserve and private collections.

The term "underwear" appeared at the end of the 19th century. Lingerie, which became not only a garment, but also a symbol of femininity and coquetry, consisted of pantaloons, richly decorated with lace and embroidery, with openwork ruffles and silk ribbons, as well as a day shirt, a corset bodice over the corset itself, petticoats and garters for stockings.. The higher the class of the owner, the more refined, thinner and more complex her linen is in terms of cut. Of course, not only these objects can be called hidden from view, but also all the tricks of women who made certain efforts to be beautiful.

The exhibition is located in two exhibition halls of the Izmailovo estate. The Southern Exhibition Hall presents sections dedicated to the aesthetics of women’s clothing in everyday life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Washing accessories are exhibited here, as well as various ladies’ little things for beauty, a collection of the finest work and various decorations of bonnets, corset shirts (camisole), matinet, pantaloons and petticoats. Collectors and antique dealers emphasize that the preservation of a collection of clothes from one family is extremely rare. However, the exhibition will feature a collection of underwear from the family of merchant Serafima Pozdnyakova: women’s and children’s shirts, petticoats, pantaloons for dowry with the preserved label of the Moscow manufacturer Timashev, as well as photographs.

The exhibition continues in the Small Exhibition Hall, where you can get an idea of how ladies’ wardrobe items of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were created. Tools are demonstrated here: sewing machines, a lace-making machine, a table for needlework, as well as the book "Industry and Technology", which tells about the creation of the direction of machine lace, samples of hand-woven and machine lace, woven details of underwear inserts, patterns from magazines. You can see a cap and pantaloons in a cut form, the reverse side of the thinnest product, to get acquainted with the skill of ancient craftsmen who worked on creating a female image.