The autumn-winter exhibition of the Fashion Museum is dedicated to the most intriguing and hidden elements of clothing that were not discussed.
What really happened behind the boudoir door? And what did ladies hide under their long and mysteriously rustling silk dresses? How did underwear change with the shifting fashion silhouettes – from voluminous to slim, from long to short? How did attitudes towards what is decent and what can be shown, and what should be hidden from prying eyes, evolve?
Answers to these and many other questions can be found at the Fashion Museum exhibition, where alongside dresses, items worn underneath will also be presented: slips and petticoats, bustles and crinolines, corsets, bras and pantalettes, peignoirs and nightgowns – made from cotton, linen, fine silk, lace, as well as more modern synthetic materials. There will also be an opportunity to compare how many layers of underwear a woman needed to wear at different times to look in accordance with current fashion trends and silhouettes.
It is no coincidence that the word 'boudoir' (fr. boudoir) occupies a central place in the exhibition's title. In the mid-18th century, influenced by the playful Rococo style and Enlightenment ideas, the first room without specific practical functions, intended solely for a woman, her privacy, and comfort, emerged. The boudoir was usually located next to the bedroom and was, in most cases, a private salon for wealthy ladies, where they received their closest guests, as well as rested, engaged in needlework, read, or wrote letters.
With the development of such private spaces as the boudoir, a whole range of exquisite home outfits emerged, complemented by elegant home footwear. The boudoir was intimate enough for a woman to be in it partially dressed or in a peignoir.
In a broader sense, the exhibition is dedicated to the connection between fashion, the body, and intimacy – and how the boundaries between the secret, inaccessible to prying eyes, and the visible to all have changed over time.
The exhibition features vintage and modern outfits inspired by 'lingerie' fashion, as well as underwear, corsets, underskirts, and accessories from the collection of the Alexander Vasiliev Foundation and the Fashion Museum. The exhibition spans the period from the early 19th century to the present day.
The exhibition will run until April 12, 2026.
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