The National Gallery of Victoria in St Kilda Road is always worth a visit and especially on a cold wet Melbourne day such as the day I took myself off to soak up some culture. There is a warm and enveloping air of gentility about the place which I find comforting, and I’ve been going there regularly since I was an art student more than twenty years ago.

But first a small snack. One can’t look at art on an empty stomach. At the gallery café I ordered the vegetarian frittata and a hot chocolate. When the frittata arrived it had been warmed but was still cold in the middle. The hot chocolate was thick and very hot. Meanwhile a Russian group at the next table who had arrived before me, kept asking where their frittatas were, and were assured that they were coming, After a while it turned out that their docket had been lost but they would now warm their frittatas. As I finished my snack and paid my bill, the Russians were still waiting. I decided not to complain about my cold in the middle frittata. Perhaps the staff were having a bad day. And anyway, I was there for the art.

I made my way up to the Myer Fashion and Textiles galleries to see

Persuasion: Fashion in the Age of Jane Austen

Fashion always says a lot about the ideas, technology, politics and moral codes of it’s time, and this is why looking at a bunch of old dresses can be so interesting. The first thing that I noted was how small the waists were. People were generally much smaller two hundred years ago. But the most characteristic feature of the period is not the smallness of the waistlines but their height. During the Regency period in England the Empire line ruled.

Empire refers to the period of the First French Empire when Napoleon Bonaparte also ruled. The highly decorative Rococo was passing out of mode and Neo classicism was coming in. Bonaparte saw himself as a modern Roman Emperor, even adopting the eagle as his symbol.

People in France were looking back to the architecture, sculpture, ideals and even fashion of the Classical Greco Roman period. Woman wore their hair up in an imitation of ancient Greek styles, and wore long dresses falling straight to the ground cinched in under the bust.
Some women at the French court went to the extreme of wearing sheer muslin dresses which were wetted over their breasts so they were quite clearly on display.

Besides the fact that English women lived in a colder climate, I’m sure they were far too sensible to follow their French sisters in this display, but they did follow the trend even though the two countries were at war. There was some military influence in the decoration of jackets and dresses and sleeves were so long they covered the hands. A Spencer was worn over the dress. This was a short fitted bolero style garment apparently named after Earl Spencer after he singed his tails in a fire place, and had them cut off starting a new trend.

Kashmir shawls became so popular for women that a new industry started in Scotland reproducing them, especially paisley designs.

There is a man’s outfit on display complete with riding boots and top hat that Mr Darcy would have worn rather dashingly. There are also items of furniture and personal items.

Go and have a look for yourself.

The exhibition runs till 8 Nov 2009
NGV International St Kilda Rd Melbourne

While you are there you might like to see:
The Satirical Eye: comedy and critique from Hogarth to Daumier.
An exhibition of satirical prints and drawings focusing on the period 1730-1870till 26 July 2009