The Art of Costume in Russia: 18th to Early 20th Century

This beautifully illustrated book (featuring 279 plates, including 269 in full colour) is based on the material of a splendid collection of costumes owned by the Department of the History of Russian Culture at the Hermitage, Saint Petersburg, Russia. The collection contains several thousand items and is one of the richest in the world.

The volume presents formal, ballroom, evening, and home dresses made by skilled Russian and foreign dressmakers, embroiderers, and lacemakers, including works of such fashion houses as those of Worth, Doeuillet, Doucet, Paul Poiret, Nadezhda Lamanova, and Mme Olga, which enjoyed world-wide popularity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

A distinctive period atmosphere is given to the dess proper by the use of accessories, such as shawls, fans, and others, as well as by the headdresses and footwear, represented by some of the most remarkable specimens in the collection.

This edition is also illustrated with over fifty portraits by Russian painters, presenting models in period clothes.

Introduced and compiled by Tamara Korshunova, Research Assistant, Keeper of Textiles and Costumes at the Hermitage.