Tradition and fashion in Greece focusing on weddings, those significant times in a woman’s life, this exhibition of the Benaki Museum, curated by Ioanna Papantoniou, presents a large array of clothing from the collections of the Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation. The exhibition is opening next Wednesday, January 22 (8.00 p.m.), at the Pireos St. Annexe of the Museum. It will run through April 6, 2014.
Commencing with local traditional Greek dress in the 19th century and going on to European fashion, Brides is an exhibition that includes wedding dresses from the end of the 19th century to the dawn of the 21st, and intends to showcase the variety of shapes and decorative motifs in bridal wear of that period, and through this variety, the particular social and experiential function of the wedding dress. From elegant and ornate wedding dresses at the close of the 19th century to the avant-garde creations of modern designers and eccentric appearances of brides in the 21st century, the creation of wedding apparel goes hand-in-hand with fashion trends in a very particular way, oftentimes drawing its inspiration from the shapes of the past or forecasting future fashion trends.
The exhibition is part of the celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation and the material it presents, which is mainly from donations, is a tribute to the Foundation donors.
