Five Centuries of Fashion

Chatsworth Estate has been witness to an era with a rich and wonderful history, specifically in the area of luxury and fashion. The exhibition House Style: Five Centuries of Fashion at Chatsworth is a perfect representation of the lifestyle and fashionable history of the splendorous era. The beauty of the estate combined with a regal display gives off a vibe so sophisticated, that the essence of the manor might as well be pouring out of the land. An amazing gallery of beauty, art and history, and wonderful insight to the world of fashion of the five extravagant centuries.

Fashion has a way of giving us a view into the lives of the wealthy in manner that a history book cannot. It shows the sentiment as well as the passion behind the events, and the personality of the wearers. The displayed items range from dresses to jewellery, art history to textile. The variety of the astonishing collection of fashionable momentums are enough to paint a picture too wondrous to imagine. The balls and the lifestyle can now be visualized by a mere modern viewer and analysed by an excited history enthusiast. The exhibition includes the fashion and items of many noteworthy figures throughout the centuries, including the Cavendish Family, Bess of Hardwick, Empress of Fashion, Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire, and John F Kennedy’s sister “Kick” Kennedy.

The exhibition will be woven throughout the grandest rooms of the house such as The Painted Hall, The Chapel, and The State Music Room. And with these rooms it will be divided by a variety of themes. The Devonshire House Ball is said to show the style of the grandeur and social status of the participants. Bess of Hardwick and the Tudor Influence is an amazing example of an inducing time and era that changed not only the thought of mind but also the idea of fashion. Country Living and Entertaining at Chatsworth are both wondrous examples of daily life and ideal. And of course, the long anticipated the queen’s Coronation Dress, which holds such beauty and regal aura that you can fully appreciate up close.

Seeing the fashionable lifestyle, they lead leads us closer to understanding how they saw the world back then. Not only the events but also the emotion and personality that went on behind it. Fashion is a form of expression and these immortal items most definitely express. It is the most humane aspect that can be retrieved from the past, and gives us one of the best seats to view the story that is the Five Centuries at Chatsworth. The exhibition runs from 25^th of March to the 22^nd of October 2017. Don’t miss out the opportunity to view such a luxurious past in the most luxurious of ways. House Style: Five Centuries of fashion at Chatsworth, the rightful way to visualize the past.

Written by: Nour Ibrahim