Theatré de la Mode
video - running time: about 1 hour
reviewed by Brenna Sharp
The Theatré de la Mode exhibit was developed as a traveling road show just after World War II in an effort to revive the French fashion industry which had suffered severe setbacks because of the war effort. It has over 150 mannequins each standing just over 2 feet tall fully dressed in the newest post-war styles from the French designers of the day including to-scale accessories. The idea was that people in various towns and even countries could view the dolls and then place orders thereby keeping initial expenses low.
While we expected to see more of the mannequins and their costumes, there was an outstanding amount of background information on their original construction in 1945 and their restoration in the 1990s.
The tape consists largely of 1940s newsreel footage of general life and the show's construction and public viewing as well as modern interviews with the people who worked on either the original effort or the restoration work. Much of the information on these personal experiences would have been lost to the future had these modern interviews not occurred such as the effect of WWII on the European fashion industry and how the industry bootstrapped itself back up again with designers, tailors, cobblers, accessory-makers, and show promoters all pitching in with time, effort and either money, supplies, or venues.
All in all, it was a very interesting tape, although all who watched it wished that it had shown each outfitted mannekin separately in a revolving shot to enable viewers to see them from all sides which couldn't really be done in the (original) stage-set displays at the Museum.
Available on video from Maryhill Museum near Goldendale, Wa. They're on the web at www.maryhillmuseum.org.