Men’s Fashion Exhibition at the V & A

During these summer weeks, I’d like to share with you some exhibitions, including ‘Fashioning Masculinities’, a major fashion exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

This is full of delights for lovers of textiles. Men’s fashion has changed often over the centuries and this exhibition highlights the very decorative nature of masculine garments in the past, as seen – for example – in the portrait of below (‘A Tailor’ by Giovanni Battista Moroni 1565-70)

Elaborate, decorative fabrics, such as this Chinese yellow silk damask (1700-1800).

Detail of the fabric, showing how the weave creates the complex floral design.

There are also examples of complex embroidery on men’s garments, as seen in the cape below, by Dolce and Gabbana in 2012 and inspired by 16th-century capes, worn in Spain and Italy.

Here is a detail of the goldwork.

Lace, as worn by men, was included (the collar below is dated about 1630) and the jacket below (1630-35) features ribbons with silver points.

Detail of the ribbon and silver points.

It was made clear that pink has often been a fashionable colour for men in the past, as demonstrated by this portrait of Jacques Cazotte, by Jean-Baptiste Perronneau.

Designer Randi Rahm chose a shocking pink colour for the lining of the cape and suit ensemble pictured below.

Embroidery featured on the suit front.

The outside of the cape was breathtaking.

I highly recommend this rich and interesting exhibition, which runs until Sunday 6 November 2022.

You can find out more about the exhibition with this link: https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/about-the-fashioning-masculinities-exhibition

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This is ‘Lace’ from my fabric collection on Spoonflower. It can be used either way up! Find it here