Fashion Museum doll on loan to Couture exhibition
The Fashion Museum has lent a charming and little-known piece of English fashion history to the Victoria and Albert Museum's major autumn show, The Golden Age of Couture 1947 - 1957, which opened in London on 22 September.
This is Miss Virginia Lachasse, a fashion doll complete with a wardrobe of miniature couture pieces from tailored suits and a diamante-encrusted evening gown (with tiara, necklace and ear-rings) to a small scale vanity case with tiny bottles of cosmetics and a box of mini coloured cocktail cigarettes. The doll and her clothes have been carefully conserved and photographed by specialists at the V&A in preparation for display, alongside the finest couture pieces of the 1950s.
The doll is included in the book accompanying the show, and the V&A have made a postcard of her.
A review in the Observer by Rachel Cooke stated 'The Miss Lachasse Doll, a scale model that toured Britain with a perfect miniature wardrobe, including a tiny Asprey handbag and a pair of silk stockings; and, loveliest of all, the miniature mannequins on which couturiers made perfect scale models of their designs for the benefit of manufacturers of ready-to-wear.'
The Fashion Museum has also lent four ensembles to the V&A for this exhibition: Two exquisite evening dresses and one New Look coat by Christian Dior, along with a tailored suit by Balenciaga - all part of the Fashion Museum's world-renowned collection.
The Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London 1947-1957
22 September 2007 - 6 January 2008 at V&A South Kensington
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