Lace in Fashion
Lace has always had a particular allure in fashion. Striking from a distance, intriguing close up, lace lends an air of fragility to a garment, creating an illusion of delicacy that contributes astoundingly to its charm and elegance.
It is this element of luxury and sophistication that captured the imagination of forward-thinking fashionistas and designers in the 16th century. Lace became a marker of status. It was a sign of the changing fashions; the height of quality and style.
Lace in Fashion, now on display at NGV international, emphasises the significance of lace as a luxury product, demonstrating the important phases of its history as a fashion commodity. The exhibition features over 50 works spanning several hundred years from the 16th century, including dresses, fans, shawls and several key garments by Parisian couture houses Balmain and Beer.
Most of the garments are taken from the NGV collection, alongside a few pieces from private lenders. Together, they form a detailed retrospective that represents a wide range of handiwork lacing techniques.
Lace isn’t as simple as just holes in material. ‘Lace’ is a category that includes a number of detailed techniques, from embroidery, macramé, knitting, knotting and crochet, to guipure, chantilly, valenciennes and venetian.
These can also be classified as two main types: needle lace and bobbin lace. Needle lace adapts existing fabric by cutting holes and hand-embroidering the shapes using variations of the buttonhole stitch. Bobbin lace uses spools of carved wood or ivory, from which thread is twisted and braided in complex patterns around a network of pins supported by a pillow or frame.
Unlike the machine-made lace that is common today, these traditional techniques involved an astounding amount of intensive labour. The exhibition displays one piece of lace that has 6,000 stitches per square inch, and in the 17th century, a pair of lace cuffs for a jacket would take an experienced lace-maker 10 months of working 15 hours a day to complete.
NGV International Fashion and Textiles curator Roger Leong says that it is testament to the timeless quality of lace that it has endured as a staple of women’s fashion today.
“Lace was a textile that signified all that was luxurious, highly desirable and new,” he says. “Throughout the twentieth century, lace has been the subject of many revivals and interpretations, always creating a symbol of elegance and occasion.”
For anyone with an interest in fashion, costume, Lace in Fashion is an essential retrospective that will reinvigorate your appreciation for this most delicate of textile art forms.
Lace in Fashion is on display at NGV International, St Kilda Road until 23 January 2011. Admission is free.
