Showing bustles that bolster butts and the original ugly knit swimsuit, France's Galliera fashion museum is taking the unusual stand in its latest show of laying bare the ways in which it collects and conserves clothes for posterity.
Instead of a retrospective, the Galliera goes frankly introspective in the exhibition entitled "Opened for Stocktaking," a museum-style reality show offering visitors a titillating peep into the institute's vast warehouses and precision restoration and storage techniques.
"The exhibition aims to highlight our collections by demonstrating just how we handle the clothes, how we conserve them," curator Sylvie Lecallier told AFP.
Galliera's priceless collection of 90,000 items â¤" half of them accessories ranging from fans to the first patented folding umbrella in 1760 â¤" are housed not in the museum itself, but in unmarked premises elsewhere in Paris specially designed to keep burglars out and the clothes dry, dust-free, mold-free and clear of pests.
With a collection spanning more than 300 years and including an 18th century corsage worn by Marie Antoinette, the Galliera warehouses, one of the largest in Europe, are kept at 18 degrees C (64 degrees F) with powerful air filters humming away to eliminate particles of dust.
"Depending on the fabric, age, condition or cut, items will be placed flat in metal drawers or kept on hangers," Lecallier said. "We all work with gloves, the garment bags are made of boiled cotton and the tissue paper used to cover the clothes is pH neutral (chemically neutral)."