The Thoughtful Dresser

摘要

On a recent stop over in Paris, I visited the Jean Moulin museum of the Resistance, in particular to see a special exhibition on the fashions of the Occupation period. This fascinating collection illustrated all the ways in which women and men -but especiallyrnwomen -kept up appearances during that dark period. There were few dresses and suits on display, presumably because people simply wore their clothes out, but the hats and shoes demonstrated in vivid and varied detail the ingenuity with which these accessories (or more than accessories in the case of shoes) could still be made in defiance of the shortages or absence of basic materials such as leather. There were fantastic towering hats made out of old velvet curtains, crepe paper and glittering ribbon originally intended for tying up decorative parcels. There were platform shoes made with the famous wooden soles and from raffia or fabric. There were handbags made from knitting bags and necklaces made from nuts. The exhibition constituted a testament to the persistence of adornment, the compulsion to dress up, even in impossible circumstances. It seems very relevant to the book under review.