Unflappable, Fashioning the 1920s exhibition at Killerton

This year’s display explores the style and social context of the 1920s, with a focus on women’s clothing.

A beaded handbag, early 1920s. Glass and cut steel beads are loom-woven to make the bag, mounted on a celluloid frame made to imitate ivory. Photo: National Trust Images / S G Haywood Photography On display is a selection of elegant 1920s fashions, including bead-embroidered evening gowns, a gold brocade tea gown, dresses inspired by Egyptian designs, and sports attire. Visitors can expect to see garments that reflect the fashion of the time, including drop-waisted dresses, cloche hats, beaded bags, and shoes.

The exhibition explores the concept of a country house weekend, examining the types of clothing that would have been found in suitcases of visitors at a property like Killerton. The show also examines the more modern forms of dress that were emerging, such as lounge suits for men and two-piece suits and trousers for women.

A cloche hat made for Violet Flower Chipchase Roberts (later Lady Furness). This example is crocheted from metallic yarn and ribbon, with a wired edge. Photo: National Trust Images / S G Haywood Photography Surviving examples from Killerton’s collection will be on display including two silk day dresses created for Flower Roberts, later Lady Furness, and couture day wear from the Parisian fashion house, Jeanne Lanvin.

The 1920s was a time of significant change and the exhibition explores how these changes were reflected in fashion. Shorter skirts and a boyish silhouette for women challenged traditional styles, while the art deco movement influenced new and modern design.

Tradition versus the new

The exhibition also shows that while many embraced new fashion trends, some continued to adhere to traditional forms of dress and etiquette. Visitors will also see a formal gentleman’s tail suit, which reflects the more rigid sartorial rules of the period.

An evening jacket (known as a bridge coat) in gold lamé ( a silk and metal fabric) embroidered with glass beads and sequins in Chinese inspired motifs. Made by Martin, Couturier, of Paris, Cannes and Dinard. Photo: National Trust Images / S G Haywood Photography Highlights include two elaborate evening gowns made for socialite Violet Mason by the Parisian couturiers Worth and Drecoll and on loan from Chastleton House. The Worth gown incorporates Egyptian revival style, and the Drecoll is medieval in inspiration.

Additional dresses from the period which are on loan from the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, display Egyptian iconography and hieroglyphics, and a uranium glass necklace with Tutankhamun pendant made by Neiger Brothers of Czechoslovakia, is also included. A beautiful silk wedding dress, as well as spectacular dance dresses and dresses by other couture houses like Alice Bernard and Martin, will be on show.

Shoes and accessories, typical of the decade. Photo: National Trust Images / S G Haywood Photography New technology at the time also impacted culture, and the exhibition features a small cinema area to explore the influence of movies on fashion. Visitors can view newsreel clips from fashion shows from the 1920s, and learn how the popularity of cinema influenced fashion, with cinema ephemera on loan from the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum at the University of Exeter.

An elegant ostrich feather fan, about 1923. Curled, dyed ostrich feathers were available in a huge variety of colours, these are attached to celluloid sticks, a plastic material used to imitate ivory. Photo: S G Haywood Photography / National Trust Killerton’s costume curator Shelley Tobin says: ‘I hope that the display of haute couture on show will illustrate what a stylish, vibrant and inspiring period the 1920s was, and also show how fashion was influenced by social changes and historical discoveries like the opening of Tutankhamun’s tomb. We hope visitors will leave the troubles of today’s world behind and come and join our glamourous 1920s party at Killerton this season.’

The exhibition ties in with Devon History Network’s countywide focus on life in Devon 100 years ago, and its Festival of Devon in the 1920s which runs until October.

Unflappable, Fashioning the 1920s at Killerton runs until November 2.