The Centre National du Costume de Scene (National Theatrical Costume Center) is paying homage to the Diva, that prima donna endowed with a magnetic aura and exercising fascination over her audience, via an exhibition entitled Vestiaire de Divas (The Diva's dressing room), through December 31, 2010 in Moulins, France.
The Centre National du Costume de Scène(CNCS) was established in 2006 with the mission of preserving and exhibiting costumes from the performing arts in France. The costumes in the permanent collection — donated by the Bibliothèque Nationale, the Comédie-Française, and Paris’s National Opera — span the second half of the 19th century all the way to the early 2000s. In order to protect the fabrics, the collection is not on permanent display, but the CNCS organizes three exhibitions a year.
For Romans, then for Italians, the "Diva" was originally a "goddess". At the dawn of the 20th century, she became mortal in the form of an opera singer whose talent, virtuosity and personality combine to form a truly explosive blend, nurturing unparalleled success and popularity.
Vestiaire de Divas, a beautiful exhibition, displays an array of costumes, dresses, jewelry and accessories from the 19th and 20th century, wore by true myths such as, Maria Callas, Sarah Bernhardt, Edith Piaf, Dalida and Edwige Feuillere among them.
The various outfits of Maria Callas
Edwige Feuillere's fan
Sarah Bernhardt's pouch, 1896
Louis Vuitton toiletry case
Maria Callas's dress
Dalida's dress, 1981
Edith Piaf's vanity case
Images, courtesy of Artinfo
and Evenfr
