Night and Day: 1930s Fashion & Photographs features over 100 ensembles, from fantasy evening wear to playful beach pyjamas. Using women’s fashion as a bellwether, the exhibition explores the social, cultural and political landscape of the period. From the escapism offered by Hollywood films, window-shopping and women’s magazines, to the increasingly stark political realities and extremes of wealth and poverty, the show explores the decade that brought the excess of the 1920s to an end. The 1930s ushered in the utilitarianism of World War II; as the flapper grew up, so too did her fashions. The new silhouettes of the 1930s played with the hard-edged chic seen in the Art Deco and Moderne styles. Structure can be seen infiltrating the relaxed shapes of the 20s, with the bias cuts and complicated construction, pioneered by Madeleine Vionnet and Elsa Schiaparelli, heralding a new era of sophistication and maturity. Presented thematically, the exhibition takes the visitor on a jour
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