Because of the dramatic historical events of the 20th century, many articles of clothing of the Art Nouveau period have been lost in Latvia. Nevertheless, the museum holdings contain several costumes or their parts that were made in Riga and in other areas of Latvia. During the Art Nouveau period, women’s fashion flourished, and women in Riga, like women all over Europe, looked for inspiration to Parisian style. This inspiration mostly came from browsing through German and French fashion magazines. Art Nouveau brought about a new silhouette of an outfit featuring natural shapes, i.e. a flared skirt with a narrow waistline and a richly adorned upper part of a garment. The dress was shaped as an hourglass and enlivened by the flared lower part of the skirt. Art Nouveau clothing was made of wool, silk and cotton. Outfits were complemented with lace, ribbons, pearls and embroidery. The costumes became sophisticated and luxurious, and their wearers resembled magnificent flowers adding glamour to the natural scenery as well as to the cityscape. In clothing light tones prevailed, leaving black only for the mourning dresses. The museum collection has such a dress made in the late 19th century. Its silhouette resembles an hourglass; the elegant lapels of the jacket are exquisitely adorned with lace. The collection also includes several hand-embroidered lace blouses. Nightwear and lingerie form a special part of the collection. They are mostly made of fine cotton or muslin and richly embroidered. Several changeable collars were made to enliven dresses and blouses. They were made of lace or embroidered. The outfits were complemented with various accessories: scarves, gloves, purses and handbags. Purses were sewn and often embellished with beads and pearls thus endowing them with a particularly romantic look.
Men’s fashion followed the traditions of the previous period and it reflected the features of the new style only partially. The museum collection contains an ornate embroidered box with collars and cuffs for men’s shirts.
Collars
Accessories
