The review of magazines. “ Let us note a triumphant revival of sequins, somewhat abandoned in the low-cut dresses of this summer and early autumn, and which returns to us more attractive than ever, renewed by happy modifications: for example the mixture of shaped sequins and various sizes, and above all different reflections; this gives effects that are a thousand times varied and exquisitely shimmering. » If it has not aged a bit, as rhinestones and sequins are still in the wind, this analysis of the latest trends in “evening dresses” dates from… 1902.
Since the Electricity fairy flooded theaters and interiors with its artificial lights, creators have competed in ingenuity to invent materials capable of capturing the new reflections of the “world of the night”: silks, moires and satin were soon adorned of light, sparkling gelatin glitter, before, in the 1920s and 1930s, new synthetic materials offered even other shiny effects.
But this attraction for what sparkles, noted by Professor Emilie Hammen, is only one of the transformations of the locker room of the night which the latest issue of the journal focuses on Practical modes, a joint production of the Duperré School, the Septentrion Historical Research Institute of the University of Lille and the InVisu laboratory (CNRS-INHA). Soberly titled “Nights”, this opus lists in no less than thirty articles as many nocturnal ways of being as of dressing.
After an introductory interview with the American historian Roger Ekirch, pioneer of night studies, go to the dance floor. Of the “lesbian elegance” which characterized the clientele of female cabarets in the first half of the 20th centurye century (Bruna Holderbaum) in the costumes of the series Babylon Berlin (Manuel Charpy), through the contrasting meaning of black and fluorescent in the history of the techno party (Frédéric Trottier-Pistien), the contributors examine night owl adornments from every angle.
But it is not necessary to be “out” to dress after dark: while the British colonizers invented Western pajamas, reserving this outfit, widely used in India, for private spaces (Lacey Minot), Balzac as for the dressing gown, a real work outfit (Gabrielle Smith). And nightwear has not always rhymed with comfort and relaxation: evidenced by the numerous garments and devices invented in the 18th century.e and XIXe centuries by moralists to prevent the masturbation of children and adolescents (Pauline Mortas). The history of fashion and clothing is illuminated in a new light.
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