Fashion Regained, the Treasured Dresses of Élisabeth, Countess Greffulhe

Event Description

Countess Greffulhe was the epitome of elegance, and the acknowledged leader of Paris Society (le Tout-Paris) for half a century. Her rare public appearances were highly theatrical and incomparably fascinating. Proust wrote about her to Montesquiou : ‘There is no single part of her to be found in any other woman, or anywhere else for that matter. The entire mystery of her beauty is in the glow, above all in the enigma of her eyes. I have never seen a woman as beautiful as she.’

For the first time ever, the Palais Galliera is displaying the fabulous wardrobe of Countess Greffulhe, née Élisabeth de Caraman-Chimay (1860-1952), with her implausible clouds of tulle, gauze, chiffon and feathers, to her exotic kimono jackets, and velvet coats.