Dalida, Une Garde-Robe De La Ville À La Scène at Palais Galliera

The Palais Galliera is one of the most humble yet prestigious galleries I've ever been fortunate enough to visit. The splendid architecture pays homage to artistic talent, housing spectacular fashion exhibitions. The renaissance inspired palace being an entire exhibit within itself, displays only temporary exhibitions thus remaining fresh and relevant. The elegant gallery currently hosts the Dalida, Une Garde-Robe De La Ville À La Scène exhibition, presenting to us the life and works of actress Dalida the glamorous french singer of Egyptian-Italian decent. Dalida, commonly known for her elaborate style, couture connections and spectacular choice of prêt-à-porter, lead a dazzling life of show-biz. The exhibition transports us into the opulent fashion and performance industry of the 1950s to the 1980's, showcasing stage wear and day wear side by side. Videos of the star allow the costumes to come alive in front of our very eyes presenting to us their fabulous presence and function. Illuminated by spotlights and worn by mannequins, the exhibition emphasises the relationship between Dalida and her spectacular wardrobe.

Discovered during the 1950's in Egypt, Dalida demanded more than the limits of the French cinema provided, so began performing on the Champs-Élysées. We are first introduced to Dalida's elaborate taste which ties perfectly into her phenomenal fame in an all black room full of the most glamorous evening gowns. The dark setting of the room allowed for the dresses to appear even more eye-catching, each fitted with an individual spot light above illuminating their fine details. On entering, the right wall was the most prominent as it displayed four black floor length gowns with a silver sequin robe in the centre designed by Loius Azzaro in 1979 for Dalida. This particular dress acted as the trophy robe within the room purposely surrounded by black robes enhancing it's metallic elements. Combined with the spotlights, the sequins provided reflection of light causing bursts of dazzling rainbow light as you moved around the dress. The dress took into consideration the use of light, the silver could be seen as a blank canvas during performance as the sequins were capable of reflecting the coloured lights of the stage providing the illusion of blue or gold when required. Similarly to Dalida, the dress performed on it's own accords.

Famous works by designers such as Balmain and Yves Saint Laurent were displayed within this dark alluring room. The layout encapsulates the grander and glamour of the star as each and every garment is exclusive from the next. Another gown I found particularly marvellous was the sheath dress worn by Dalida in 1978. The dress was again full length, complete with delicate spaghetti straps. Adorned with an array of pearls and jewels, the embroidery and embellishment on the dress had been created with obvious talent. The gown is distinctively Pierre Balmain as the embellishment is very similar to that of the robe lounge worn in 1977, and a dress and kimono style ensemble worn in 1960 shown towards the latter of the exhibition. The ivory material used for the dress causes it to appear angelic in contrast to the black surrounding, and the sexy black and silver dresses at the entrance of the room. Similarly to present day Olivier Balmain, Pierre worked with Dalida's feminine body shape tailoring the dresses to her small waist, accentuating her bust with a sweetheart neckline. This room mixes the glamour of show business with couture fashion in an incredibly elegant manner, the darkness of the room emphasises the use of the gown as an evening dress providing them with a somewhat scandalous sexy presence.

In contrast to this dark dazzling room, the following space really played upon and embraced Dalida's career, and her brilliant relationship with fashion. On entering the room you are greeted with Dalida's black jewel encrusted bodysuit and pink ruffle floor length jacket. The outfit was the showpiece of the exhibition, clearly created for a performer and fashion enthusiast. The outfit, designed by Michel Fresnay and made by Mine Barral Vergès, was debuted by Dalida on the Numéro un Program in 1980. Placed upon a rotating plinth, the mannequin draped in lavish material rotated giving us a full 360 view on the performance piece. The combination of the pale pink and ruffles allowed for a flirty and feminine element. On opening the jacket pink fringing would be revealed, Delida appearing like a pink peacock. The bodysuit on the other hand was dark and sexy, similar to the evening dresses, giving Dalida an onstage presence however still maintaining a lighter side through the pink ruffles.

Not only did Dalida provide the show world with something spectacular, she also administered designers with an opportunity to dress a women with an athletic frame who desired something unique and playful for the stage rather than the runway. The outfits therefore had to come to life and equip a stage personality as much as Dalida did. This certainly plays upon the concept of the celebrity which at the time was on the rise. Dalida performing during the post-modern era was the prime time for fascination with celebrities and holly-wood stars. Although this was an American phenomenon, Dalida fits the description flawlessly as she lived a glamorous lifestyle idealised by the American dream. Dalida draws parallels to Marilyn Monroe with her bright career but tragic suicide. These costumes demonstrate the concept of the celebrity during the 70's onwards perfectly as they are eye catching, dazzling and the bright colours show their relation to pop culture.

The exhibition did a brilliant job at

encapsulating Dalida's on stage energy and off stage personality. The use of lighting illuminated the costumes and dresses, causing the sequins, ruffles, feathers, vibrant prints and other elements to stand out profoundly. The combination of videos and images of the star performing bought the outfits to life allowing us to see them in action. For anyone with a love of couture fashion, fantastic tailorship, performance or the celebrity this exhibition displays all these elements wonderfully. Although a small exhibition, the rooms were full of the most glorious outfits each providing a different narrative. Every piece was unique to the next presenting Dalida as the ultimate glamour queen.

The exhibition is on display from 27th April 2017 - 13th August 2017 and can be found at the Palais Galliera, 10 rue Pierre 1er de Serbie, Paris. Full priced tickets cost 12 Euros and reduced rate tickets cost 9 Euros.