At their most ambitious exhibition to date, Chatsworth House celebrates five centuries of fashion through the residents’ stylish legacies. House Style takes over the entire stately home to tell the stories of the Duchesses of Devonshire and associated relatives and guests through the clothes and accessories they wore.
Chatsworth House, the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, sits amongst acres of beautiful countryside in the Derbyshire Dales. It has been home to the Cavendish family since 1549 and has played host to an array of historical figures, from Mary Queen of Scots as a prisoner to Grayson Perry as a speaker this weekend. It is often voted the UK’s favourite stately home and houses some of the nation’s finest treasures, from paintings by Old Masters to contemporary sculpture by Damien Hirst. It is the examples like the latter that has earned Chatsworth the reputation at the forefront of contemporary art and culture.
Fashion Royalty
House Style is curated by US Vogue International Editor-at-Large Hamish Bowles and uses the residents’ extensive wardrobes, as well as items on loan from international museums, to tell the history in detail. It uses key figures from the Chatsworth estate, including Bess of Hardwick, one of the most powerful women of the 16th century (and the brains behind the Chatsworth estate); Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, Adele Astaire, Kick Kennedy, and the Dowager Duchess Deborah ‘Debo’ Devonshire. Debo, the youngest of the Mitford sisters, was responsible for restoring the house, modernising its interior and transforming the visitor experience. Debo’s granddaughter, model Stella Tennant, has loaned many of the most iconic contemporary fashion pieces in the show.
Vistors explore the artefacts themselves, by following a route through many of the state rooms. The exhibition begins in the Painted Hall, exploring traditions and transgressions. The first piece we see is an Alexander McQueen dress worn by Stella Tennant on her first ever fashion shoot. The ‘punk’ dress is juxtaposed with coronation robes worn at three successive coronations, and it is clear from the start that this is no ordinary fashion exhibition.
Objects Great and Small
Continuing through the house, the exhibition presents a length of cabinets containing smaller examples displayed chronologically. These tableau contain such gems as the Dowager Duchess’s pristine Turnbull & Asser collared shirts and Elvis slippers, Stella Tennant’s Vogue covers and a custom-made baby Erdem dress worn by Lady Elinor Cavendish, the incumbent Duke’s youngest granddaughter.
The Circle of Life
The ‘Circle of Life’ section in the Chapel of Chatsworth shows the changing fashions associated with births, deaths and marriages at the house. The wedding dresses in particular show that, while the women of Chatsworth were always at the forefront of fashion, they had extremely different tastes: compare Stella Tennant’s Helmut Lang wedding dress, a vest with netting across the front, to the decadent gowns worn by previous Duchesses and the current Duchess’s Givenchy bolero.
Uniforms
The exhibition continues by surveying fashion through a variety of different examples, including eveningwear, ballgowns, wedding dresses, christening gowns, photographs, magazines, livery, ceremonial robes, and, of course, uniforms – some of which are centuries old.
The jumpers of the 11th Duke are some of the most fascinating pieces in the exhibition. These handmade slogan sweaters feature embroidered type with a variety of whimsical words; highlights include ‘All Passions Spent’ ‘Bollocks’ and ‘Never Marry a Mitford’, referenced by Gucci’s SS18 collection only a few days ago: Gucci is House Style‘s principal sponsor. In 1897, the 8th Duke and his wife hosted a lavish ball at Devonshire House. Invitations suggested a strict dress code; guests were to dress in ‘allegorical or historical costume dated before 1815’. Sure. The exhibition reunites seven of the 200 costumes from the ball, and the results are breathtaking, from a costume for Victor Cavendish as Ambassador Jean de Dintville to a House of Worth design commissioned by Duchess Louise who dressed as the Duchess of Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra. Dotted around the house are spectacular examples of 20th century haute couture by some of fashion’s greatest designers. A specially commissioned gown designed by Alessandro Michele for Gucci uses 18th century illustrations as inspiration and dominates one room. The South Sketch Gallery displays designs by Stella McCartney for Chloé, Ralph Lauren and, the pièce de résistance, a SS98 ‘Marquise Masquée’ Haute Couture dress by John Galliano for Christian Dior, a dramatic taffeta ballgown embellished with rhinestones. The climax of the exhibition is the Dining Room, where mannequins have been arranged to look like they are in the throngs of a glamorous dinner party, complete with chatting sound effects and the chinking of glassware. This room is like a who’s who of twentieth century fashion, including the Dowager Duchess’s collection of Christian Dior Haute Couture displayed side by side with Vivienne Westwood, Christopher Kane, Chanel and Vetements. For more information, visit the website. This exhibition is one of the best fashion exhibitions we’ve seen in years. If you can make it to Chatsworth before 22 October, you won’t regret it. 
The Devonshire House Ball 1897
Contemporary Masters
Dining Decadence
