
New St. Louis Art Exhibit: Degas, Impressionism, and the Paris Millinery Trade
Looking for something fresh to do around the city? Get your girls together! Take a date! Or treat your parents. And visit the new St. Louis art exhibit: Degas, Impressionism, and the Paris Millinery Trade. The intersection of fashion, art, history, and Parisian culture comes alive with 60 works of art and a range of period hats dating from 1875 to 1914. Enjoy paintings and pastels by Degas that have never been exhibited in the United States. I was invited by the St. Louis Art Museum (co-organized with the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco) along with a few of my blogger friends (Carmen, Diana, and Psyche) to preview the exhibit. Here’s why you won’t want to miss it:

Bloggers at the St. Louis Art Museum
4 Reasons to Visit the New St. Louis Art Exhibit
One: See street style photography before its time. During this period, Degas painted observations of contemporary Parisian life. He often captured women focused in their life, and seemingly unaware of the artist’s presence. This must have been the closest thing to street style photography in the 1800s! Actually, photography was going through some major breakthroughs at this time moving from glass plates to the introduction of plastic film. Degas himself experimented with photography and used it to influence his art.

Bonnets adorned with plumes, ribbons, and artificial flowers
Two: Support a female dominated trade. By the 1900s, 25,000 of the estimated 28,000 artificial flower makers in Paris were women. And most of the 8,000 people working in the city’s millinery trade were women. Top designers in the industry of flower and hat making included Caroline Reboux, Camille Marchais and Mademoiselles Cotel.

Pop-up milliner’s shop
Three: Get the 1800s boutique experience. Have you ever wondered what it was like to shop in Europe during the 1800s? There is a cute little milliner boutique vignette (totally Instagram worthy) complete with period chairs and hatboxes. You can also see first hand what it takes to create one of their custom hats from the shape, to the tools, and also the embellishments.
Four: Observe how art became a way to support women laborers. Chiquita Banana has nothing on these hats. Straw, feathers, flowers, ribbons, sequins, and even entire birds adorn the historic hats. Bouquets of artificial flowers are even piled on top of hats from front to back for the most dramatic designs. These hats can span as wide as two feet. Degas recorded the incredibly skilled labor behind the hats with his art. He celebrated the value of milliners’ skills during a period of increased support for women’s labor rights, including better wages and hours, in the garment industry.
There are so many amazing things about this new St. Louis art exhibit! It teaches history, gives us an appreciation of beauty, and offers a glimpse into casual European society. Personally, the exhibit expanded my knowledge of Degas’ contemporary period. It also showed me how art can contribute to society’s wellbeing in revolutionary ways. This exhibit runs until May 7, 2017 at the St. Louis Art Museum. Learn more online here.
All images courtesy of Elizabeth Wiseman.
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by the St. Louis Art Museum and HEX St. Louis. All opinions are my own.
I love the quiet enjoyment of an art exhibit. EVeryone walks around, studying the work and deciding what they interpret it to be or mean. Sounds like you certainly got a lot from your visit. 🙂
Musings & More
visiting art exhibitions are one of my fave things to do when traveling 🙂 love the part about how art became a way to support women laborers!
This exhibit looks amazing ! I love art that I can relate to and this looks like just the ticket. I went to a mens fashion exhibit this summer at LACMA and it was such fun learning about the trends throughout each era. SO I know I would enjoy St. Louis as well.
xx,gracie
snappedbygracie.com
Art is truly a way to learn more about our past and enjoy beauty in all forms. Exhibited in a good way, like here in St Louis, it can also be a way to tell people about things unknown to them before, such as the dominance of women in the industry, but also to honor these women. I absolutely love the way this exhibit was curated and thank you for sharing it to us!
xoxo
Thomas
http://thomasfalkenstedt.com
What a cool exhibit! I’m meaning to go to the High in Atlanta again, they’ve got great things passing through!
Jordan xx
http://www.thehatlogic.com
1800s street style fashion sounds pretty amazing. I’m sure a lot of inspiration can be pulled from it to apply to present day fashion. What an interesting exhibit!
http://www.thebeautybeau.com
This looks like such an inTeresting art exhibit and so beautifully curAted. I’m especially fascinated by Degas’s work.
xo, Jo
http://www.cutandchic.com
Wow it look so amazing, thanks for sharing.
xoxo, Rachel
http://rachelvogttrends.com
Wow thanks for sharing! This is lovely! It looks like so much fun! I want to go there now!
Linh
Gosh It looks so fun and interesting! Don’t mind to see some paintings/fashion history. And street style fashion before it was a thing is a great way of putting it haha, love it!
Have a lovely week babe! Xx
http://www.thefashionfolks.com
This looks like such an amazing place to visit. I love seeing art, so it seems like a lot of fun!
Stephanie // SheSawStyle.com
That looks like a great place, the photos really make me want to go there!
Raindrops of Sapphire
Looks like a nice exhibit!
http://www.myclusterofthoughts.com/
What a wonderful exhibit. I wish i was closer because i would love to see this One
Sxx
http://www.daringcoco.com
wow this exhibit is so stunning! I love all the photos here. This is SOMETHING, I DEFIANTLY need to see. Thanks for sharing this gorgeous post 🙂
http://www.bauchlefashion.com/2017/02/oscars-so-chic-fashion-recap.html
This exhibition looks amazing !
Such a lovely article.
xx,
Margot
https://troughthepasturesofthesky.com
I love seeing art from the 1800s, so this exhibit seems really interesting! And to see street art at its earliest stages, how cool is that!
http://www.samanthamariko.com
I can’t remember when was the last time I visited an art gallery, it feels like I don’t have time for things like that which is just an excuse :/ That looks like a really cool exhibit!! x
Ela BellaWorld
How interesting! I definitely wish I could go. Thanks for sharing love
francesca
Frank Vinyl : A California Fashion Blog
Omg this looks like so much fun! I wish I could be there to enjoy too. Thanks for sharing babe. xo, sharon
http://www.stylelullaby.com/lifestyle/going-places-moshi/
Looks so interesting there! Great reasons to visit. I always love exploring museums & art exhibitions.
TFM BLOG
This looks like a really lovely exhibit! Such a great space, too! You took such great photos. I hope you had an incredible time babe. Have a wonderful week!
Xo,
Miki
http://mikialamode.com
Thanks for sharing these pictures. this seems like such a wonderful exhibit! I’ve never been to St-Louis but will definitely need to check this out if I visit one day!
Bisous, Josie
http://www.petiteandbold.com
Ok now this place is beautiful and Need To be Seen. Thanks for sharing love.
It looks like an incredible place to visit!
https://www.bunnybernice.com/single-post/2017/02/24/Fairfax-Roberts-x-Louboutin-Spring-Collection
Such a beautiful gallery to visit!! Love art and get so INSPIRED in VISITING new places like this one.
xoxo
Marcy
Ooh! This sounds amazing. I love the 1800 boutique feeling, so definitely my cup of tea this exhibition!
WritingMonique
OMG this is gorgeous <3 i just want to visit there immediately <3
All about trendy hats