This is the third fashion exhibition, after Opera Haute Couture and Opera from Foot to Foot, at the Opera Gallery. We’ve seen clothes, we’ve seen shoes, now it’s time for headgear. A countless number of brimmed hats, bowler hats, cockpit helmets, four-pointed military caps and bonnets will be taken out of storage and moved to the gallery. On view will be several dozen examples of headgear from all periods, from antiquity to our times. Precision of craftsmanship, faithful reproduction of a given period’s fashion, differences reflecting different social status – these are just some of the aspects that have to be considered when creating such amazingly diverse exhibits. There’s different headgear for commanders and privates, different headdresses for monarchs and maids. One premiere entails between thirty and two hundred headdresses, usually around eighty. The measurements of every head, whether it belongs to a soloist, chorus member or even extra appearing on the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera stage, are no secret to the theatre’s milliners. Among other items, the exhibition presents a hat from Madama Butterfly that is over a metre in diameter and the Mouse King’s mask from The Nutcracker. On the third floor of the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera, where the millinery shop is located, four professionals design and make all kinds of hat models, out of all kinds of materials, including felt, velour, silk, straw and many more. They model, cut, fit together, stitch, press, arrange, drape, decorate and embellish them. So far the results of their work could only be admired on the stage. This season, these great works of craftsmanship will be on display at the Opera Gallery.
