The Haute Couture World of Charles Frederick Worth

Enter a world of high fashion and high drama in this first lecture in Te Papa’s Unveiled series.

One of the most spectacular gowns on display in Unveiled is a wedding dress made for the American Clara Mathews by the Paris couturier Charles Frederick Worth.

In the latter half of the 19th century, a visit to Worth’s rooms at 7, Rue de la Paix was compulsory for wealthy Americans visiting Europe. His gowns bespoke style, taste, and money at a time when appearances were everything.

Guest lecturer Maureen Montgomery invites you to glimpse Worth’s world through the eyes of his high-society American devotees. Come along to find out why these women were his best customers – ‘better than queens’.

Maureen Montgomery:
Maureen Montgomery is an Associate Professor in the School of Humanities at the University of Canterbury. She is author of two books on women in United States high society in the late 19th and early 20th centuries: Gilded Prostitution: Status, Money and Transatlantic Marriages 1870–1920 and Displaying Women: Spectacles of Leisure in Edith Wharton’s New York.

The Unveiled lecture series:
12 February: The World of Charles Frederick Worth – Pioneer of Haute Couture
18 March: Modern Bride – Vinka Lukas’s Wedding Empire
15 April: War Brides’ Weddings – When Clothing Coupons Dictated Fashion