Fascination Fashion - yesterday and today

People have been fascinated by fashion for centuries - and garments have always had a strong symbolic power. Thus, textile art plays a major role within paintings as clothes and garments on portraits and history paintings always represent a person's social standing, sovereign or clerical dignity, scholarship or family status. There are significant differences between official robes, work and peasant clothing. The garment serves as a social code through which its wearer is identifiable in public. The tour through the Picture Gallery explains key words like chausses, codpieces, brocade, pomegranate pattern and smock-frocks and comes up with further interesting stories revolving around historic fashion.