DRESSING THE SPANISH WAY
Prestige and usage of Spanish attire at the European Courts ( 16th-17th centuries)
Coordinated by José Luis Colomer (Centro de Estudios Europa Hispánica) and
Amalia Descalzo (Asociación de Amigos del Museo del Traje).
This conference sets out to study the dissemination across Europe of the dress customs of the Spanish court, a major phenomenon of cultural influence that reached its height of development between 1550 and 1650 as a result of the period of Habsburg hegemony in the world. This is the first time that an interdisciplinary approach will be taken to examine not only the distinctive features of Spanish costume -garments, colours, customs-- but also the various political, ceremonial and protocol factors involved in exporting this model to the rest of Europe; the dynastic and diplomatic agents who provided a channel for its spread in several countries; and the many economic, artistic and literary implications of the taste for Spanish fashion within and beyond the dominions of the monarchy.
The conference will bring together thirty or so specialists from European and American museums, universities and research centres, including experts in clothing and textiles but also art historians and scholars of literature and courtly society of the 16th and 17th centuries. The working sessions held in the conference room of the Museo del Traje will be organised into several theme-based sections consisting of 25-minute papers, accompanied by slide presentation and simultaneous translation from English, French and Italin into Spanish.
Under the honorary chairmanship of HRH the Infanta Elena de Borbón
