Paul Poiret's wire turban and the turn-of-the-century fashion for fearing electricity

Incredible, but this feathered ornament by Paul Poiret is in fact made of the finest metal wire. The curator of the Poiret retrospective at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs said that for the whole team this extraordinary headdress came as a discovery. But I recalled the amusing fashion of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries for fearing atmospheric electricity: under its influence umbrellas were fitted with long antennae, and not only umbrellas but ladies' hats, corsets and, as you see, feathered turbans. This is precisely such an object: an electrophobic fashion accessory.

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

In the finale of the Strugatskys' Roadside Picnic, the Golden Ball is told: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to offend nobody, but the digest really does come free of charge. So, here is the main business of the

Frederic Leighton

Frederic Leighton. “Daedalus and Icarus”, 1869 Daedalus warns his son not to climb too high: the heat of the sun may melt the wax, but Icarus is already gazing into the distance, and the lamentations of a foolish old man interest him not in the least

Paul Poiret's wire turban and the turn-of-the-century fashion for fearing electricity

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

Frederic Leighton

Attempts to resolve the problems of many years of uncontrolled mass migration

Characters from Gogol's "Petersburg Tales" on the pedestal of the monument to Nikolai Gogol on Nikitsky Boulevard, photograph of the 1960s