May 4, 2024. My annual drive through my favorite old haunts.

An old favorite

All these recent weeks have been exactly like this.

Officially named the Palais Galliera–Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris, this incredible fashion museum owes its existence to the Duchesse de Galliera, once the wealthiest woman in France. In 1878 she began building a Renaissance-style mansion to house her treasured art collection. What happened next would change everything for her. Here’s the rest of the story of how this Renaissance-inspired palace eventually became the City of Paris fashion museum.

Located in the northeastern corner of the 16th Arrondissement, until 2020 the Palais Galliera was a sort of fashion vault. The collections of historical costumes and contemporary clothing of the City of Paris were stored here, but were inaccessible to the public except during special themed exhibitions held once or twice a year.

The museum completed a massive renovation that doubled the exhibition space and allowed for regular exhibitions to be staged.

A vast system of underground stonework arches supports the Palais Galliera, but this shadowy area had been given over to mechanical and building service, otherwise unused. In a clever use of available space, these cellars — le cave, in French — were extensively reworked during the renovation to create some of the brand-new exhibition halls. Fashionistas can now look forward to more and regular exhibitions at the Galliera that draw on the museum’s huge collection

I took these videos on my first visit to this great museum in 2022. Sorry to say it has taken me almost 2 years to post them. Oh, well, Au revoir!

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