The clothes of the Stars
Christmas Edition
On exhibition in Galleria Cavour 1959 is a stage dress by Shirley Bassey designed by Douglas Darnell in 1990. From the collection of Cecilia Matteucci Lavarini.
DECEMBER 6, 2023 TO JANUARY 6, 2024
GALLERIA CAVOUR 1959
The exhibition “The Clothes of the Stars,” returns to Galleria Cavour 1959 in an extraordinary Christmas version.
The Christmas Edition of the Clothes of the Stars features the display of the all-pearl dress worn by Shirley Bassey weighing 7 kilograms and created by Douglas Darnell in 1990.
On display through Jan. 6, the dress, along with other props, was offered for sale by the singer at Christie’s in 2003 to create a school for young artists and actors.
Other dresses worn by Bassey are on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London as part of the exhibition “Diva.
Douglas Darnell’s surprising “shimmy” dress weighs about 5 kg and is made of sheer white silk chiffon; the bodice has thin straps, embroidered with pearls and sequins. The skirt, with a center slit on the upper leg, is decorated with a series of cascading white silk tassels; the train is embellished with multiple rows of sequins on the top surface and lined with a deep border of white sequins.
The dress was worn by Shirley Bassey on several occasions in the late 1990s and is featured on the cover of the 1996 single recorded with Chris Rea Disco La Passione.
