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interest in nature too—dresses were encrusted with theiridescent wings of beetles, seal-skin was a popular choicefor winter mufs and jackets, while whalebone was usedto construct corsets, valued for its strength and lexibility.There was even a brief American fad in the 1880s ofwearing living makech beetles—they were attached bya chain to a lapel or corsage, their hard shells decoratedwith precious stones as if they were jewellery.While few species survived the Victorian erawholly unscathed, birds hada particularly bad time of it.A long-held vogue for feather-trimmed hats meant that therewas a perennial demand forexotic, showy plumage. Smallertypes, such as the hummingbirdwith its jewel-toned colours,were used whole, stufed andsewn onto millinery, as werebirds of paradise and tiny,emerald-hued cuckoos. Somebreeds, such as the osprey, werehunted almost to the point ofextinction, and it was only theeforts of a group of sufragettes who inally helped toend this widespread killing of the avian population,banding together to form the RSPB in 1889.The advent of World War I and the decline of regionalindustry saw the English countryside represented ina new light, reimagined as an Arcadian idyll, with ahost of writers from Thomas Hardy to DH Lawrenceromanticising the great outdoors. “The rural landscapewas mythologised as the antithesis of the modern urbanenvironment,” says Edwards. “The regularity of theseasons and traditions of the land were interpreted assymbols of stability, ofering a refuge from the politicalupheavals and economic uncertainties of the period.”Country fabrics such as tweed and wool were seen toembody a quintessentially British style. A September1937 photograph by Norman Parkinson for Harper’sBazaar shows a tweed-clad model walking down adeserted country lane in high summer. Although she issmartly dressed, she appears completely at one with hersurroundings, her clothing perfectly in keeping withher environment.``````Not long afterwards, with the onset of World War II,thousands of city dwellers around Europe headed to thecountryside in search of refuge, among them a youngChristian Dior, who left occupied Paris for rural Francein 1940. “I found myself living for the irst time in thedepths of the country,” he recalled in his autobiography.“I became passionately fond of it and developed a feelingfor hard labour on the land, the cycle of the seasons, andthe perpetual mystery of germination.”He spoke of designing clothes for lowerlike women,and so many of his designs evoked that look—the narrow, stem-like torso contrasting with the veryfull skirts, like the corolla of a plant. While Dior’swomen resembled cultivated, hothouse specimens,the V&A exhibition considers his work alongside thatof Alexander McQueen, who was also inluenced bynature, albeit in a very diferent way.McQueen explored the wild and animalistic inhis work, often highlightingits darker side. His 2001collection Voss featuredclothes embellished withostrich feathers, oyster shells,and razor clams, while theSpring 2007 show Sarabandeincluded a dress that mixedreal blooms with artiicialones. He told this magazine:“I used lowers because theydie. My mood was darklyromantic at the time.”His inal completecollection before his deathwas Plato’s Atlantis for Spring 2010, which imagineda future where global warming had caused sea levelsto rise and humans to evolve in order to survive.Models sported gills, their hair twisted into horns,their feet encased in claw-like ‘armadillo’ boots.The entire show—streamed online, ilmed by tworobotic cameras—seemed to illustrate the mentaldisconnect between humans and the Earth weinhabit, while highlighting the fact that physicallywe are inextricably linked to it—the amphibiousmodels a reminder that we change in response to ourenvironment, even as it is changed by us.Past fashions chronicle our historic preoccupationwith the beauty of nature; but perhaps the way forwardis to celebrate it in a more sustainable way, that protectsrather than exploits our precious materials. Mesmerisingas Alexander McQueen’s underwater dystopia was, fewof us would choose to live in an Atlantis. ■``````Fashioned from Nature, sponsored by CELC, is on at theVictoria and Albert Museum, London until January 27, 2019.HOT LISTBazaar