RITAM GRADA / RHYTHM OF THE CITY
Još 1927. Vojislav Ercegovac otvorio je prvi od pet salona, koji i danas Beograđankama nudi otmene šešire It was back in 1927 that Vojislav Ercegovac opened the first of five salons, which still offers lady Belgraders elegant hats to this day
BELGRADE CHIC THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES
famous shoe shop of Kosta Mitić, who was a ‘lieferant’ supplier to the royal court, providing footwear for the likes of King Alexander, Prince Pavle and Princess Olga. A fashion fur shop was also established at Čelebonović Palace in 1932, while from 1939 to 1967 it was also home to the famous Labud tailor's shop, with a few breaks in operations during the occupation. The building was nationalised after World War II and has been home to the Museum of Applied Art since 1950. This museum has a particularly interesting Tex- tile and Costume Collection that preserves items dat- ing from the 4 th century to the first decades of the 20 th century, which provides a vivid account of the history of Serbia through the history of clothing and fashion. The curiosities that you can see here include a French chest of drawers in the Louis XV style that was owned by the Karađorđevićs and is one of only seven in existence worldwide; a fireplace screen and stove painted by Na- dežda Petrović, Serbia’s most important lady painter of the late 19 th century, which served to prevent the make- up of wealthy Serbian women from smearing when sit- ing close to the fire; ostrich feather fans, a tortoiseshell coin purse, a revolutionary Victorian shoe that was in- vented to cover women’s ankles at a time when reveal- ing any skin wasn’t considered polite...These are just a few of the museum’s 37,000 priceless items that tell the story of the private, intimate, social, entertainment and fashion history of Serbs. Numerous “fashion salons” emerged in Serbia dur- ing the late 19 th century and the start of the 20 th , with a view to the example of Paris. The earliest example that we know of was the Ruža Koen Fashion Salon, found-
Belgrade’s fashion fever The way Serbia’s urban elite lived in the first half of the 20 th century, and the kind of fashion they followed, is recounted vividly at the Museum of Applied Art W e’ve already written about how Belgrade was the prehistoric cradle of European fashion, some 7,000 years ago, when the territory of today’s Serbian capital was occupied by a city of the ancient Vinča civilisation. It’s influence also wasn’t lacking in the 19 th century, but you can find out how Belgrade’s urban elite lived and loved in the first half of the 20 th century at the Museum of Applied Art, housed in the protect- ed cultural monument that is Čelebonović Palace. This building was the home of successful Belgrade lawyer Jak- ov Čelebonović and his family. As a lawyer and president of the Jewish Municipality, he enjoyed a great reputa- tion in Belgrade’s social life during the interwar period, ensuring the Palace was a popular place for famous peo- ple of that era to gather.
Located there in the 1930s was the city’s most re- nowned tailor’s salon, Sudarević & Savković, which dic- tated men’s fashion in Belgrade. Interestingly, the salon’s owner, tailor Nikola Sudarević, was simultaneously also a musician, composer and member of the choir of the Belgrade Opera. The same palace was also home to the
78 | Beograd » Belgrade
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