The 7th exhibition from the Alexandre Vassiliev Foundation collection is on display at the Šilutė Hugo Scheu Museum from May 10 to August 31, 2026. This is one of the best-known private fashion history collections in Europe, renowned for its authentic costumes, accessories and artefacts of fashion culture.
This exhibition is special because most of the dresses, accessories and decorations will be shown in Lithuania for the first time.

The dresses tell the story of fashion history and the changing silhouettes of clothing. Over the centuries, fashion has constantly transformed — from Romanticism and the Victorian era to Art Nouveau, Art Deco and modernist trends. Each era can be recognised not only through beautiful fabrics and decorative elements, but also through the changing form of clothing. Silhouettes, sleeve cuts and neckline features all speak about their time. Forms speak — this is how the new exhibition from the Alexandre Vassiliev collection can be described.
A large part of the exhibition is dedicated to accessories, which were no less important than the costume itself.

The women’s, men’s and children’s costumes in the exhibition reveal that fashion was also shaped by the construction of undergarments. In women’s fashion, corsets, petticoats and various structures that changed the silhouette — crinolines, bustles and others — played an important role. The men’s costumes in the exhibition tell not only about fashion trends, from changes in sleeve cuts to headwear, but also about the phenomenon of the male corset. Children’s clothing shows the influence of fashion on everyday life: in different periods, children’s clothing silhouettes reflected adult fashion trends and the aesthetics of the time.

This collection invites visitors to see fashion not only as clothing, but also as a reflection of social, cultural and aesthetic change.Ši kolekcija leidžia pažvelgti į madą ne tik kaip į aprangą, bet ir kaip į socialinių, kultūrinių bei estetinių pokyčių atspindį.