Palais du Costume    was  a quieter Pike attraction near the central  area of  the Pike. It had over thirty rooms  that dealt with the history of fashion trends from the Roman era to the contemporary.  One  part of the exhibit included the evolution and history of hair styles.

Barr's Dry Goods furnished the costumes. The costumes

and exhibits  had  a  value of 625,000 dollars.  Costumes

of the present  were worn by live models.

Louis Spiering, along  with Ernest Hellfensteller and William Hirsch  received the  commission to design and  the Palais du Costume which was a successor  attraction to  the 1900 Paris  Exposition. The building  was 175 by 150  feet. The western  end of  the  attraction  housed  the Cafe'  Palais du Costume. Strong horizontal lines, emphasized the building's  Secessionist  influence.  By October, 1904, the Palais du Costume was in  trouble financially. At closing time, the company proposed to the LPE that it  pay  al bill except  the  3,750 dollar  ground  rental.

PALAIS DE COSTUME

Exhibit Statictics:

Building cost: 28,000 dollars

Price of Admission-   25 cents adults, 15 cents children

Exhibition Profit-     71,455.05  dollars

Inside the Palais du Costume 

Lee  Gaskins'  AT THE FAIR  The 1904 St. Louis World's   Fair 

                   Web  Design and Art/Illustration   copyrighted  2008

Exact reproduction of Josephine's dress (Napoleon's  wife) reportedly cost  40,000  dollars.

MAIN

PIKE