The Centre National du Costume de Scène (CNCS) in Moulins, France, was established in 2006 with the mission of preserving and exhibiting costumes from the performing arts in France. The costumes in the permanent collection — donated by the Bibliothèque Nationale, the Comédie-Française, and Paris’s National Opera — span the second half of the 19th century all the way to the early 2000s. In order to protect the fabrics, the collection is not on permanent display, but the CNCS organizes three exhibitions a year.

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Through the end of 2010, the current show, "Vestiaire de Divas: De Maria Callas à Dalida" ("The Divas’ Closet: From Maria Callas to Dalida"), reveals a spectacular array of dresses, costumes, jewelry, and accessories from 19th- and 20th-century divas. The term "diva" originally referred to an ancient goddess, but the diva phenomenon had its origin in 19th century Italian opera. Replacing the castratos, who had dominated the genre, the divas created a new style based on costume as well as singing. Adored by the public, these grandes dames could choose their own costumes and maintained legal ownership of them.

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By the 20th century, the concept of the diva had grown to include actresses and singers of popular music. While opera’s Maria Callas was "la Diva Assoluta," she was joined by the likes of Sarah Bernhardt, Edith Piaf, and Dalida. Their combination of vulnerability and dramatic grandeur captured the public imagination of the time — and still does today.

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Maurizio Galante and Delphine Pinasa have organized the show around the private and public personae of the diva. In a space arranged like a giant dressing room of pink silk, the stars’ personal side is revealed through intimate accessories such the small black case that Edith Piaf had with her at every concert, which still contains a photo of Piaf and her friends, statuettes of the Virgin Mary and Saint Rita, and tubes of make-up. The second exhibition area focuses on the public persona, with dresses designed by Marcel Escoffier for Maria Callas, the boyish costume worn by Cecilia Bartoldi in "The Marriage of Figaro," and June Andersons silk organza extravaganza: a dress made of 15 layers of fabric in a palette of white, cream, and beige.

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There are also fabulous creations worn by other American opera stars such as Renée Fleming, dubbed "America’s Beautiful Voice," and Jessye Norman, “the Black Diamond” (nicknames are de rigueur for true divas). Additionally, the exhibition features film clips and recordings that reflect contemporary opera as well as conjuring up the mythical spirit of divas of the past. Yet, as Maurizio Galante puts it in the show's press release, the diva is "a response to the collective imagination… and ends up representing something or someone that doesn’t really exist."