#costume institute

[elmsmews]

"[My grandmother and Mrs. Vreeland] were very similar, and they both gave me unconditional love."

André Leon Talley and Diana Vreeland, his mentor, during her position at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1974. Pictured is the iconic dress worn by Marlene Dietrich in the 1932 film Shanghai Express.

[my18thcenturysource]

While working on a 1920s-30s menswear presentation for work, I stumbled into this 1920s (actually ca 1918-1922) version of the distracted boyfriend meme. Use it wildly. Enjoy:

Same Energy.

Image:

Plate 048, 1920-1939, Costume Institute, Metropolitan Museum of Art.

[artruby]

In America: A Lexicon of Fashion, at The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photos: Art Ruby

[untethered-days]

[jbfletcher]

"Delphos" evening dress, House Fortuny (Mariano Fortuny), ca. 1930, The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

[samissadagain]

Court Dress, ca. 1750, British, silk and metallic thread

[sewlastcentury]

Fun info to look back on in light of the new Lagerfeld exhibition 👀😬

“...the director of the Metropolitan Museum canceled or indefinitely postponed its scheduled 1999 Chanel exhibition, apparently because of Karl Lagerfeld's persistent curatorial interference....Chanel then promptly canceled its planned US$1.5 million donation.

“Women's Wear Daily published an interview with Lagerfeld in which he complained that the museum was interested only in "an exhibit of a bunch of old clothes." According to The New York Times, the Metropolitan's director, Philippe de Montebello, found this "sadly ironic" in light of Lagerfeld's role in creating fashion for Chanel.”

Steele, Valerie. “Museum Quality: The Rise of the Fashion Exhibition.” Fashion Theory 12:1 (2008), 7-30, DOI: 10.2752/175174108X268127

[thegivenchythree]

Caroline Trentini in Danielle Frankel Met Gala | “In America: An Anthology of Fashion”

[tllgrrl]

“Was so excited when Anna Wintour invited the 3 of us to the Met Gala.” —Serena Williams, Alexis Ohanian…and Special Guest.

[yesterdayscake]

so my little prediction for the gala is that many people will be really thinking about karl as a person who they had a relationship or connection to in some way, and others will be thinking of favourite chanel pieces. not sure if there will be too many people attending who care or know about karl lagerfield’s reputation among the masses (or at least the parts of it I am connected to), but vogue has already been putting out little snippets with anna talking about her friend karl, so I think it’s going to be over all quite respectful to the man; who for all his cuntish ways and chanel’s horrific legacy, could certainly design a dress.

in terms of design I really don’t love everything he did, his ideas of beauty, desirability and romance don’t mesh with mine much at all. so his work thankfully isn’t as present in my psyche as others have been; but there were certainly moments.

it will be interesting to see how many designers and attendees have their finger on the zeitgeist and whether the event can continue to hold our attention. the fashion industry as a whole seems not to want to change as it must, despite the seismic shifts that have been happening since 2020 especially, but even going back to 2008ish and the rise of street fashion photography and the way that really made the elite fashion houses scramble to gain control of trends again

there was a very interesting post this morning from [at] kardashian_kolloquium on instagram talking about how the way the met gala is seen on a general level changed after anna wintour crawled into bed with the kardashian family and I have to agree.

whether it’s solely due to the kardashians, or whether that is a moment where vogue and anna decided to involve influencers in their publicity campaigns in general I don’t know

but it’s certainly true that how the met gala is seen by the public (many of whom don’t know much about the met museum’s costume institute, nor the way the event is actually run) has very much shifted over the past couple lot years. and the event, which used to be considered just one fundraiser event among many in new york alone has played to that audience to a point of ridiculousness. I don’t think that’s sustainable at all, especially with the way other red carpets have been getting very excessive lately as well, and I know that last year with the unfortunate and honestly callous choice of theme for the moment there were a lot less people excited about it compared to previous years. and this year there is karl who isn’t a lot of people’s favourite to say the least (esp when issey miyake and vivienne westwood also past since lagerfield did) and next year will probably be queen related, so we’ll see

anyway this is more words than I’ve ever put on here but just felt like jotting these thots down

[ethereal-originate]

Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty 🕶️🤍🖤

[haeccorizon]

Bryan Tyree Henry

Met Gala 2023

[artruby]

In America: A Lexicon of Fashion, at The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photos: Art Ruby

[professorpski]

In America: An Anthology of Fashion through Sept. 5, 2022

The Metropolitan Museum has a an American Wing which includes period rooms, so the curators of the Costume Institute got together with those of the American Wing in order to create this show. Because, of course, people wore their clothing of a certain decade in rooms decorated in a certain decade. So, you can see both men’s and women’s clothing in rooms dating from 1805 to 1915. These include stories told with fashion in such places as a Shaker Retiring Room from the 1830s, a parlor from Richmond, Virginia from the 19th century, and a a living room designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, plus more.

You can see a 9 minute video tour online. If you are like me it will only whet your appetite and want to stop the video and take a closer look at some of the clothing.

For more info on see the show, and the video, etc, go here: https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2022/in-america-anthology

[jbfletcher]

Romanian ensemble, ca. 19th century, The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

[samissadagain]

Afternoon Ensemble ca. 1885-1888, American, silk/metal