Fashion in the Museum: Upcoming exhibitions for Spring 2014

There can be no doubt that fashion exhibitions are in fashion, and the list of upcoming exhibitions of fashion in the museum is long.  I've highlighted some the exhibits that I am keen to see in spring 2014. 

Charles James Gowns photographed by Cecil Beaton, 1948

Charles James: Beyond Fashion

Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

May 5 - August 10, 2014

Curators: Harold Koda and Jan Glier Reeder

Premise: “Charles James was a wildly idiosyncratic, emotionally fraught fashion genius who was also committed to teaching. He dreamt that his lifetime of personal creative evolution and the continuous metamorphosis of his designs would be preserved as a study resource for students.  In our renovated galleries, we will fulfill his goal and illuminate his design process as a synthesis of dressmaking, art, math, and science.” (Harold Koda) 

On display: 75 notable garments created by James from 1920 until his death in 1978

Exhibition Catalogue link here

Cover of Dries van Noten - Inspirations

Dries van Noten -- Inspirations

Musée de Les Arts Decoratifs in Paris

March 1 - August 31, 2014

Curator: Pamela Gobelin

Premise: "about everything that sparks the creative process" (Pamela Gobelin) 

On display: 150 garments paired with 200 artworks, photographs, film clips "that have triggered the designer’s imagination throughout his life and career"

Exhibition Catalogue link here

Cover of Coming into Fashion: A Century of Photography

Papier glacé or A Century of Fashion Photography at Conde Nast

Palais Galliera, Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris

March 1st to May 25, 2014

Curated by: Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography, Minneapolis. 

Premise: thematically considers the links between photographers that have shaped the images of Vogue magazine

On display: 150 original prints from leading fashion photographers from 1918 to today plus 15 ensembles of haute couture from the Palais Galliera

Exhibition link here

Cover of Elegance in a Time of Crisis: Fashions of the 1930s

Elegance in a Time of Crisis: Fashions of the 1930s 

FIT Museum in New York

February 7 - April 19, 2014

Curator: FIT Deputy Director Patricia Mears and special consultant G. Bruce Boyer

Premise: "how clothing creators of the 1930s, despite the crippling financial crisis and dire political environment, spearheaded new stylistic ideas and wed them to emerging technologies"

On display:  Womenswear and menswear from the 1930s

Online exhibition link here

Exhibition link here

Fashion Postcards

18th Century Gowns in Store from the Museum of Costume in Bath

When I visit an exhibition of fashion in the museum, I am often tempted to buy the exhibition catalogue, but sometimes they are so heavy that I know that it will tip my luggage into the overweight category. At those moments, I often will buy a handful of postcards - just to remember the highlights. I have a box full of them and I also occasionally get one in the mail (like the beautiful one from the Museum of Costume in Bath, which I have yet to visit).

Here are some of my favourite fashion postcards.

YSL from YSL Foundation in Paris

The House of VIktor&Rolf, Barbican Gallery in London

American Beauty, Aesthetics and Innovation in Fashion

I am continually playing catch-up on my blog. There are so many things that I'd like to write about (lectures, exhibitions and books), but there never seems to be enough time for it all. There are only a few days left to see the American Beauty, Aesthetics and Innovation in Fashion  exhibit at the Museum at FIT in New York which will close this Sunday, April 10, 2010.

I had the pleasure of hearing the curator of the exhibition, Patricia Mears, speak at the American Beauty Symposium. She talked about the groundbreaking work of such American fashion designers as Charles James, Claire McCardell and others chosen to represent the interdependence of technical aspects of dressmaking and the American aesthetic of beauty. The display was organized according to the specific methods of construction including the use of geometric forms, dressmaking, tailoring, highly structured or engineered eveningwear, and embroidery and other surface embellishment.  In Patricia’s words, “impeccable design is – and always has been – at the core of innovative American fashion”. 

For me, the highlight of this exhibition was an exquisite Charles James Tree evening gown in pink silk taffeta from 1966. The body of work by this American designer is small, because he was a "relentless perfectionist" and continually revised his previously finished garments. In absence of the labels, I would have guessed that the gowns with magnificent tailoring,  heavy voluminous skirts and rigid under-structures were engineered by Christian Dior. To those in the know, Charles James is considered "America's greatest couturier."

Museum at FIT
Seventh Avenue at 27th Street
New York City