What's on the Fashion Calendar in September 2013?

Other than the rollout of Fashion Weeks around the world, there is a long list of fashion-related events and exhibitions on the calendar for September 2013. My picks for the month include:

Interwoven Globe
Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

September 16, 2013: The Opening of Interwoven Globe: The Worldwide Textile Trade, 1500-1800 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

This is the first major exhibition to explore the global circulation of design through the trading of textiles from the 16th to the early 19th century through the medium of textiles.  This exhibition features 134 works in order to tell the visual history of design, exploring the interrelationship of textiles, commerce, and taste.


September 18, 2013: The Opening of Farandole: Perspectives on Western Metis Culture at the Textile Museum of Canada.

This show, a combination of textile art, fashion and art installation, promises to be a visual feast -- combining the couture garments crafted by French fashion designer and embroiderer Pascal Jaouen adjacent to a room-sized embroidered textile installation by Franco-Manitoban visual artist Colette Balcaen.


September 20-21, 2013: Uncommon Beauty, The CSA Mid-west Conference in Chicago.

At this annual conference of the mid-west section of the Costume Society of America, I will present "Memories of a Dress".


September 25, 2013: David Bowie at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto.

On its first stop on its world tour, this exhibition from the Victoria and Albert Museum celebrates the David Bowie's collaborations in the fields of fashion, sound, theatre, art and film. presenting more than 50 stage costumes plus music videos, set designs, photographs and excerpts from films and live performances. Organized thematically, the show immerses visitors in a spectacular and interactive trip through Bowie’s numerous personae and legendary performances, with particular attention paid to his artistic influences. (And of course, if you have not seen it yet,  combine your visit with a tour of Ai Weiwei: According to What? also at the AGO).


September 28, 2013: Alaia at the Palais Galliera, Musee de la Mode de la Ville de Paris.

After being closed for several years, curator Olivier Saillard will reopen the newly renovated galleries of the Palais Galliera with a retrospective of the work of designer Azzedine Alaia. On display will be 70 garments tracing the trajectory of the designer's career set amongst a scenography by designer Martin Szekely. Alaia is known for his highly sculptured dresses that hug every curve, articulated through his mastery of cut.

Notice of copyright: 
All text and images on this blog are the copyright of Ingrid Mida, unless otherwise noted. The copying of posts, images and/or text without proper attribution is violation of copyright and legal action will be pursued.

The June Fashion Calendar

I cannot recall another time when there have been so many fashion related events in Toronto, which means that, for once, I don't have to get on a plane to get my fashion fix. Here are a list of upcoming fashion related events in Toronto for June 2013.

VIKTOR&ROLF Dolls

June 9 - 30: VIKTOR&ROLF DOLLS at the ROM as part of the Luminato Festival
In this presentation at the Royal Ontario Museum, about 25 hand-crafted porcelain dolls styled to replicate runway looks are dressed in scaled-down versions of Viktor&Rolf couture designs. Initially presented in 2008 at the Barbican Art Gallery in London, England in 2008, these dolls have been set on a specially crafted miniature runway in the ROM's Thorsell Spirit House.  The exhibition is free and open during regular Museum hours. I saw this exhibition at the Barbican Art Gallery in 2008 and wrote a post at that time and have written about the dolls as part of a creative process journal project. For these reasons, I am really looking forward to having another look at these uncanny incarnations.

June 9: Out of the Box: The Rise of Sneaker Culture, An Illustrated Talk by Senior Curator Elizabeth Semmelhack at the Bata Shoe Museum 
Curator Elizabeth Semmelhack will discuss the history of the sneaker and the rise of sneaker culture in becoming the footwear of choice for many. My review of the exhibition was published on Modeconnect and my behind-the-scenes visit and interview with Elizabeth Semmelhack is presented on Worn Through.

June 21 at 330 pm: Decentralizing the Museum: The Ryerson Fashion Research Collection 
The Discursive Spaces Conference at the Art Gallery of Ontario (June 20-23) considers the "integration of art, design, and architecture in the creation of memorable and immersive museum experiences, while balancing the public’s expectations of self-directed expression and engagement".  In my joint presentation with architect Guela Solow, we will talk about our shared vision for the remodelling of the space to house the Ryerson Fashion Research Collection. In this conceptual plan,  the barriers of the museum have been disintegrated by integrating the collection within the university environment. Advance tickets are required for this conference and day passes are now available.

Dare to Wear Love at the Textile Museum of Canada

Dare to Wear Love at the Textile Museum of Canada
Photo by Ingrid Mida 2012

The patterns and vibrancy of African cloth will blow away the cobwebs of the winter if you venture out to see the colourful Dare to Wear Love exhibition at the Textile Museum of Canada. This exhibition was designed to raise awareness and funds for grassroots organizations who are turning the tide of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa and showcases the work of Canada's top fashion designers including Brian Bailey, David Dixon, Fashion Crimes, Linda Lundström, Hoax Couture, Izzy Camerilli, and others. The designers have used African cloth to create fashionable pieces that celebrate creativity and social responsibility.

Dare to Wear Love 2 at the Textile Museum of Canada
Photo by Ingrid Mida 2012

Dare to Wear Love - Child's Dress by Izzy Camerilli
Photo by Ingrid Mida 2012

This tightly curated and beautifully displayed exhibition will run until May 6, 2012.

Textile Museum of Canada
55 Centre Avenue (at Dundas Street West)
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 2H5
416-599-5321
info@textilemuseum.ca

Notice of copyright: 
All text and images on this blog are the copyright of Ingrid Mida, unless otherwise noted. The copying of posts, images and/or text without proper attribution is violation of copyright and legal action will be pursued.

February is Fashion History Month

Costume history is a subject that I find utterly enchanting and the shelves in my office groan with stacks and stacks of books on the topic. Normally I have to travel to distant places to get my fashion history fix, but this month there are a number of local exhibitions celebrating the history of fashion. 

12.12.12 Life in Three Centuries at the Fashion History Museum
Photo courtesy of the Fashion History Museum 2012

'12.12.12: Life in Three Centuries' looks at the intersection of fashion and life in 1812, 1912, and 2012 and is presented by Jonathan Walford, Kenn Norman, and members of the board of the Fashion History Museum at the newly restored Guelph Civic Museum (52 Norfolk Street) in Guelph. The exhibition is currently open 1 - 5 p.m. daily and will close March 4, 2012. For more information, please call the Fashion History Museum at 519 267-2091.

Making Fashion at the Textile Museum in Toronto
Photo by Ingrid Mida 2012

In the Making History exhibition at the Textile Museum of Canada in Toronto, Ryerson University Fashion students present recreations of historical garments and accessories. Dr.Alison Matthews David, who teaches Costume History at The School of Fashion at Ryerson University, developed this project as a hands-on research assignment for her students to foster respect for and understanding of the skills of the largely anonymous makers of historical dress and textiles. She said that "As a dress historian, I hope that as future fashion and costume designers, Ryerson students will take these traditional techniques, from smocking and hand-beading to painting on silk and shoemaking, and bring them to life again on stage and catwalk." The opening reception for this exhibition is on Wednesday, February 15, 2012 from 7-8 pm at the Textile Museum (55 Centre Avenue). By the way, I helped install this exhibition. In handling these objects, I could tell that these garments and accessories were made with a lot of love! 

Roaring Twenties at the Bata Shoe Museum
Photo courtesy of the Bata Shoe Museum and under copyright

And of course, if you haven't yet seen the exhibition Roaring Twenties: Heels, Hemlines and High Spirits at the Bata Shoe Museum, it continues until June 2012. Wouldn't this pair be perfect for Valentine's Day?

Rogue Embroidery by David R. Harper

Close-up of Embroidery on Her by David R. Harper

It is a rare thing to encounter an artist that takes a traditional medium and refashions it into something never seen before. David R. Harper is such an artist. By applying traditional embroidery techniques to animal hides, he creates portraits of women and men and gives the viewer pause to question the relationship between the hunter and the hunter as well as our innate desire to bring nature into our man-made environments.

Her by David R. Harper

David R. Harper was born in Toronto in 1984 and studied sculpture at the the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax. It wasn't until after he graduated that he took up embroidery in 2006. Inspired by the devotional pieces of embroidery that he had seen in the Middle East, he wanted to take embroidery beyond ornamentation and create works that shock and awe the viewer. Mostly self-taught, he considers embroidery "one of the most versatile ways to make art" and describes the fibre arts as existing "between sculpture and painting".

Using sustainable sources of animal hides, Harper uses hides to differentiate his embroidery from others. And that is why rogue embroidery is such an apt descriptor of this extraordinary work. His first embroideries were of the skeletal structures of the animal from which the hide came from (which can be seen on his website). His mother owns one of his first of this series of works, while others are in public and private collections.

Gathering by David R. Harper

Some of David's works incorporate techniques of taxidermy which he taught himself as an undergrad student. He describes taxidermy as a "form of doll-making" which describes the "collision between the natural and artificial worlds" and as representational of the "loss of the natural world". In the words of curator Sarah Quinton, these hybrid sculptures are "precious reminders of the contrasting ideals of co-existence and dominance between human and non-human animals."

Last to Win by David R. Harper

When I first saw David's work, the embroidery stitches were so dense that I assumed he must have had some machine assistance. However, in talking with David, he assured me that each stitch was done by hand and most of his pieces take about three months to complete, stitching 8-10 hours a day. Most stitches are done with the back-stitch but he also uses a unique sequence of running stitches to create a beautiful and subtle form of shading.

Close-up of Embroidery on Last to Win

At present, David is living in Chicago, where he is completing his masters degree in fibre arts at the Art Institute. He also has two shows opening in Chicago in the fall.

David R. Harper's work "Skin and Bones", which is part of the exhibition Person, Place, Thing at the Textile Museum of Canada, will be on display until October 17, 2010. To see more of his work, please visit his website here.

Photo credits: All photos by Ingrid Mida, copyright 2010, taken with permission of the artist at the Textile Museum of Canada.

What's on the Calendar in August?

I can hardly believe that it is already August. Where did the summer go? Here is a list of my summer must-see exhibitions:

Yves Saint Laurent at the Petit Palais, Musee de Beaux Arts in Paris until August 29, 2010

This retrospective of Yves Saint Laurent's work covers the period from 1962-2002 and includes over 250 garments from this master of haute couture and ready-to-wear. The exhibition also includes recreations of Saint Laurent's studio, private "dreaming" room, and a wardrobe designed for Catherine Deneuve.

While I won't actually get to see this exhibition in person, I saw a similar exhibition in Montreal in 2008, which opened just before the death of this great designer. To read more about the retrospective, please click here. I also wrote extensively about Yves Saint Laurent after his death, including a post called Lessons from Saint Laurent, which can be read here. (It seems like an interesting coincidence to write this post today as Yves Saint Laurent was born on August 1, 1936.)

Person, Place and Thing at the Textile Museum of Canada on until September 6, 2010

In this exhibition of portrait-based works by artists David R. Harper, Lia Cook and Stephen Schofield, textiles and sculpture intersect in an unexpected fashion. All three artists make large scale work that is tactile which draws the viewer into a sensory encounter with "embroidered, sewn and women narratives of nature, identity and history."  This exhibition affirms my belief that embroidery and sculpture are powerful forms of expression. (I will be taking a workshop called Rogue Embroidery with David Harper later this month and hope it will inspire me to take my textile-based artwork to a new level of development.)

American Women, Fashioning a National Identity at the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on until August 15, 2010.

Eighty faceless mannequins present the history of American style from 1890 to 1940 as defined into distinct archetypes including The Hieress, The Gibson Girl, The Bohemian, The Patriot and the Suffragette, The Flapper, and The Screen Siren. Animated throughout by music, lighting and video projections, the exhibition culminates in a video montage of images reflecting the modern American woman including Michelle Obama, Lady Gaga, Serena Williams, Grace Kelly, Marilyn Monroe.

While on the surface this may simply seem like another costume exhibit, at the core of it is an exploration of the  evolution of women's social, political and sexual emancipation as reflected in their clothing.  (And this is something that is a touchstone in my artwork). If you are unable to make it to the Met before the exhibition closes on August 15th, you can see a YouTube video of the exhibition here.

What's on the Calendar in April?

Spring is upon us and there are a myriad of fabulous and fashionable shows to see around the world. Here are some that are on my radar.


Ongoing      The Bata Shoe Museum   On a Pedestal: From Renaissance Chopines to Baroque Heels
The Bata Shoe Museum is one of Toronto's jewels and I've been meaning to pop into this exhibition since it opened in November. On a Pedestal explores two of the most extreme forms of footwear ever worn in Western fashion, the platform chopine and the high heel. This exhibition presents some rare examples of Renaissance and Baroque footwear on loan from museums around the world as well as shoes from the museum's own collection. The exhibition runs to September 20, 2010.

Photo credit: Bata Shoe Museum 2009

April 9          Textile Museum of Canada: Lia Cook, David Harper and Stephen Schofield
Lia Cook's exhibition at the Textile Museum in Toronto is called Faces and Mazes and features her most recent series of weavings. Cook uses an electronic Jacquard hand loom to weave faces that dissolve into continuously changing maze-like patterns. As the faces fragment, a perceptual shift occurs, moving through a place of transition and ambiguity to reveal the physical, tactile nature of the constructed image. Drawing on familiar and childhood sources, Cook uses a detail, often re-photographed, layered and re-woven in oversized scale, to intensify an emotional and/or sensual encounter.

Photo credit: Textile Museum of Canada

David R. Harper embroiders portraits of people on animal skins, playing with the traditional roles of portraiture to immortalize and elevate the subject through artistic representation – just as the trophy from a hunting excursion might be a bear skin rug or a rack of antlers. These images of anonymous, Victorian-era men and women imply an emotional distance that allows the artist to poke at the slippery slope where nature and culture meet.

Photo credit: Textile Museum of Canada

Montreal artist Stephen Schofield’s one-and-a-half life-sized sculptures are intensely sensual. His patchwork figures, based on Pliny the Elder’s tale of Dibutade recounting the origin of drawing, are mapped from the male body and then expertly tailored out of old clothes. Soaked in sugar water and then inflated, the cloth becomes a taut skin that contains the human forms that hover between a highly spirited/spiritual realm and a dream world filled with personal reverie.

Photo credit: Textile Museum of Canada

April 10      Last day to see the American Beauty Exhibition at FIT in New York
I saw this exhibition in New York not long after it opened and never got around to posting about it. It is worth a trip because American Beauty: Aesthetics and Innovation in Fashion examines the relationship between the “philosophy of beauty” and the technical craft of dressmaking in the United States. Curated by deputy director Patricia Mears, the exhibition features approximately 80 garments by about 25 designers, including Halston, Claire McCardell, and Charles James, as well as some not as well known.

Photo credit of Halston gown from FIT website

If you live in NYC, this would be a lovely prelude to the upcoming exhibition on American Women: Fashioning a National Identity set to open at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of New York on May 5, 2010.

April 17       Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK: Grace Kelly, Style Icon 

The spectacular wardrobe of Grace Kelly will be on display from April 17 to September 26, 2010. Tracing the evolution of her style from her days as one of Hollywoods most popular actresses in the 1950s and as Princess Grace of Monaco, the display will present over fifty of Grace Kelly's outfits together with hats, jewellery and the original Hermès Kelly bag. Dresses from her films, including High Society, will be shown as well as the gown she wore to accept her Oscar award in 1955. These will be accompanied by film clips and posters, photographs and her Oscar statuette. The display will also include the lace ensemble worn by Grace Kelly for her civil marriage ceremony to Prince Rainier in 1956 and 35 haute couture gowns from the 1960s and 70s by her favourite couturiers Dior, Balenciaga, Givenchy, and Yves St Laurent.

Fashion Happenings in November

November 2, 2009 - It's Marie Antoinette's Birthday!!! Eat cake! And visit the blog History-Fiction Chick where my work is being featured today!

November 5, 2009 - The exhibition American Beauty opens at Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.

November 7, 2009 - Last day to see the Fashion & Politics exhibition at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.

November 7, 2009 - Embellishment Canadian Style: Painted Skins, Beads, Cloth, Threads at the Royal Ontario Museum

9:15 am - 430 pm Learn about Fashionable Domestic Embroidery from Jennifer Salahub, Cloth in Canadian Quilts from Adrienne Hood, Storied Beadwork from Trudy Nicks, and Narrative Painting on Buffalo Robes from Arni Brownstone at the ROM's day long symposium on Canadian forms of Embellishment.

November 11, 2009 at 630 pm - Lecture on Style Alchemy with Carole Tanenbaum and Julia Grieve at the Textile Museum of Canada

Carole Tanenbaum will discuss her collection of vintage costume jewellery while Julia Grieve, founder of Preloved will speak about upcycyling, the practice of making something old new and valuable.

November 21, 2009 - Workshop on The Joy of Small Blocks (in Quilting) with Kinch & Storms in conjunction with the exhibition Kaleidoscope: Antique Quilts from the collection of Carole and Howard Tanenbaum at the Textile Museum of Canada

November 22, 2009 - The exhibition On a Pedestal: From Renaissance Chopines to Baroque Heels opens today at the Bata Shoe Museum and features rare examples of fashionable footwear dating from 1500-1660.

So much to do and so little time!!!

Exhibition Review: Judy Chicago in Thread

Although Judy Chicago cannot sew and does not know how to do needlework, she has made a career out of art created by women volunteers using traditional forms of handwork such as embroidery, tapestry, quilting and cross-stitching. Perhaps best known for her landmark project The Dinner Party (1979) in which she presented a table set for dinner with an imaginary guest list of famous women from history, Chicago established feminist iconography as a subject worthy of a professional art practice.

What if Women Ruled the World: Judy Chicago in Thread opened at the Textile Museum of Canada on February 11, 2009 and continues until September 7th. Curated by Allyson Mitchell and co-produced with the Art Gallery of Calgary, the stated intent of the show is to offer a retrospective of Judy Chcago's textile-based art from 1971 to today. The question posed by the thematic title of the show is supplemented by two other questions: "Would God be Female? and "Would there be equal parenting?"

The exhibition is organized around Chicago's projects including The Birth Project (1985), The Holocaust Project (1993) and The Resolution Project (2000). As well, there is one work from 1971 and a mixed media piece from 2000 called Find it in Your Heart.

To see a Judy Chicago textile piece up close is a lesson in innovation in mixed media. Unimaginable combinations of paint, embroidery, applique, quilting, macrame, crochet, beading, printing, cross stitching, and needlepoint all come together in a swirl of vibrant colour and energy. Although the effect is anything but subtle, the considerable hours of work that went in to the creation of such intricate handwork is evident.

My favourite piece called Earth Birth is an image of "bringing forth light, a visual representation of early creation myths that posit a female deity as a source of all existence." This air-brush painting and quilting on fabric by Jacquelyn Moore Alexander and Judy Chicago from 1983 has a muted palette of black, silver and blue. The elegant refinement of this piece is unique compared to the other works in the exhibition and undoubtedly that is why it has singular appeal for me. I prefer subtlety of message and an elegance of line and colour which are not tenets of Chicago's work.

Other highlights of the exhibition include two videos about Chicago and her cadre of volunteers. To hear an artist speak about their work adds to the depth of understanding one has about their art. In this case, since there are sometimes hundreds of volunteers involved in a Judy Chicago project, these unheralded women were finally given a voice.

In Resolution: A Stitch in Time, directed and edited by Kate Amend and Johanna Demetrakas (2000), Judy Chicago and the women volunteers explain the collaborative process on The Resolution Project. According to Chicago, she wanted to create life-affirming images based on proverbs that state basic human values since "proverbs are the way different generations pass on their wisdom". Many of the volunteers expressed joy and a sense of community in working to complete Chicago's artistic vision. As well, some treasured the sense of purpose that it gave them "to work on something bigger than themselves" and "to have their work displayed in a museum".

In a video about The Birth Project directed by Vivian Kleinnam Productions (1985), Chicago said that there are very few birth images in the history of art and she wanted to reclaim history for women. She used the birth process "as a metaphor for creation in the largest sense". There were 150 volunteers who used a variety of needlework techniques to create 84 pieces related to all aspects of birth of which nine of those pieces are displayed.

Twenty artworks are exhibited in the retrospective of Judy Chicago's work at the Textile Museum. The singular element that does not fit with the curator's intent is the 1971 photograph called The Red Flag in which a woman removes a bloody tampon from her vagina. To me, this photograph is representative of art that a strident feminist produces for shock value alone. This ugly and disturbing photograph is not textile art and has no place in the show even though it is represetative of Chicago's early explorations in feminist iconography. The extensive range of the textile-based artwork that is on display at the Textile Museum is proof that Judy Chicago is capable of expressing meaningful and positive messages through her art. Without this photograph, the answers to the questions "What if Women Ruled the World?" and "Would God be Female?" would have been self-evident. Instead, I left the exhibition uncertain of what I wanted the answer to be.

When Women Rule the World
February 11 - September 7, 2009
Textile Museum of Canada
55 Centre Avene (St. Patrick subway)
Toronto, Ontario
416-599-5321

The Cutting Edge at the Textile Museum of Canada

Man's coat and vest, England 1760-1780
Collection of the Textile Museum of Canada
Photo by Ingrid Mida


Although the Textile Museum of Canada wasn't on my bucket list of museums, it is an under-appreciated treasure. Comprising two floors, The Textile Museum has more floor space than many larger museum facilities. Its exhibitions change several times a year and are thoughtfully curated. Even better, the garments and textiles on display are not behind glass so one can get really close to examine details closely (although I was tempted to touch, I respected the signage and did not!)

Currently on display is The Cutting Edge curated by Patricia Bentley. This exhibition focuses on the shape of a garment and what it signifies. Garments from the museum's collection are featured alongside contemporary fashion and artwork.

I especially appreciated the detailed descriptions of each garment that included drawings of the patterns for cutting the fabric.

"A garment is a mathematical puzzle with only one solution. Once it is designed, it has to be cut out and assembled in a certain way. A garment is also a carrier of a culture's paradigms, beliefs and attitudes. You would not think that something that can be strictly utilitarian at one end of a spectrum and supremely frivolous at the other end has usch potency for people's lives, but the truth is that clothes make the man - and the woman."




Girl's jacket, Netherlands 1760
Collection of the Textile Museum of Canada
Photo by Ingrid Mida


Coat pirpini (sleeveless coat), Greece 1800-1900
Collection of the Textile Museum of Canada
Photo by Ingrid Mida, 2009


Textile Museum of Canada
55 Centre Avenue (St. Patrick subway)
Toronto
416-599-5321
info@textilemuseum.ca

Museums of Costume and Textiles

Evening dress of silk organza with an underdress of silk taffeta and organza
(by Jacques Heim Paris, France, 1959)
Victoria & Albert Museum Costume Collection

Evening Dress of Hand embroidered machine-made net Britian 1817-1818
Collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum


May 18th is International Museum Day! Change up your routine, absorb a little culture and visit your local museum this weekend.

Here is my list of favourite museums that have collections of couture, costumes and/or textiles. I can attest that these museums are worth visiting!!

Victoria and Albert Museum
South Kensington, London, England
(Admission is free!!)

Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection
Kensington Palace, London, England

Musee de la Mode et du Textile Les Art Decoratifs
108 Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris, France

The Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Fifth Avenue, New York City, USA

Royal Ontario Museum
100 Queen's Park Circle, Toronto, Canada

Textile Museum of Canada
55 Centre Street, Toronto, Canada

Bata Shoe Museum
327 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Canada
(Technically this shouldn't be on the list because this museum is dedicated to footwear, but what is fashion without beautiful shoes? The Bata Museum is a gem and a definite must-see!)


And here is my "bucket" list of museums with fashion and costume collections that I have yet to see:

Kyoto Costume Institute
103 Shichi-jo
Goshonouchi Minamimachi
Kyoto, Japan
(The next best thing to going to Japan would be to buy a copy of "Fashion: A History from the 18th to the 20th Century" in either the 2 volume hardcover or paperback version. This book is filled with exquisite photos of the Kyoto Costume Institute's extensive fashion collection.)

Powerhouse Museum
500 Harris Street
Sydney, Australia

Museo del Trajo
Avenida Juan de Herrera, 2
Madrid, Spain

Musees des Tissus et des Arts Decoratifs de Lyon
34 rue de la Charite
Lyon, France

Musee de la Mode de la Ville de Paris
10 Avenue Pierre 1er de Serbie
75116 Paris, France

Musee Christian Dior
Villa Les Rhumbs
50400 Granville, France

National Museums of Scotland
Chambers Street, Edinburgh

Gallery of Costume
Platt Hall, Manchester, England

Bath Museum of Costume
Bennet Street, Bath, England

Brighton Museum and Art Gallery
Royal Pavilion Gardens, Brighton, England

Boston Museum of Fine Arts
Avenue of the Arts, 465 Huntington Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Philadelphia Museum of Art
Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, USA

Phoenix Art Museum
1625 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Kent State University Museum
Rockwell Hall, Kent, Ohio, USA

Los Angeles Country Museum of Art
5905 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, California, USA

What's on in May

If I could travel around the world to see the latest exhibitions on fashion and style, these would be my stops in May.

In Toronto at the Bata Shoe Museum, the Chronicles of Riches: Treasures from the Bata Shoe Museum Collection continues through to November. This exhibit showcases rarely seen items including Napolean's black silk socks worn while he lingered in exile on St. Helena and a pair of fabulous chopines from Italy dated 1580-1620. These rarely seen silk velvet covered wooden platforms are ornamented with silver lace, tassels and ruched silk.


On Wednesday, May 6th, The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion opens in New York at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This exhibition examines the evolving ideals of beauty in the world of high fashion and features iconic models of the 20th century and their roles in projecting and occasionally inspiring the fashions of their era. Haute couture and ready-to-wear fashions from 1947-1997 are displayed alongside photographs and video footage.

In London, one of my favourite museums The Victoria and Albert Museum, continues its spring exhibition called Baroque 1620-1800: Style in the Age of Magnificence. On display are magnificent examples of Baroque furniture, portraits, sculpture, tapestries and other object d'arts. This show examines all elements of the Baroque style which was one of the most opulent styles of the 17th and 18th Centuries.

The Costume Museum of Canada in Winnipeg has two exhibitions ongoing in May. The Wedding Dress showcases interesting and wild wedding outfits worn through the decades and Women of Style explores the fashion sense of 5 Winnipeg women.

In Toronto, on Wednesday, May 20th at 6:30 pm, Alison Matthews David, Assistant Professor of Fashion History and Theory at Ryerson University, will give a talk on Tailoring in the 18th and 19th Centuries at the Textile Museum of Canada. Ms. Matthews David is an eloquent speaker and I'm sad that I'll have to miss this event, because the next day, I'll be leaving for Paris!



While in France, I'll be visiting the exhibition Court Pomp & Royal Ceremonies, Court Dress in Europe 1650-1800 at Chateau de Versailles. For more information about this unparalleled display of court garments from the 17th and 18th centuries, please see my earlier post from April 9. I'll also be doing some other fashion and art related adventures in Paris, which may lead to some interesting articles and/or blog posts.


P.S. I've decided to import some of my book reviews of fashion related posts from Blog of a Bookworm onto this blog. Over the past six months, I've really narrowed my focus. As my art continues to gain exposure (today I found my work on a blog called Vintage and Chic from Spain!), two blogs is one too many!! Fashion is my passion and my muse.

P.P.S. If you missed yesterday's tag line about the winners of the Random Acts of Kindness, they are:
Kelly of the Chic Geek
Renee of Circling my Head
Lucy of Enchanted by Josephine
Judith of Studio Judith

These lovely (and lucky) bloggers will receive a gift handmade by me in the next month or two. While I hope to post most of them before my trip to Paris, that might not happen as I'm also working on a tight deadline for an art submission. But good things come to those that wait!!

Textile Museum Shadow Box Auction Online Gallery

Stays of Georgiana, Mixed Media (8x8), copyright: Ingrid Mida, 2008

This piece is currently on display at the Textile Museum of Canada's annual Shadow Box Auction in Toronto. Bids begin at $175 and can be placed over the phone, in person at the Museum (October 13-30), or at the gala event itself which takes place the evening of Thursday, October 30th. All proceeds benefit the programs at the Museum.

I called this piece "Stays of Georgiana" in tribute to the Duchess of Devonshire who might have worn such a garment.

Check out all the artwork in the online gallery.

Textile Museum of Canada Shadow Box Auction

www.textilemuseum.ca
55 Centre Avenue (one block east of University, south of Dundas)
Toronto, Ontario
416-599-5321

info@textilemuseum.ca