The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Brooklyn Museum are both holding fashion exhibitions this summer to showcase the Brooklyn Museum costume collection. May 5-Aug. 15, the Met has American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity, while from May 7-Aug. 1, the Brooklyn Museum has American High Style: Fashioning a National Collection. You can see images of all the exhibited garments online: here’s what will be at the Met, and here’s what will be at the Brooklyn Museum.
Some standouts to me:
- A number of Worth ballgowns
- A number of late 1900s/early 1910s evening dresses, like this one and this one by Poiret
- This 1897 riding habit
- Some pieces by Paquin
- This sexy 1913-14 dinner dress
- A number of Worth day dresses
- This Worth evening dress — zoom so you can see the bodice fabric closeup, b/c it’s SUPER weird and SUPER cool
- A mourning dress belonging to Queen Victoria
- This cool Schiaparelli parasol
You can preorder the catalog from Amazon — it comes out June 15, 2010.
I clicked on just one of those links – the sexy 1913-14 dress – and then went to Amazon to preorder. You are a BAD influence!
Noooooooo…..the Amazon link isn’t working for me.
Link fixed!
I just saw one of Queen Victoria’s dresses at the Fashion Museum in Bath. That woman was short and stout. It was rather amazing. Also, Fashion Museum in Bath=C+. Very minimal space for their apparently amazing collection. V&A=A+. I have yet to make it to NYC.
Actually went to the Met to see the exhibit. Breathtaking is an understatement. The workmanship on the ballgowns will blow your mind. I highly recommend it to anyone who is in the area to go while it is there. It is, however, unfortunate that they DO NOT LET YOU TAKE ANY PHOTOS (flashless or otherwise). It’s sad really, because there are several Victorian Era gowns/ensembles that are not listed in the exhibition that they have included nor are they in the companion book (which is why you can’t take photos because they want you to purchase the book).