Death Becomes Her: Mourning Costume Exhibit at the Met
Last fall I took a trip to New York, where I was lucky to see the just-closed Costume Institute exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, called “Death Becomes Her.”
The exhibit was relatively small, but not TOO small, and it was full of a lot of stunning items. Here’s a few thoughts!
There were tons of stunning details, which is even MORE intriguing to me when it’s in all black, because they’re so subtle. Check out these spangled rosettes on a hem!
Not a great picture, but this sheer hat was so delicate, especially with the stripped feathers as trim.This dress (and mannequin) was so short and wide that I knew immediately it must have belonged to Queen Victoria… and I was right!I LOVED this late 1860s dress. It’s such a great silhouette, and the ivory just makes things pop.I have loved these natural form dresses since I first saw them in early Met publications, and I’d really like to try to make one someday. They were incredibly hard to photograph.Here’s a closeup, in which you can hopefully see the beautiful and deliberate way in which the skirt fabric was tucked and tacked.One or both these were half-mourning dresses owned by Queen Alexandra, and they were SO stunning. Both the purple/mauve colors and the sparkle. I don’t get terribly excited about Edwardian, but this evening style really is gorgeous.The 1820s were NOT a great decade fashion-wise (imho), but they sure did make some stunning padded trims. Love the texture contrast, too.
