“The Costume Institute’s spring 2025 exhibition presents a cultural and historical examination of Black style over three hundred years through the concept of dandyism. In the 18th-century Atlantic world, a new culture of consumption, fueled by the slave trade, colonialism, and imperialism, enabled access to clothing and goods that indicated wealth, distinction, and taste. Black dandyism sprung from the intersection of African and European style traditions.”
This display is maddening, EVERYONE WANTS TO SEE THINGS AT EYE LEVEL
Okay, it was a perfectly fine exhibit. (Can you sense my subtle annoyance?) My major problems were these…
WHY IS EVERYTHING LIT SO OMINOUSLY? I’ve had this issue with exhibits from the past and it’s so infuriating. Also, the majority of these garments are dark colours so why would you showcase them against dark backgrounds? Dark colours pop against light backgrounds and vice versa. This is… science?
The entire exhibit was a tenth of the size compared with exhibits from other years.
Why was it focused solely on male tailoring? Especially when they certainly had the space to include more.
That being said there were definitely gorgeous pieces.
House of Balmain, Olivier Rousteing, pre-fall 2023
Jeffrey Banks, ca. 1980
Louis Vuitton, Virgil Abloh, autumn/winter 2021-2022
Progress Tailoring Co., 1940-1945
Zoot suit, ca. 1943
Oh and one more issue - STOP PUTTING PIECES TOO HIGH SO PEOPLE CAN’T SEE THE DETAILS ON THEM (see below).
Infuriating, there’s absolutely no reason for this nonsensical placement
Why in the hell would these be displayed like this?? It makes zero sense. All in all, the exhibition was only all right this year. Definitely not a must-see (unlike last year’s).
The exhibit is open now until October 26, 2025.
And since I was already there, I saw the new rooftop exhibit Ensemble by Jennie C. Jones (on view until October 19, 2025) since it’s the last rooftop commission until at least 2030.
Ensemble by Jennie C. Jones, The Met rooftop 2025
The large sculptures are “based on string instruments that are supposed to play sounds activated only by the wind” - which sounds great, but I was there on an extremely windy day and didn’t hear anything. I respect the effort, though.
Ensemble by Jennie C. Jones, The Met rooftop 2025
And look, it sounds like I’m overly picky but I think it’s just because nothing will ever top the Jeff Koons rooftop pieces from 2008. Oh! And lastly, look at this adorable dog kennel that was made for Marie Antoinette’s dog. In love.
Kennel made for the dog of Marie Antoinette, ca. 1775-1780
Past fashion exhibits I’ve seen at The Met:
2024 - Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion
2023 - Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty
2022 - In America (Part Two): An Anthology of Fashion
2021 - In America (Part One): A Lexicon of Fashion (as well as the updated Part One that a few months later)
2018 - Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination (not a full post, but a brief summary)
2016 - Manus x Machine: Fashion in an Age of Technology
I’ve also written about the Thierry Muglar exhibit as well as the Christian Dior one (both at the Brooklyn Museum).
