“The second portion of a two-part exhibition exploring fashion in the United States is presented in collaboration with The Met’s American Wing. This section of the exhibition will highlight sartorial narratives that relate to the complex and layered histories of the American Wing period rooms. Men’s and women’s dress dating from the eighteenth century to the present will be featured in vignettes installed in select period rooms spanning from 1805 to 1915.”
— The Met
And look, if you know anything about me and The Met, you already know how much I LOVE the period rooms (they’re one of the reasons I always return each summer). But it was a spectacularly bad idea to showcase clothing inside of them. Many of the rooms have been staged by American directors (Sofia Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Regina King, Julie Dash, etc.) and while that sounds cool, it’s kind of useless. For starters, the rooms are so dimly lit that you can barely see any of the details on the clothing. Also, the mannequins wearing the pieces are placed SO FAR AWAY from the roped-off viewing areas. See for yourself.
The Benkard Room by Autumn de Wilde
The Baltimore Room by Autumn de Wilde
Doesn’t this seem oddly terrible for The Met to produce? I honestly just felt confused at first, but that confusion quickly turned to annoyance (and a little bit of rage). People come to this exhibit each year to SEE THE CLOTHING UP CLOSE. Why is that so difficult to understand? Now if they’d only displayed the entire collection in the manner they did with this George Washington coat (below) I could happily shut my mouth.
Am I being too harsh? There’s more! All of the pieces that weren’t being shown in period piece rooms were presented on a platform in THE darkest room inside the entire museum on mannequins that were contorted for some reason?? Can someone explain this me? Are these dresses or fancy sheets draped over bodies? No one knows.
If this were twenty years ago when The Matrix came out, at least then would I understand the positioning of these mannequins. How could it get any worse, you ask? Well, the names of the designers of each piece aren’t even NEAR each design. They’re all collectively on a plaque that’s near the outer wall of the room. So not only can you not accurately VIEW each piece (what fun!), but you also have no idea who the hell designed what! Sweet! That’s just what I wanted when visiting A COSTUME EXHIBIT. Just an abomination.
The Frank Lloyd Wright Room by Martin Scorsese
The Frank Lloyd Wright Room by Martin Scorsese
These were the two pieces (that I could actually see) that were my only favourites in the whole bunch (below).
The McKim, Mead & White Stair Hall by Sofia Coppola
The Worsham-Rockefeller Dressing Room by Sofia Coppola
Other than those two, the best item in part two was this gorgeous Tiffany lamp. (If you don’t know anything about them, they’re a thing.) So beautiful to see in real life.
After this horrid experience, I needed to decompress so I headed over to part one (that came out last year) and they added new pieces! So I’m going to do another post on that one this week. (Spoiler: they’re breath-taking.)
It’s honesty wild how bad part two was, just jaw droppingly rough. On the bright side, it’s comforting to realize that even an institution as highly respected at The Met can still completely drop the ball and remind you that power doesn’t automatically mean success. God, what a disaster.
The exhibit runs until September 5, 2022 and if you aren’t in New York and would like to see a glimpse, there’s a tour video below of part two; don’t tell me I didn’t warn you. (And you can see my whole walk-through on my Instagram stories over here.)
Some days you wake up and think, “Christ… another day?” and it is on these days that you should get up and do something you’ve always wanted to do. ENTER THE TRANSIT MUSEUM!
It’s absolutely wild that this was the first time I’ve ever been here, it is now definitely in my top three favourite museums of New York. It should really just be called the train museum though because that’s what it is. “Transit” might be the most boring word in the history of language. Also, how cool is it to have the museum itself be inside the abandoned Court Street station?
Can you even imagine riding around in that bus (above)? So f-ing elegant.
Photos of the now abandoned City Hall Station
Those photos (above) are of the now closed City Hall Station that I vow to visit one day. They do tours of the station every few years and I can only imagine how beautiful it would be to see in person. (Yes, I know that you can get glimpses of it if you stay on the downtown 6 train as it loops back around to become an uptown, but it’s not the same. I want to be out on that platform and ROAM damnit.)
On the ground floor of the museum, there are tons of photos and advertisements from old transit ads as well as old ticket booths and replica buses.
And the downstairs area is where it gets really fun.
Trains from different eras line both sides of the platforms and you can walk in and out of them.
If I can be honest here, it feels insane to be able to walk through history. You feel every era of each train. The coldness of the ones from the 70s, the decadence of the ones from the 20s, it’s unreal. The second best part of this place? The subway ads.
There aren’t enough ads these days that scare children into caring about safety.
I can’t recommend this museum enough. With kids, without kids, go high, go after the farmer’s market nearby. Just go. Such a good time.
One of my favourite things to do each year is to visit The Costume Institute inside The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Next to the rooftop exhibit, it’s my second favourite thing to do there. Here’s a description of the exhibit that’s been on display since September.
“Approximately 100 men’s and women’s ensembles by a diverse range of designers from the 1940s to the present are featured. Enclosed in scrimmed cases that represent three-dimensional “patches” of a quilt, they are organized into 12 sections that explore defining emotional qualities: Nostalgia, Belonging, Delight, Joy, Wonder, Affinity, Confidence, Strength, Desire, Assurance, Comfort, and Consciousness.”
— The Met
I think I stood here staring at it for five minutes
It’s a two part exhibit and the second part will be opening on May 7, 2022 and I absolutely cannot wait for it. Here were my favourites from part one.
Michael Kors, Autumn/Winter 2021-2022
“For his autumn/winter 2021–22 collection, Michael Kors celebrated the fortieth anniversary of his womenswear line with a presentation that included reinterpretations of designs from his past collections. This gold-sequined dress, paired here with a cashmere coat that has a coordinating sequin-embroidered lining, is a reprisal of a design he debuted in 2000 and a nod to one of Norman Norell’s favored combinations. The ensemble exemplifies Kors’s facility for executing opulent garments in a relaxed manner intended to offer the wearer a sense of confidence and ease.”
— The Met
Tom Ford, Spring/Summer 2018
“Tom Ford is well known for the overt sex appeal of his designs, which reveal and accentuate the body with fluid fabrics and body-conscious silhouettes. Ford’s spring/summer 2018 collection borrowed from the sharp lines of his men’s suits. This evening dress is constructed of tightly ruched black net wrapped over the broad, padded shoulders and around the upper arms, mimicking the square shape of a man’s jacket. From the waist to the hem, the net is loosely draped in sheer folds, revealing the hips and legs beneath. ”
— The Met
Donna Karan New York, 1985
“In Donna Karan’s first collection for her own label, she introduced a concept that became known as “Seven Easy Pieces.” This series of coordinated separates—bodysuits, trousers, skirts, and jackets—could be variously combined for different occasions and formed the foundation of a modular wardrobe. These fashions offered the wearer an alternative language of professional dress that was both commanding and feminine, while providing a sense of assurance due to their comfort, ease of coordination, and compatibility with work and personal life. ”
— The Met
Lavie by Claude Kameni, 2021
“In her designs, Claude Kameni uses fabrics often referred to as African wax prints. These vividly colored and densely patterned textiles, which have an enduring history of popular use in West and Central Africa, were originally inspired by batik, or wax-resist, cloth from Indonesia. The dynamism of Kameni’s work is indebted to the synergy she creates between these vibrant patterns, her strong silhouettes, and the body of the wearer. In this dress, the pattern is arranged to complement the curves of the figure and accentuate the flowing tiers of the skirt.”
— The Met
Bstroy, 2018
“The double-hooded sweatshirt displayed here features two neck holes with only one set of sleeves. Part of Bstroy’s “Sweet Screams” collection, it was presented on the runway on two models as if they were craving companionship. Intended for an individual wearer, the garment’s second hood effectively lays limp on the shoulder, suggesting a dystopian future of loneliness and isolation.”
— The Met
Fabrice, 1980s
“A piece of embroidery executed in his native Haiti and shared with him by his sister Brigitte inspired the first of Fabrice Simon’s beaded designs. Beaded garments based on embroidery patterns he drafted himself would become his signature. As in this dress, they often retain the lively and spontaneous quality of a drawing. Previous experience as a textile designer likely honed his ability to create patterns that harmonize with the body in the finished garment.”
— The Met
Rodarte, Autumn/Winter 2019−2020
“Musicals of Hollywood’s Golden Age provided inspiration for Rodarte’s autumn/winter 2019–20 collection, which featured designs that offer a fantastical counterpoint to the costumes brought to life on screen by women such as Ginger Rogers. In this dress, the designers created a sense of animation through their careful handling of the fabric. Dense, cascading ruffles enveloping the skirt spring gently in tandem with the wearer’s movement, giving way to open, petal-like layers at the shoulders that generate more buoyancy. ”
— The Met
Vaquera, Spring/Summer 2021
“Titled “Nothing Is Forever,” Vaquera’s spring/summer 2021 collection explored the potential of an “anything goes” approach to dressing in a post-pandemic world. The design trio—known for its campy sensibility and fashion-outsider status—played with the idea of innerwear as everyday outerwear, incorporating lingerie and bedroom details throughout the collection. This oversized boa boasts an exuberant jumble of jersey, tulle, and lace, as if the wearer wrapped themselves in lingerie-strewn bedding and unabashedly walked out the door.”
— The Met
You can see glimpses of the past exhibits if you’re at all interested…
And if you don’t find yourself in NYC and still want to take a look at some of the exhibit, then take a look at this video below or you can see all of the pieces on display over here.
