Sunday, April 17, 2022

American Fashion at the Museum

When I was in New York last fall, I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art twice while I was there.  On one of the days I was there, they were opening a new exhibit called "In America, A Lexicon of Fashion".  There was a long line of people waiting to go through the exhibit and after some deliberations, I decided I should see why it was drawing such a crowd. I waited my turn and went in to see it.






















It was organized to appear like a patchwork quilt, a metaphor for America and our diverse backgrounds. Each cube hosted a costume that was created by an American designer, some well known and others I had never heard of before.  

In addition, each costume represented an assigned "word".  The four words here are Continuity, Commemoration, Connection and Celebration.





















This is Unity.



































Here we have Ebullience.



































Harmony is this one.



































This one is Assurance.  Assurance is very flashy.


































The word for this one is Sexuality.  


































This one represents Closeness.  This might be a little too close for my taste.

































This was my favorite of all of them (and there were many, many more than I've shown here).  This one is representing Joy.  































Here we have Respect.




































This last one represents Realness and Authenticity.  Authenticity appears to be a dress made of the lining of a Burberry raincoat with the label still showing at the neckline.  

This exhibit was the first of a two-part exploration of fashion in the United States in the Anna Wintour Costume Center.  The second half of this exhibit is scheduled to open on May 7, 2022, just a few weeks away.  A word of advice in case one of you wants to go, wait until a few days after the opening.  The second show is likely to draw as big a crowd as the first.