by xoxTheSocialitexox
jan 20th
Happy New Year! It’s great to be back with you all – here’s to a great 2008! So, I had the privilege of going to a special exhibit at The Metropolitan Museum – “blog.mode: addressing fashion” last weekend. It was such a great presentation of what, I believe, fashion is – art. The design of the exhibit takes the patron through major highlights of fashion history, of those things that made an impact on where fashion has been and where it is going.
So what does the “blog.mode” mean? Well, from the curator, he explained that in an effort to capture the wonderful and thought provoking comments of those who come to the exhibit to learn and consider what they are experiencing, the museum decided to capture those thoughts with the social phenomena that is the blog! So after you’ve made your way through the exhibit, there is a “blogbar” for you to leave comments about what you saw. Even better, you can still access the blog from home and leave comments after you’ve had time to really consider what the whole exhibit had to offer. What an innovative idea!
I think this is a proud moment for fashion and what it means to so many people. Despite ideas to the contrary, fashion, in one sense or another, affects everyone in every walk of life. This is a fantastic way for all of us to come together and respond to what fashion started as and where it is today. That said, all you NYC dtls fashionistas, make your way over to The Met – you have plenty of time, it’s around until April 18th! For my out-of-towners, don’t worry. “blog.mode” is accessible to you through The Met online. I hope you take some time to explore what the exhibit has to offer and make comments worthy of the curator’s efforts.
Here are some highlights at the top of my list:

French Dress (Robe à la Française), ca. 1765. Pale blue silk satin with hammered silver floral brocade and silver bobbin lace trim. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Irene Lewisohn Bequest, 2001 (2001.472a, b).

This hat is amazing. At first, you look at it and it’s oddly grotesque, but imagine it on a model with matching hair color and it transforms into a completely new and innovative piece.
“Here, the inspiration comes from morphing but with a Surrealist twist. We can ask ourselves “What is the hair and what is the hat?” It turns out that the hair is the hat and the hat is the hair.” –Jean Paul Gaultier
This top hat was designed for the Gaultier Paris haute-couture show, autumn/winter ’06–’07. One of the collection’s themes was Surrealism, and this hair top hat creates an illusion. From afar, the illusion is of a real black satin top hat, but with a closer look you can see it is handmade of natural hair. The idea for the couture runway show was to use the brim of the hat to create a sort of bang with the hair of the girl, so the model’s hair becomes part of the hat, which is another layer of Illusion.
“The masculine-feminine style is a very strong code in Jean Paul Gaultier’s creative universe. The top hat is originally an elegant masculine accessory and here it is turned here into a chic, sophisticated, and very feminine one.” –Odile Gilbert

Honestly, I think Olivier Theyskens is a genius. He has created a new genre for garments, dubbed “demi-couture”. This dress is a masterpiece.
“In the very first days when I started designing for Nina Ricci, I drew this dress. It came out naturally for me as the right expression of the brand. I wanted this grand gown to be made of rough-looking fabric in an urban gray and entirely ruffled. My aim was to bring a sort of twisting movement all over the dress that would spiral upward and at the level of the waist, like wings, it would take off like a bird.” –Olivier Theyskens

Another of my favorite designers, Vivienne Westwood truly tested the limit of the platform. Named “Naomi’s Nemesis”, these shoes are a truly unique creation.
Vivienne Westwood (British, b. 1941). Shoes, autumn/winter 1990. Hot pink crocodile-embossed patent leather. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Millia Davenport and Zipporah Fleisher Fund, 2006 (2006.14a, b).
These are just some highlights of the amazing exhibit, both online and at the museum. All content regarding the pieces as well as the pictures are courtesy of The Met. Go to the blog.mode website to see the entire exhibit and COMMENT, COMMENT, COMMENT!