The Body: Fashion and Physique (FIT exhibit)

The Museum at FIT

Seventh Avenue at 27th Street (corner)

Closed Sunday, Monday and legal holidays

otherwise, 10AM-8PM (5PM on Saturday)

This exhibit was absolute MAGIC, assuming you have the time and patience to really think it through.  Brilliantly curated by Emma McClendon, this exhibit is about so much more than clothing.  My words won't drive the points home nearly as well as a visit to the exhibit will.

If you can get here while the exhibit is still open (which is quite a while), don't miss it.  It is free, quiet, near some great fabric and notions shopping, and delicious restaurants.  You NEED to see it, but particularly for its academic and social messages and impact, more than it's visual one.

Seriously, can we talk about corsets and 18" waists? This false information has been repeated and repeated... while only simple measurements of old corsets will tell you the truth.  why do we subscribe to notions of how we should be shaped, or what we should like, based on what the clothing available to us looks like?

I was really amazed by the custom dress made for the comedienne Leslie Jones.  The beauty of it was just breath-taking.  Why did it take Christian Siriano to make the "brave" step of offering to make her a gown?

The industry has opened up to a growing cross section of people, and certain designers have embraced a diverse view...

-from the exhibition pamphlet

Just go see it.   Feel free to ask questions, to yourself, to each other... but open up, and think about what should be, and what CAN be.  Get inspired!

Currently at FIT Museum - EXPEDITION: Fashion from the Extreme

Expedition

Let's be honest. I wasn't really jazzed to see this exhibit, because I really couldn't see a direct application of this topic in my life.  But... last weekend, since I was near FIT anyway, I stepped inside, casually walked downstairs (for this one), prepared to be unimpressed.

And yet again, I was WRONG!

Think of it this way: "Travel to extreme environments is a relatively modern phenomenon." This is the opening line of the exhibition pamphlet I held in my hand as I wandered into the space.

Think on that for a second.  Fine. Give it more than a second. Yeah... Safari, camouflage, ski parkas, scuba gear, space travel... actually... I do get it. Didn't think I did, but I do!

To really appreciate the variety and beauty of the pieces presented, you'll have to go in person. No spoilers here.  It really is a thinking person's exhibit, and you won't regret it.

On view until January 6, 2018

Can't go in person? Visit virtually here.

Must-see Current Fashion Exhibits

Follow the links in this post to get a brilliant eyeful of inspiration, addresses, admission fees, and hours.

The first exhibit is the one I'm most jazzed about, and then, (if you can still breathe - pretty exciting... right?) are the others I encourage you to check out!

To inspire your next garment district jaunt, I encourage you to take a trip uptown to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Yes, the Met has an exhibit on the Punk movement.  If you are a fan of McQueen, Westwood, Rei Kawakubo, and Versace (and really... who isn't?)  this is an exhibit for you.

Punk: Chaos to Couture

Focusing on the relationship between the punk concept of "do-it-yourself" and the couture concept of "made-to-measure," the seven galleries will be organized around the materials, techniques, and embellishments associated with the anti-establishment style. Themes will include New York and London, which will tell punk's origin story as a tale of two cities, followed by Clothes for Heroes and four manifestations of the D.I.Y. aesthetic—Hardware, Bricolage, Graffiti and Agitprop, and Destroy.

To top it off, the juxtaposition of this exhibit against another, tamer one is particularly brilliant.  Impressionism, Fashion and Modernity is closing next week, and you MUST see it.  Not only for the standards you imagine; corsets made to squeeze in tiny waists, and lots of white dresses, but also for the menswear and consumer culture sections, which bring some additional food for creative thought.


As if that weren't enough, opening TODAY... the Museum at FIT offers RetroSpective, an exhibit showing pieces in the museum's current collection, detailing how the present continues to borrow from the past.

Deep breath... and now...

Be sure to check out the Museum of the City of New York, where the Stephen Burrows: When Fashion Danced is showing until July 28.

Stephen Burrows: When Fashion Danced is the first major examination of the work of the designer The New York Times called in 1977 the “brightest star of American fashion.” It looks at the period spanning the 1970s when Stephen Burrows’s meteoric rise to fame made him not only the first African-American designer to gain international stature, but a celebrated fashion innovator whose work helped define the look of a generation. With vibrant colors, metallic fabrics, and slinky silhouettes that clung to the body, Burrows’s danceable designs generated a vibrant look that was of a piece with the glamorous, liberated nightlife of the era. Through photographs, drawings, and original garments, the exhibition will trace Burrows’s evolution from creating eclectic looks for his friends in the 1960s to his work with the chic 57th Street retailer Henri Bendel to the floor of Studio 54, as he dressed such 70s style icons as Cher, Liza Minnelli, and Diana Ross.

And... if you find yourself (if you're a student, apparently) in the Garment District today, check out the Stoll Fashion and Technology Knitting Center, which has long been a mystery business in the Garment District to me, as I have walked past, looked in the windows, and wondered...

Okay - these are your missions.  Report back on your impressions after visiting.  I'd love to see your comments!

The Current Exhibits at FIT Museum

Yesterday, I stumbled into the Museum at FIT to see the "Shoe Obsession" exhibit.  I do not consider myself to be among the shoe "obsessed", but as a sculptural exhibit, wow was it beautifully curated, and definitely food for creative thought.  While one extraordinary pair of shoes relentlessly called my name, I wandered the room, listening to the conversations people were having.  Amid the gasps and purrs, I heard "You'd need to have  a big, strong man next to you to walk in those shoes."  and "No... no... you can't buy them.  We're just looking at them.  No, there is nothing to buy here!"

What did I learn?  Above all, shoemaking is an engineering challenge.  You have to understand the anatomy of the foot, the balance points, and the motion of walking, running, and standing to create a show that actually works.  To give it beauty, on top of all of that effort?  Now, that's a feat!

My advice is to watch the video upstairs before seeing the exhibit, because it will help you to think differently before you enter.  This is an exhibit you can appreciate just on its surface, as in "Oh, look!  Pretty shoes!", and well as "Whoa.  Maybe those aren't just expensive shoes after all... Maybe they are works of art."  Either way, great for your brain and heart. Oh, and your pocket.  You can't buy them! or even try them on!

Not in New York?  Watch the slideshow.  Wanna see it? It closes this weekend, so hurry up!

There's a book, too!

Then, I stumbled upstairs to take a peek at the Fashion and Technology exhibit.  The name of this exhibit didn't inspire me, but I just thought I'd check it out.  And wow... Wow.  What I saw, was an amazingly well curated and explained collection of inspiration, design "magic", and innovation, that I was totally blown away.  Can't get to NYC?  See the the online version.

Fashion "will renew itself through technology, new fibers, new ways of making clothes.  Without risk, nothing changes the world."

-Ariele Elia and Emma McClendon, curators.

"Bravo!"

-Me

Every single time I decide that fashion is frivolous, silly, and I need to think about other things, I am re-energized by this amazing museum.  I think about how many exhibits there have just moved me practically to tears, and I am just thankful that they exist, educate, and remind me of the importance of this art form. I'm in.  Yes, I'm still in.