Brooklyn Museum shows off American style
Head to the Brooklyn Museum for an opportunity to thank the women that set the stage for American style.
On view starting today, the Brooklyn Museum will showcase a unique perspective on American women and their influence on fashion entitled “American High Style: Fashioning a National Collection.” The museum is world renowned for their costume collection, which they now share with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
From bikinis to bodices, the archives are wide spread and span an incredible timeline of almost 200 years. Although many of the designers are from the U.S., the collection also includes foreign trailblazers such as Christian Dior, Jeanne Lanvin, Madeleine Vionnet and Elsa Schiaparelli. The latter, whom is considered one of the most influential female designers of all time, has a very special piece on display at the museum. Her surrealist necklace, featuring bizarre insects, shows off her modernist aesthetic which was rare and imaginative for her time.
Styling plays a huge part in the collection as well, showing off works by famed hatmakers and even mid 1900s street wear.
Before there was Sex & the City, these avant-garde girls guided us into the 21st century with their unique details and attention to color, cut and style. Fashions still seen today in big couture houses, were originally conjured up generations ago by ladies that were discouraged by society to be innovative. Let’s pay homage to American fashion by enjoying this remarkable collection.
The Brooklyn Museum will have the collection on display until August 1 and is located at 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn NY. To contact for more information, check out their web site at BrooklynMuseum.org or call (718) 638-5000.
Image caption: Ball Gown (1953) by Charles James
Tagged in: christian dior, metropolitan museum of art, madeleine vionnet, elsa schiaparelli, brooklyn museum,
Brooklyn Museum
