The Shophound

EXHIBITION ALERT: Cecil Beaton Lives Again At The Museum of The City Of New York

It's true that, at 103rd Street and Fifth Avenue, the Museum of the City of New York might seem to be a little out of the way, and we have to admit that we haven't been up to the Upper Upper East Side to visit in a while. It's worth making the effort, however, at least for the next few months, to see Cecil Beaton: The New York Years which runs through February 20th. The exhibition focuses on the famed British multi-hyphenate (Photographer-Artist-Costume & Set Designer) and his work in New York throughout the 20th Century. Beginning with his early work as a fashion photographer and his later moves into portraiture and work designing for Ballet, Opera and Broadway Shows, the show chronicles how Beaton's influential efforts linked him to prominent figures of the times, and how his own social prominence made him into an almost proto-Warhol type of figure. The show includes an abundance of photographs along with samples from magazines, books and several stage costumes designed by Beaton (pictured above with Truman Capote in an image from the show). It's an eye opening look at how a creative individual crafted a unique career before the era of the internet and the kinds of social media we have all become so accustomed to so quickly.

Cecil Beaton: The New York Years through February 20th at the Museum of the City of New York 1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street, Upper East Side

 

EXHIBITION AMBITION: FIT Peeks Into Daphne Guinness's Unique World

We haven't been paying enough attention to The Museum at FIT lately, and we have no really good reason why. We know we missed a few good exhibitions, but we feel like we made up for it yesterday when we stopped by to see its latest display simply titled Daphne Guinness.

It's one of the rare (but not unprecedented) fashion exhibitions based not on a particular designer or period, but on the personal style of one individual, and its worth a visit just for the sheer, mind-boggling spectacle of her wardrobe, or even just to gawk at her crazy balance-defying shoes. It's hard to imagine imagine to what occasion a person would wear one Alexander McQueen embroidered bodysuit, but the features two of them, and we suspect that she probably has a bunch more at home. Guinness is no mere shopper, and the show makes a strong case for her not only as a stylish person, but as a collector and patroness of fashion as a design pursuit. Co-curated by the woman herself and Valerie Steele along with Fred Dennis, the show focuses heavily on designers like McQueen and Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, but rarely features an outfit composed by a single label. Instead they freely mix a Lacroix Jacket with a Valentino gown or possibly one designed by Guinness herself and so on, just as Guinness does herself. The exhibition's design by Ken Nintzel maintains a clean backdrop for the sensory overload of all the elaborate garments, dividing FIT's cavernous exhibition space into six districts of the subject's style. In fact, it's almost surprising to see a pair of Azzedine Alaïa gowns looking sleek and minimal amongst all the baroque embellishment.

It's tough to compare anything to the recent Alexander McQueen blockbuster at the Costume Institute, but this show about Guinness easily serves as a worthy counterpart, or perhaps a coda. Where the Met delved into the extraordinarily fertile imagination of a prodigious designer, this show turns the focus to one of the few women on the planet who will actually wear those outlandish runway pieces and incorporate them into her real life, however rarefied it may be —and the shoes prove that her life is nothing if not rarefied.  Few individuals have the resources to compile such a collection of couture, but it is entertaining to say the least, to take a moment and marvel at one who does.

Daphne Guinness at The Museum at FIT through January 7th, 1012, Seventh Avenue at 27th Street, Chelsea

EXHIBITION UPDATE: No More Line Cutting For Met Members At The McQueen Show

We're heading into the home stretch for the wildly popular exhibition "Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Since the show began, patient visitors have watched members of the museum receive priority entrance to the show and the museum itself, making the wait in line for non-members even longer. It's been frustrating, but a membership table outside the entrance to the show has allowed people to drop $100 for a new membership and skip the line, kind of like a VIP entrance fee that many free spending visitors were more than happy to pay. Obviously, it has been a boon for recruiting new members to the museum.

Well, there will be no more of that!

The Met has reportedly suspended member privileges for the show, so now everyone has to wait together. Apparently, decisions about whether or not to suspend the express entry have been erratic with special exceptions made for some and not for others, but as of now, it appears that the rules for the show, which ends on Sunday, are firm. Another unfortunate development, the very informative audio tours are mysteriously no loner available for anyone. Our guess is that the audio machines are just plain worn out from the constant use. Last Sunday, when we went, ours was a but wonky but mostly serviceable.

So that's the deal right now. We'll tr to keep up with changes for these last days which are sure to be hectic.

Met Stops Allowing Members to Skip Alexander McQueen Line (DNA Info via Racked)
Previously:
Right Now It Is Practically Impossible To Get Inside The Metropolitan Museum Of Art
A Word About The Crowds At The Alexander McQueen Exhibition

MCQUEEN REDUX: Right Now It Is Practically Impossible To Get Inside The Metropolitan Museum Of Art

The Costume Institute exhibition "Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty" is now the Metropolitan Museum of Art's most popular costume show ever, and headed to its all time top ten before it closes after this weekend. It'll be right up there with Van Gogh and King Tut. Yesterday, we recounted our experience getting into the show early on a Sunday morning, and our friends at RACKED made a sojourn uptown to see how things were going. As you can see from their photos above and below, the lines just to get into the museum are INSANE. They estimate that the two lines on either side of the museum's main entrance are the equivalent of six to eight blocks long and, as they put it, "each packed three or four or five sweating jerks deep".

This, of course, is just to enter the building itself. Racked's correspondents obviously couldn't get inside to see how long the other line to get into the exhibition itself was, but we can safely assume that it's long, really, really long.

So, that long lunch you were planning to hop over to the museum and catch the show before it closed? Consider it cancelled.

Going to Savage Beauty This Week? Good Luck With That. (RACKED)
Previously:
Crowd Control: A Word About The Crowds At The Alexander McQueen Exhibition

CROWD CONTROL: A Word About The Crowds At The Alexander McQueen Exhibition

Yesterday, The Shophound finally made it to the Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We're not going to go on and on about it other than to say it is one of the best fashion exhibitions in recent memory, and worth seeing even if you aren't all that into clothes. It will close after this weekend, so this is your last chance to see it.

One would have thought we would have been first in line when it opened so many months ago, but we have a strong aversion to crowds and waiting in line, so we were trying to find a time to go to the museum when we could avoid those things. Eventually we realized that the show had become so popular that no such time existed, and when we stopped by a few times at what we thought would be odd hours, we were informed of two hours or more in wait times. Finally, we decided to go at the opening hour on Sunday morning, and though we didn't breeze through, here's some tips for those of you who will want to catch the exhibition in its last week.

GO EARLY, but not too early. We arrive at the museum at 9:30 when it opens its doors, a bit later than we had planned. To our growing horror, there was a line out the front door, down the steps, all the way to 84th Street. We were almost about to turn and go when when museum guards had formed a second line at the entrance that barely made it down the steps. Did we feel a bit like we were cutting? We felt more like we dodged a bullet, and much better than if we had arrived a hour earlier to wait outside in the hot sun. One obstacle averted.

BUY A MEMBERSHIP. It's $100, but you can cut the lines. Even though we arrived at the moment the museum opened, there was already an hour-long wait inside the museum to enter the exhibition. We did have the advantage of being able to look at European Paintings and Sculpture and Central Asian Art while we waited which was some consolation, but know that there is a special membership table set up at the entrance to the show for anyone feeling overwhelmed with more waiting. Also know that by 11:30, when we exited the exhibition, the line had nearly quadrupled in length, winding around the entire second floor balcony.

LEAVE THE KIDS AT HOME. The museum is a wonderful place for children, but not this show. Forget about some of the disturbing themes of McQueen's work, the first three rooms of the show are so crowded that they won't be able to see anything. The scene looks something like the picture above. Never mind how delightful kids can be when waiting in a slow-moving line.

GET THE RECORDED TOUR. You might think you know everything there is to know about Alexander McQueen, but the tour not only contains important commentary from curator Andrew Bolton, but also from Sarah Burton, Philip Treacy and several other people with insightful, often surprising things to say about the designer. Besides, the item descriptions in the exhibition are at about mid-shin level, and even the introductory comments on the walls are difficult to read through the crowds.

HAVE PATIENCE. As we mentioned, the first rooms of the show are so crowded and bottlenecked that you might feel on the edge of a claustrophobic fit. if you persevere, however, the congestion seems to ease up after that, and you can more fully appreciate the show.

It takes an extra effort to see this show, for sure, but it is well worth the trouble. It turns out that MCQueen was an even more thoughtful and creative designer then he was given considerable credit for being during his short career. The exhibition shows him to have been the rare decorative artist who was able to transcend his chosen discipline. See it while you can.

TODAY'S SPECIALS: Your Met Ball Roundup

The Shophound has been preoccupied with all sorts of mundane things today, and all anyone else can find to talk about is the Met Ball or Osama Bin Laden, so at the very least we wanted to round up the significant Costume Institute stories for your easy access without having to use that pesky Google. As for Bin Laden, we can only paraphrase Chevy Chase's Weekend Update days in saying that as far as we know he, just like Generalissimo Francisco Franco, is still dead.

The New York Times has tasked Eric Wilson with reviewing the party,
Suzy Menkes with reviewing the show,
and Cathy Horyn adds a typically pointed blog post.

If you missed Daphne Guinness' dressing up in Barneys' window, the store has the video streaming on its website, The Window. In all honesty, we have to say it looked a bit stupid amateurish at best from the video, and ultimately, it's not very interesting to watch, but it got Barneys and Guinness truckloads of publicity, which, we suppose was the ultimate goal. Racked has one of its signature minute by minute livebloggings up with some genuinely interesting crowd photos, and it is actually much more entertaining than the actual event in the way such things can be. They also have a different video from another angle posted HERE for those of you out there who are unreasonably obsessive.

If you found Guinness' antics disappointing, The Cut has a video of Iman actually getting ready for the ball in the discreet privacy of her hotel room. She turns out to be the perfect combination of real human being and impossibly glamorous creature from Fashionland. Every second is a general lesson in fabulousness. She's one model whose talking we never tire of hearing.
In addition, they have The Fug Girls going to town on the celebrity guests as well as one of its signature Q&A Party Lines Slideshows.

And then, of course, there are the guests and their clothes. As usual, Style.com is the most exhaustive with a whopping 131 photos! Its new competitor Vogue.com has a meager 84 shots. While Vogue has an arguably superior collection of well taken, evocative party photos, Style.com remains the winner in thorough coverage and correctly identifying each attendee as well as the designers of their dresses (something which Vogue oddly doesn't trouble itself with at all). The only thing we miss is vintage W's merciless ratings system from 4 stars down to FV (Fashion Victim) back when it was a biweekly broadsheet. Yeah, we're old. So what?

If that's not enough coverage for you, then we strongly suggest you step away from the computer.
Eat something.
Go outside for a nice walk.

Oh, and you might want to click the image above for information on the actual Alexander McQueen exhibition at the Metropilitan Museum of Art running through July 31.

YOUR WEEKEND PLANS: Sonia Delaunay Gets A Long Overdue Showcase At The Cooper-Hewitt

Designers love to talk about the mixture of Art and Fashion, but few, if any, have been able to straddle those worlds with the skill and integrity of Sonia Delaunay (pictured in 1925 at left, in her studio), a name that should be familiar to scholars of both disciplines. The Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum opens “Color Moves: Art and Fashion by Sonia Delaunay,” the first major American exhibition devoted to the artist in 30 years.

The Russian born Delaunay alternated painting and design throughout her life. She married artist Robert Delaunay in 1910, and most of her clothing design took place during the 1920s. The museum has a few precious examples of her fashion work on display including hats, bathing suits and a spectacular embroidered coat made for the actress Gloria Swanson (below, right). Such things are extremely rare and so the opportunity to see them in person is well worth the visit to the Cooper-Hewitt. As the show focuses mainly on her design work (it is at the Cooper-Hewitt, after all), it contains only one full oil painting, though it is a stunning one, but includes early design collaborations with poets Apollinaire and Tristan Tzara to name a few which gives you an idea of the kind of avant-garde circles the Delaunay's frequented. Interestingly, Delaunay never directly translated a painting to a textile design. She kept her disciplines discrete, but her colorful aesthetic naturally pervaded both efforts. Though she stopped making clothes after 1929, and devoted herself to painting by the mid-30s, her textile designs continued through the support of Dutch department store Metz & Co. Much of the exhibition consists of these original designs, many of which remain familiar and popular today, and are shown from initial design sketches through variations to the final product. Never has a bunch of textile samples seemed so fascinating.

Delaunay has long been a inspiration for fashion designers over the years including Perry Ellis, Emanuel Ungaro and Yves Saint Laurent among many others, and her textile designs continue to be popular today. Most visitors will be struck by how, decades later, her work continues to look modern and fresh. One of the things The Shophound appreciated most, however, was the way Delaunay managed to make that Art and Fashion connection seem so natural, especially when compared to some of the overhyped, heavily marketed collaborations we see today. Aside from a timely recognition of Delaunay's talent and contribution, the exhibition reminded us that great design often happens on a smaller, more personal scale, and when outside business comes in for support, it can happen without all of the corporate commodification we are so accustomed to now.

The exhibition runs through June 5th, and if it is not enough of a draw by itself, you can always make it a double header with the continuing Van Cleef & Arpels exhibition. If Jewels and Design aren't enough to get you up to the Cooper-Hewitt, then we aren't quite sure why you are reading this blog at all.

Color Moves: Art and Fashion by Sonia Delaunay through June 5^th at the Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, 2 East 91^st Street at Fifth Avenue, Upper East Side

Click all images for a larger view in a new window

YOUR WEEKEND PLANS: The Cooper-Hewitt's Treasure Trove Of Van Cleef & Arpels

Click all images by The Shophound and courtesy of the museum for a larger view in a new window

Taking a much needed break from Fashion week, The Shophound took yesterday morning off for a special preview of "Set In Style: The Jewelry of Van Cleef & Arpels", the exhibition opening today at The Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. running through June 5^th. You don't have to simply be a jewelry fan to appreciate the more than 350 dazzling works on view throughout the museum's ground floor. While there are plenty of sparkly treats for the eye, the exhibition also focuses on the legendary jeweler's technological advances and groups the objects by themes including Innovation, Transformation, Nature, Exoticism, Fashion and, of course the famous Personalities who have been prominent customers over the past century. Extensive materials from the firm's vast archive such as orders and sketches help to give context to remarkable pieces such as an iconic "zipper" necklace that converts into a bracelet (at left) which was originally commissioned by the Duchess of Windsor and took nearly 20 years to perfect.

The exhibition is something of an innovation itself, however featuring special magnifying displays as well as a holographic presentation that allows the painstaking workmanship of some tiny pieces to be viewed three-dimensionally. A Special Order book from 1938 is reproduced digitally, to be perused through a touch screen. There are informative videos throughout the installation, but most striking is a special iPad app as elegant as anything in the show. It allows visitors to access additional content on the objects as they browse. The free app should be available in a couple of weeks from the iTunes Store, but for those of us who remain without a personal iPad (and there are still plenty of us), the museum has 50 of them that visitors can borrow while inside the exhibition.

But all of this tech simply support the main attraction which is a ton of gorgeous baubles to marvel at. The show makes the point that unlike many famous jewelers, Van Cleef & Arpels as a design force is less about great big diamonds than using gemstones as an element of extraordinary design. Designer Patrick Jouin of the firm Jouin Manku used the Cooper Hewitt's own opulent home as an inspiration for the exhibition design, with a long table set with jewels in the dining room, and a vitrine of flying enameled butterfly brooches in the conservatory. The exhibition ends with choice items from its most famous clients, from early supporters like Daisy Fellowes and Florence Jay Gould to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Eva Perón, Marlene Dietrich and, of course, Elizabeth Taylor (pictured above), culminating in the engagement and wedding jewels presented to Grace Kelly as she became H.S.H. Princess Grace of Monaco. Jouin managed to keep the show from feeling like a jewelry store, or maybe he just made it like the best jewelry store ever.

After taking in the show, The Shophound retired to a press tent for refreshments that nearly rivaled the exhibition itself in its lavishness. It turns out it was doing double duty after hosting the museum's gala the night before, and as we left we were presented with a copy of the exhibition's sumptuous catalog which, even if you can't get to the Cooper Hewitt, will be a must-have for serious jewelry customers and fans alike.

Set In Style: The Jewelry of Van Cleef & Arpels through June 5^th at the Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, 2 East 91^st Street at Fifth Avenue, Upper East Side

McQueen To Meet The Met In 2011

In a predictable but welcome move, The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art will devote its next major exhibition to the work of Alexander McQueen. WWD reports that “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty” will run from May 4 to July 31 and cover the period from his graduate collection at London's Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design to his shocking suicide earlier this year. The exhibition will draw from the various archives of the designer's own label and Givenchy as well as from the collection of the late Isabella Blow which is now entirely in the possession Daphne Guinness. It will also include many items created in collaboration with other designers. Andrew Bolton, who will be overseeing the show told WWD, “He really was one of the most provocative voices of the past 30 years in fashion. His catwalk presentations were outstanding and straddle art and fashion. We want to get across two elements — the spectacle of the runway presentations and the beauty of his craftsmanship.”

As is traditional, the show will launch following the annual Costume Institute Benefit gala on May 2. Not surprisingly, the Met Ball will be a PPR/Gucci Group sponsored event. Co-chairs, aside from Anna Wintour, will include François-Henri Pinault and Salma Hayek, who will be the evening’s honorary chairs, Colin Firth and Stella McCartney whose business is also part of the Gucci Group. Expect attire for the evening to be something of a celebrity tribute to McQueen.

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The show is not an unexpected move from the Costume Institute as a similar exhibition was staged shortly after the equally untimely death of Gianni Versace (we're still waiting for that Geoffrey Beene show). It's worth noting that since an acclaimed but controversial Yves Saint Laurent exhibition 30 years ago, the museum has had a policy against Costume Institute shows that focus on a single living designer. At the time it was criticized for being used as a commercial platform for the then thriving designer's business. All the same, the upcoming show will be underwritten by the Alexander McQueen Co.

Alexander McQueen's Major Moment (WWD)

Dueling Fashion Exhibitions: Models Uptown VS. Isabel Toledo Downtown

New York has something of an embarrassment of riches when it comes to fashion museums with a continuing roster exhibits not only from The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, but also The Museum at FIT as well as occasional shows from the likes of the Museum of the City of New York and others. We are currently graced with two major shows including the Met's "The Model As Muse" extravaganza and FIT's "Isabel Toledo: Fashion from the Inside Out". The two shows are so different that it is almost pointless to compare them, except that one succeeds admirably, and the other sadly disappoints.
Isabel Toledo's profile has risen dramatically since Michelle Obama chose the designer's now famous lemongrass wool lace ensemble to wear at her husband's inauguration in January. Curators Valerie Steele and Patricia Mears get that famous outfit out of the way quickly, showcasing it alone in the exhibit's anteroom. Famous as it is, it is not Toledo's most interesting work, although photos showing its creation reveal that the original design was slightly more elaborate.
The show really starts in the museum's cavernous main room. While she has been well known to the public for only a few months, the designer has been admired by fashion insiders since her first show in 1985, and this presentation focuses on her rigorous design philosophy and innovative techniques, not unlike FIT's previous shows on Madame Grès and Ralph Rucci.
Most examples are accompanied by abstract flat sketches of the garments' patterns, illuminating Toledo's ingenious cutting methods. For all the focus on the technical details of dressmaking, the show could run the risk of becoming a dry academic exercise if it weren't for the gorgeous clothes. Toledo's style runs the gamut from puritanical to erotic (sometimes within the same outfit), and her wit and humor comes through in the mysterious alchemy that great designers work with their creations.
Her inventive hand with materials and sculpting garments puts her on a par with Rucci and Azzedine Alaïa, another Obama favorite. The show almost skips over Toledo's brief but promising tenure as the designer for a revived but aborted Anne Klein Collection (the accompanying catalogue goes into greater detail) except for a painstakingly tailored coat in pink wool and a series of silk pongee "Broomstick Librarian" dresses handpainted by the designer's husband and collaborator, Reuben. He also provides a 500 foot paper frieze filled with his inimitable drawings and paintings of his wife's work circling above the exhibition spaces.
It's their collaboration that is at the heart of the show –another strong and thoughtful showing from the team at FIT
And now uptown to the Met.

More about the Costume Institute after the jump as well as videos about both shows from The Met and New York Magazine.