Jeudi 14 mars Fashioning Fashion musee des arts Decoratifs
Thursday I dragged myself out of bed for an infusion of French culture and ran to my fav musee des arts Decoratif.
How else to keep up with all that's going on in Paris?'
One can not loll around in bed for long in this town without missing out on a slew of things. I'll quote liberally from the museum's website:
Les Arts Décoratifs is hosting a prestigious exhibition previously shown at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) from 2 October 2010 to 27 March 2011, and at the Deutsch Historisches Museum in Berlin from 27 April to 29 July 2012. Fashioning Fashion: Two Centuries of European Fashion 1700–1915 celebrates LACMA’s acquisition of the remarkable collections of Martin Kamer and Wolfgang Ruf, both antique dealers and collectors of ancient costumes and fabrics. Their collections reflect the principal trends in fashion in Europe from the 18th century to the early 20th century. Presented chronologically and thematically, almost a hundred complete male and female outfits, mainly from France, England and Italy and all with their accessories, retrace the evolution of vestimentary taste, forms and techniques. Voila.
I must say the exhibit brought out a number of political thoughts I wasn't aware I was harboring.
So much lace, buttons and bows
All sweetness and delicacy on the surface.
But appearences are deceptive are they not?
Below the decorative buttons and bows torture.
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| Women's bodies pushed and contorted into all kinds of strange uncomfortable shapes. Necks stretched. Waists yanked in with stays. Hair piled high. Ouch. |
True we may currently look like walking sacks of potatoes. So be it.
Now we can eat cake and not have to look like an iced wedding cake. HURRAH for that! Still it's worth seeing Fashioning Fashion to remember how lucky we are.
You may want to get rid of the two Anonymous comments! Yuk!
ReplyDeleteIn any case, I'm sorry to miss this expo at the Arts Décoratifs, but there are plenty of things I will be able to see, both in May and in October. I love this museum! Thanks for sharing the photos.
I'm being bombarded with Spam
DeleteTime to change my settings unfortunately..
You are so right about how lucky we are to dress like we do today. My mom ( who would have been 103 yesterday, scandalized the neighborhood when she donned my dad's pants to work in the garden and that was in the 30s.
ReplyDeleteIn yesterday's blog there were some adorable little white bottles. Do you recall what they were (for)?
Ann
The little white round bottles held creme anglais at L'Epicerie
DeleteThank you for this walk through this museum very parisian, fashion has changed!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fascinating exhibition, I'm sorry that it won't still be running in June. You're quite right about the torture aspect, I'm so glad we don't have to wear those dresses anymore.
ReplyDeleteI just put this museum on my to do list in April by the 13th.My list is growing for places to vist on my relaxing trip to Paris.I too would like to know more about how I can make a Cordon Bleu visit,and other food related info.
ReplyDeleteMerci Beaucoup
Cyndi
There are links in the cordon Bleu post to the calendar at the end.
DeleteVoila!
What a fun post with a wonderful ending.
ReplyDeleteFun to see but would have hated to have worn all that stuff... or did it wear them? My Dads Mom wore pants when they weren't appropriate to wear out and she didn't care. Love it. Glad you are feeling better to get out and about.
ReplyDeleteI like the photos from the exhibit, but that cake looks better right now!
ReplyDeleteThey keep the room dark to preserve the fabrics.
DeleteTough as shoe leather to get a decent shot and on the sly to boot.
Carol, this exhibit does look interesting, but I so agree with you about not much liking the notion of having to wear all that painful armature. Still seeing the exhibit, with the underpinnings showing, does give the contemporary viewer many reasons to be happy and thankful.
ReplyDeleteI've passed along your info re tours at Le Cordon Bleu to a friend who'll soon be in Paris. Now I'll let her know about this exhibit.
Merci! xo
I´ve seen this exhibiiton in December and liked it a lot. Well, I love fashion exhibitions in general. In Vienna we rarely have one. Once again I´m wondering how you managed to take photographs in a place where you are not allowed to photograph.
ReplyDeleteI have taken lessons from detective Aimee Leduc and they weren't cheep either. Worse yet is shooting in a pitch black room!
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