When an item of clothing enters our collection, its status is changed irrevocably. What was once a vital part of a person’s lived experience is now a motionless ‘artwork’ that can no longer be worn or heard, touched, or smelled. The exhibition endeavors to reanimate these artworks by re-awakening their sensory capacities through a diverse range of technologies, affording visitors sensorial ‘access’ to rare historical garments and rarefied contemporary fashions. By appealing to the widest possible range of human senses, the show aims to reconnect with the works on display as they were originally intended—with vibrancy, with dynamism, and ultimately with life.
Andrew Bolton, Curator in Charge, The Costume Institute.
Mr. Bolton is speaking about Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, the current exhibition on at The Costume Institute.
And of course today is the first Monday in May, which means … it’s the day of the Met Gala!
The Met Gala has become way too much of a circus for me, even just visually. Every year it’s more and more extreme and outrageous. Last year actor Jared Leto showed up in a giant white cat suit (a nod to Karl Lagerfeld’s cat). Yes it was amusing, but why can’t we just stick to beautiful clothes? All this unnecessary spectacle takes away from what should be the focus.
As for the exhibit, the descriptions are somewhat complicated yet intriguing. According to an article in Vogue (May, 2024), Sleeping Beauties is featuring only clothing from The Costume Institute’s own collection (of 33,000) and 75 pieces are new acquisitions, including a gown by Christian Dior and a headpiece by Philip Treacy. Using technology, some of the oldest and most fragile pieces in the collection will be “reanimated” and presented in such a way as to give the viewer a feel for how the garment was worn – in what environment, how did the wearer stand, what scents were in the room.
The idea behind Sleeping Beauties is that attendees will have an immersive experience that will include not just sight, but also sound, touch, and smell.
One of the consultants hired for the exhibition is Sissel Tolaas, a chemist and expert on scents. She has spent the last year studying the fragrances connected to garments included in the exhibition. Apparently, attendees will be able to catch a whiff of the “fragrance elements” associated with the various garments on display, not just perfume but the body of the wearer “her habits, her culture, her rituals, the foods she ate,” explains Tolaas.
Does this pique your interest? Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion is on May 10 through September 2, 2024 at The Costume Institute in New York City.
OverDressed for Life 