This year has taken so much away from us, and although we missed the MET Gala, we were still able to have the history of fashion on display through the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Exhibit, “About Time: Fashion and Duration.” The theme employs French philosopher Henri Bergson’s ‘la durée’, which conceptualizes how time that flows, accumulates and is indivisible. The exhibit features fashion from the last 150 years to coincide with the Met’s 150th anniversary.
Patrons start by entering a dimly lit room echoed by the sound of the monotone voice of Virginia Woolf reading excerpts from her written work on the passage of time. Rounding the corner, you walk into a room of mannequins lined wall to wall draped with beautiful fabrics from different generations. The center of the room showcases a pendulum swinging back and forth, bringing the theme of time to the focal point.
A first impression might have attendees believe that the outfits don’t really differ much from each other — generally speaking, they all appear to be ornate, dark colored, high-fashion pieces of art. Each fabric largely maintains neutral tones to convey unison between each garment. The ambient music playing and the soothing narration contributes to the idea that the wardrobe molds together and that perhaps fashion doesn’t differ as much as we think it does. Upon the opening of this exhibit, The New York Post wrote an article stating that, “The Met’s ‘About Time’ exhibit proves nothing in fashion is ever quite new.”
The juxtaposition of ensembles decades apart in the gallery definitely does allude to this point. It’s no secret that designers have drawn inspiration for their designs from garments of the past. More often than not, we will see updated versions of designs with newer fabrics, more embellishments and crisper details. For the sake of understanding this exhibit, it’s important for us to be able to separate what designs signal the times and what designs are being created for the sake of art and fashion. A lot of the earlier designs showcased in the exhibit were created as a means to wear clothes; the updated gowns and garments on display are not representative statements indicative of 20th or 21st century dress — they are meant as works of art to reference designs of the past.
Overall, it’s true — 150 years ago women still would have worn dresses out to fancy galas and today women are still wearing dresses on red carpets. Fashion doesn’t change in the grand scheme of things, but we must be mindful of how things change from day to day and which of these changes would have been acceptable 100 years ago. Maybe this is a sign that it’s time for designers to innovate their couture clothing and get away from the idea that you don’t need to be wearing dresses in order to be high fashion.
It’s important for us to remember that the future of fashion is often fueled by inspiration from the past. Fashion is all about recreation and innovation.
I need to to thank you for this good read!! I certainly loved every little bit of it. Deanne Miguel Artemus