Monday, March 30, 2015

The New Exhibits at FIT

Miss Cellie's Pants blog post about the new exhibits at FIT reminded me that I had not seen them yet. So a friend and I went down to see the new exhibit together.

There are presently three exhibits at the FIT Museum:
  • Lauren Bacall - The Look
  • Yves Saint Laurent + Halston: Fashioning the 70s
  • Faking It: Originals Copies and Counterfeits
The Lauren Bacall and Faking It exhibits were upstairs. The Bacall exhibit was too short and because of that I only took two pictures of the exhibit:


This was fascinating because the coat was lined with the 
same fabric used for the dress!


Lauren Bacall's every day dresses. I would wear all of those now!

The exhibit that I really liked was the YSL + Halston one. A few pictures:



Menswear type suits for women

Gold lame evening suit


Sweater jacket and dress

Gingham shirtwaist dress

To me the most memorable thing from the day was the conversation we had during and after the exhibit. My friend didn't realize that Halston had started as a milliner. Or that he had designed the pillbox hat that Jackie Kennedy wore to the Inauguration. Or that he had won five Coty Awards. The awards that were the precursor to the CFDA awards.

Its truly sad that by selling his name to JC Penney, he ended up losing his name and reputation. That all he's remembered for is cheap perfume and clothing that was licensed under his name. For more information on Halston - click this link.

Or check out this youtube video from Madoff Productions~



The Yves Saint Laurent + Halston exhibit lasts until April 18th - not too much longer - so if you're going to be in NYC before then I highly recommend that you see it. The clothing is amazing and the timeline that tells the history of YSL and Halston is really enlightening!

...as always more later!

6 comments:

  1. Carolyn, coats with linings that match a dress is something Coco Chanel did in her lifetime - did you notice the designer's name for that Bacall ensemble by any chance? Also her estate is being auctioned off March 31, the catalog is on-line and her wardrobe is part of it so maybe that's why there was not much at FIT. Also there is a film about Halston (currently Netfix) called "Ultrasuede" that is pretty good. It has a ton of fantastic period footage and interviews with people who knew him - including Ralph Rucci, who worked for him cutting muslins.

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    1. Phyllis - thanks for the info on the family! I didn't know her items were being auctioned tomorrow but it kinda makes you wonder why they even had the exhibit! I will look for Ultrasuede on Netfix but I am old enough to have followed Halston's career and remember his career and designs well.

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  2. Oh! Halston and YSL are my favorite designers - thank you for sharing pictures of the exhibit. I have an Ultrasuede shirt dress like the one you've photographed that I'm a bit too chunky to wear right now. The documentary that Phyllis talks about is good. I've watched it probably too many times.
    Thanks again for sharing your day with us!

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    Replies
    1. Bobbi - I was telling my friend that I made a dress like that back in the day. Those Ultrasuede shirt dresses were really popular in the 70s.

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  3. Thank you so much for posting these. I really love the lined coat dress combo and the gold lame pant set. Being one of those that never gets to go to things like this, the photos were a real treat.

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  4. Very interesting, thanks for sharing!!!

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