FASHION INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY MUSEUM
Youthquake! The 1960s Fashion Revolution
Just as the ’60s were a revolutionary period for politics and youth culture throughout the world, the era redefined fashion. "Once only the rich, the Establishment, set the fashion. Now it is the inexpensive little dress seen on the girls in High Street," British designer and boutique owner Mary Quant has said of the transition. London's mod scene and American hippies began setting trends—dressing for self-expression, blurring traditional lines of gender identity, embracing sexuality and new silhouettes. Youthquake! explores the decade with an exhibition that showcases garments and historical footage. (NYCGO)
Listen. We love culture as much as the next guy. The editors here at Joonbug enjoy rolling out of bed at noon on a Saturday (or one, or two) and heading to our favorite fine art institution. But we are not about to waste our hard-earned weekends on New York tourist traps. And as it turns out, staring at paintings is a favorite activity of the Times Square-loving, Ray's Famous Pizza-eating, crisp white tennis shoe-wearing museumgoers...so the MoMA and Guggenheim will have to wait. Rather than shelling out to bump shoulders with a stroller-toting family of four, consider some of these exhibits that have been happily forgotten by the fannypack crowd:
Still reeling from the phenomenal Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty exhibit that recently concluded at the Metropolitan Museum, it is beyond our the realm of our wildest imaginations to think of an event that could conjure the same awe inspiring feelings. Not to mention our ever-increasing anticipation continues to nearly blind us to anything beyond next week’s Spring/Summer 2012 New York Fashion Week. Only a true fashion tour de force could slice straight through to our minds right now – and exactly that has occurred in the form of the upcoming display of a personal collection belonging to one of the most revered collectors of couture of our time. Dedicated to the art of fashion, the Museum at FIT will be opening a mind-blowing special exhibit of Daphne Guinness on September 16th.
What is the relationship between clothing and temptation? That is exactly what the latest exhibit at the Fashion Institute of Technology Museum examines. “Seduction”, the title of the exhibit, contains both vintage and contemporary pieces.
The oldest garment on display is a gown from 1785 with an open-front bodice. Perhaps a bit tame by today’s standards, but it serves as the genesis for a timeline of the evolution of society’s definition of sexy spanning 250 years. More contemporary pieces include a 2004 Olivier Theyskens for Rochas wedding gown and a playboy bunny suit that can only be worn at the Playboy Mansion and is made in 34D or 36D, a literal example of “controlled” sexiness.
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