Karelle Levy and Her Arty Fashion

TEXT, VIVIAN KELLY


About a week ago, I got a non-NYFW related email from “emerging designer” Karelle Levy.
I’ve known Karelle for years, ever since my then-editor at Lucire Magazine asked me to go visit her Miami studio. She picked me up in her Mini-Cooper and I stepped into a wonderland of brightly colored bolts of fabrics – she makes all of her own. What really blew me away was that she works on a loom – yes, a loom, as in what Sleeping Beauty pricked her finger on in the fairy tale.
The Email Read:
“It's Karelle from KRELwear.
I flew into town to show my designs at MTV’s SKINS party! What a blast!!
 I’m in town for a week....in my Pop-Up Studio on a cobble stoned street in the West Village. I’d love to have you over for tea and show you my stylin' one of a kind KNIT fashions that have been featured on the fabulous Nicki Minaj, at the Scope Art Fair, The Standard Hotel gift shop, and various spots around the world.”

MTV, hmm. Interesting. I hopped into the Volvo and zoomed down the Saw Mill Parkway to finally check-out Karelle’s “Quickie Couture” project for myself, and maybe even to have her make me one.
It was great to catch-up. Krel’s found that “NY is so great for connections.”
These days she seems to be on a travel schedule rivaling ‘Michael Clayton’s’. She’ll be back in NYC in April/May, Miami in March (ongoing popups at the Standard and Lace2 Mani-Pedis in the Portofino towers) and Paris June/July and the Hamptons late summer.

Karelle’s a special designer because she’s managed to fuse her fashion and art sensibilities into a unique formula that works for her. True, she’s STILL “emerging”, but she’s still here, and her fans are still buying.
“True, she says in our chat as she whips me up my wave print vest, it’s a difficult time. It’s been really hard to stay in the game, the boutiques no longer exist, and the ones who remain won't be supporting emerging designers.”
Instead of throwing in the towel, Karelle is acting and using the social media to continue to gain awareness to her work. She’s fashioned a deal with MTV to dress the girls on MTV Skins in some adorable one of a kind dresses that glow in the dark. They really DO – we went into the bathroom, shut the door and the dress lit up like a rainbow when Karelle shone a small black light on it.
Her “Quickie Couture” project is her most successful project to date. Thus far, she’s whipped-up close to 900 of these pieces at pop ups including the big Scope Art Fair where her space was THE #1 booth, and turned into the place to go and hang. That’s just what her vibe is though: arty fashion that’s fun, friendly, and cool.




We talked a good bit about just HOW TO survive and even [gasp, succeed] in this recession/depression. Have a listen to the video to see what Karelle has learned along the way.

As far as the future, Karelle has this to say:
“What were going thru has never been seen, there's no template."

What she’d like to do in the future: “I would love to have a room in a museum where the models are dressed dayglo lurex.”

*Where To Find and Follow Karelle and her Krelwear
www.krelwear.com

www.krelwear.blogspot.com

THe HUnt in a Berkshires Winter WonderLand

Text, Vivian Kelly
I LOVE THE BERKSHIRES - specifically that little pocket of the world that includes Stockbridge, Lakeville, Interlaaken, and now, Great Barrington.The Red Lion Inn, the piece de resistance at 30 Main Street in Stockbridge has been on my "LOVE!" list since I was seven years old, and my Papa took me swimming in the pool there. Since then, I've stayed at most of the buildings, including the O'Brien and Stevens Houses with two different husbands and in all four seasons at some point. My most recent trip was this past Martin Luther King weekend, where we stayed in the Main House, on the Third Floor, right across from the Library. What could be better? With plenty of time to explore, we walked the floors, checking out the display cases, and the Norman Rockwells on the walls, and looked for SIMON, the pampered "house cat". Simon is a celebrity at the Red Lion, you can even buy pictures of him in the Gift Shop downstairs. Another great thing, pet lovers, pets are actually welcome at this lovely 4-Star Establishment - gasp. Just remember, we're not in France, so they can't hang in the dining rooms and sit on your lap when you're downstairs in the Lion's Den enjoying the live music. That aside, it was amazing to step back in time and take the historic birdcage elevator up to the room and to wake-up and go down to breakfast without ever having to go outside. Of course, THe HUnt is always on, and this weekend was no exception.The score this time was next door, at Seven Arts, at 44 Main Street. We went in to kill 10 minutes and to warm-up and left 45 minutes later with 4 fabulous LIFE Magazines which I'm getting framed to display in the Home Office.There were tons of pop culture ones to pull from but the winners who went home with me: Jackie O, Jane Fonda, Ingrid Bergman, and an anonymous [but very glam] young couple living the gypsy life in Greece in the Seventies. I went a little overboard, but they had a deal going on, buy 3 get 1 free, so....Anyhow, the total only came to $37.08 for unforgettable images of 3 of my fave fashion icons.The other score was in Great Barrington, which is FAR more chic than the run-down town I remember from years past. If you're pressed for time, hit SOCo, have some of their famous ice cream and then a cup of Harney's chamomile tea to warm up and go right across the street to KAREN ALLEN Fiber Arts. I am most definitely NOT the "crunchy granola" type of girl you see in places like Park Slope, Brooklyn, so my galpal D., had to talk me into going in. D. has incredible personal style and I "die" every-time I visit her current living space, so anytime she tells me something is great, I go with it, because she's always right, whether it's about someplace in Nantucket, Ridgefield, or now, Great Barrington. We discovered colorful children's hats in the back, handmade by Karen's sister, Kathleen Crawford. I restrained myself, and bought only 1 of the 3 I liked, but like Arnold [Schwarzenneger] so famously said, "I'll be back."

Lodging and Shopping Info

The Red Lion Inn
30 Main Street
Stockbridge, MA 01262
(413) 298-5545
(413) 298-5130 Fax
www.redlioninn.com

Seven Arts
44 Main Street
PO Box 520
Stockbridge, MA 01262

(413) 298-5101
www.rockwell-stockbridge.com

Karen Allen Fiber Arts
8 Railroad Street, Great Barrington, MA 01230
Tel: 4135288555www.karenallen-fiberarts.com

The Party at the Art Barn

TEXT, VIVIAN KELLY

Premiere Master printmaker Gary Lichtenstein and Sarah Henderson held an Aldrich after party for the seven artists who showed at the Aldrich opening. It was an amazing way to end the day, relaxing on their Lichtenstein sprawling home on Ridgebury Road across the road from the Ridgefield Golf Course. We loved Sarah’s rainbow colored confection of a dress and her dog Tilly, as the perfect accessory on a silk leash. Sarah was F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S, she’s done it all. She was a rock impresario in the seventies, in the eighties ran a very successful silk screen atelier called “Soma Fine Art” in San Francisco for her husband Gary.

Alex Katz and most notoriously Robert Indiana, iconic creator of the “Love” sculpture and painting, circa 1960. The Alex Katz prints on canvas are currently hanging on museums around the country.

Most recently, Gary created a silk screen on canvas entitled “HOPE” that is currently hanging in the Obama White House.

CULTURE VULTURE: CHARLES JAMES GOWNS AND LANVIN FLAPPER SHIFTS AT THE MET’S COSTUME INSTITUTE EXHIBIT

TEXT, VIVIAN KELLY
Images of gowns and painting, courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Attending the MET’s annual Costume Institute’s Press Preview is one of the highlights of spring for me, each and every year.
This year, “American Woman: Fashioning A National Identity” failed to bowl me over, but there were two highpoints: 1890’s- Gallery One: THE HEIRESS and 1920’s Gallery Five: THE FLAPPER. The other highpoint were the historically specific tableaux created by film-set designer Nathan Crowley (The Dark Knight, Public Enemies).

1890’s- Gallery One: THE HEIRESS

This first gallery features CHARLES JAMES’ stunning ball gowns [circa 1890]

A good exhibit, like a good article or page-turner novel, starts with a bang, and this exhibit did just that. We stopped dumbstruck in front of a gorgeous pink gown that had been designed for an Astor or Vanderbilt deb, to be worn to one of the many balls at the family’s cottage in Newport, Rhode Island. There was a painting by Giovanni Boldini of Consuelo Vanderbilt a.k.a. the Duchess of Marlborough, and her son, Lord Ivor Spencer-Churchill. Consuelo was one of the lucky heiresses who wore James’ creations.

Mr. James famously quipped that he loved working with the newly-rich American Heiresses because, ““They have faith, figures and francs – faith to believe in me, figures that I can put into shape, francs to pay my bills.”
TOP GOWN DETAILS: The pink ballgown
House of Worth, French (1858–1956) Jean-Philippe Worth (French, 1856–1926) Ball Gown, 1898–1900 Pink silk satin voided with white and pink silk velvet in a floral motif and pink and cream silk tulle embroidered with pearls and brilliants in a lattice pattern; pearl-bead tassels
Gift of Eva Drexel Dahlgren, 1976

Gallery Five: THE FLAPPER
The “Flapper” Gallery, featuring wonderful beaded confections by Mme Jeanne Lanvin and Jean Patou that ‘Daisy’ and ‘Jordan’ would have worn to one of Jay Gatsby’s unforgettable parties at his West Egg mansion. These French designers were avant-garde in that they idealized the boyish proportions of the American woman over the classic rounded “French Venus”. The “perfect woman was slim, athletic, and youthful. Patou referred to the American Flapper as the “slender American Diana”.



You can’t really appreciate flapper dresses until you see the real thing by Mme Lanvin and Jean Patou, in silk, beading, feathers and sequins. For this reason, this gallery is a must-see for costume enthusiasts.

BEST DRESS: Jeanne Lanvin (French, 1867–1946) Evening Dress, spring/summer 1923 Peach silk crepe and gold silk tulle embroidered overall with rhinestones, gold sequins, and metallic thread Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Designated Purchase Fund, 1984 (2009.300.1364a–c)

WHERE AND WHEN
Exhibition dates: Exhibition location: Press preview:
May 5–August 15, 2010 Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Exhibition Hall, second floor

*TIP: Give yourself ½ an hour and DO purchase the audio tour, narrated by Sarah Jessica Parker, provides additional insight into the exhibition and the birth of the modern American woman. It is available for rental ($7, $6 for members, and $5 for children under 12). The Audio Guide is sponsored by Bloomberg.

For additional information/details, visit: wwwmmetmuseum.org

A NIGHT OUT WITH ‘GENERAL HOSPITAL’S’ “JOHNNY ZACCAHARA" AT LEVANT EAST

BY VIVIAN G. KELLY

No, we weren’t on a stage set for ‘GH’; we met “Johnny” for quite a different reason. We attended a dinner at Levant East, the hot Lower East Side eatery organized by our friend, CLAUDINE GUMBEL, of Think P.R., to learn more about MD [muscular dystrophy]. This disease recently struck down a family friend, whom we watched die before our eyes over the course of his five year battle.
After chatting with the very approachable Barash for a while over a delicious spread of comfort foods prepared by Levant’s MATT LEVINE, we came to the conclusion that there’s nothing remotely shallow about actor BRANDON BARASH. The real world “Johnny Z.” is a hot property, true, but he’s also one who cares greatly about his cause – MDA. He provided us with a scary stat – 9 out of 10 people stricken my MD are men, and usually die by the time they reach their 20s.Brandon’s involvement began years ago, when his childhood friend, Chad, died at age 18, after suffering from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. The disease begins, he told us, with enlarged calf muscles and eventually leads to deadly congestive heart failure. At this time, Duchenne is relatively rare, several 100,000 cases have been diagnosed thus far.Brandon made the decision to use his fame to help focus the spotlight on MDA. His role is to act as the public face of the MDA. The organization has some impressive goals: to raise $71 million on the Jerry Lewis telethon, which will go to carefully vetted research, and of course to boost public awareness.

PHOTOGRAPHY FOR A CAUSE -
Not only is the actor donating his time at fan events, but he’s selling his photographs to help out too. Brandon shared photographs from his personal travels to international destinations such as Alaska, Prague, Chicago, Big Sur, Amsterdam, San Diego and New York with us as well as his photography book, which is available through General Hospital fan club events. The sale of these photographs, as well as Brandon’s book, will be donated to the Muscular Dystrophy Association for research and awareness purposes.
The sober tone of the evening notwithstanding, we enjoyed an evening spent chatting with Barash and his significant other, casting agent, Becky Silverman, who is also involved in the cause, and the great food.

THE BEST FOOD ON THE LOWER EAST SIDE -
MATT LEVINE is to be congratulated for his menu of what we’ll call “high-end comfort food” – the hands-down favorite being MAC & Cheese. Be sure to order a Cosmopolitan, they’re one of the best in the City. We also have to give him a thumbs up for the decor. We left, in love with the enormous black chandelier in the back dining room, and resolved to start watching "GH".
To learn more about MDA, visit www.mda.org

HELEN FICALORA AND HER FINE JEWELRY – a designer whose creations inspire beauty, love and peace

TEXT, VIVIAN G. KELLY

“I AM NOT A TREND DESIGNER” is one of the first things fine jewelry designer HELEN FICALORA tells us on a phone call following our visit to her Soho boutique.

BACKGROUND – GETTING THERE
Helen’s story is an example of some women’s ability to successfully multitask and successfully create, run and grow a business.
Helen’s a Montauk native, whose routine includes helping run her family's Montauk beach resort while shuttling back and forth between her home in Olympia, Washington, and Montauk. Somehow, in the past 10 years she's developed a highly successful fine jewelry line, which began as a mail order business out of her Olympia home.
The process began when she took some jewelry making courses in high school, and started making her own sterling pieces for herself. Eventually friends started asking her to make them some and a business was born. She kept slowly growing the business all the while running the business aspect of the line and homeschooling her two children.

THE ALPHABET JEWELRY
When she first started making the alphabet jewelry [@ 2002-3], she had them in a pink plastic cup in her desk at the Montauk Inn. They weren’t on display in the case in the shop; the charms were an insider thing. People would get off planes and say, “I saw my friend wearing one. I want one of those, can you make me one – now?” She’d oblige and whip one up. Then, the editorial started hitting and the charms became a "must-have" item that made the company a regular in fashion editorials and on TV and film sets.

THE PRODUCT MIX
Her signature is yellow gold with a muted/matte finish. She’s been offering the shorter more practical 16” chains long before they became the fashionable length.
There’s much more to the Helen Ficalora line than charms. One of the 1st designs was the gold angel, and some other sophisticated and eclectic designs including ring bands. Says Helen, “I made the ring as the wedding ring I couldn’t find. The alphabet disks came later. In 2003 the editorial started hitting and the disks were propelled because of the collections that came before. They filled a need for personalization at the same time as the monogram trend. That’s funny because I’m not a trend designer.”

TIMING CAN BE TIMELESS

In Helen’s case, timing was important but her intent was to design the perfect pedant that you can wear all the time – “something that becomes a personalized signature piece and becomes a part of you”.

OUR CONVERSATION WITH HELEN FILLED IN SOME BLANKS WE HAD REGARDING THE COLLECTION.

FE: WHICH OF YOUR PIECES DO YOU WEAR?

HELEN: The small hoop earrings with diamond disks on my ears.
On my neck, a pile! There’s the family necklace – charm paves, heart with roses on 16” chain, a diamond necklace, and a Montauk daisy on chain.
On one arm, I’ve got 10 bracelets [actually 13 – but they’re really thin].
On the other arm I wear yellow and rose gold bangles.
On my hands: A pansy ring with diamonds and a ring with my husband’s and kids’ birthstones on it, a lion with diamond, in his mouth, and a signet.


FE: P/S TELL US SOME MORE ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS MODEL.
HELEN: My whole business has been built by the kindness of others. People who went to see me when I was in Washington, people wore it into the City and helped promote HELEN FICALORA by wearing it. Others pay attention to stylish people.

H.F. is about good energy; it’s grown organically, people like to gift it.
Once someone got it as a gift, they wanted to share the experience, whether they’re in their twenties, thirties, forties or fifties. I’ll have women saying to me,
“I’m turning 50, I love this piece for myself, and I want all my girlfriends to have one too.”

FE: WHAT”S THE FUN PART OF YOUR BUSINESS?
HELEN: creating your own individual jewelry pieces. No one has my necklace, it’s unique to me and is about me as yours is about you.


FE: WHAT WOULD YOU SAY YOUR MISSION STATEMENT IS?

HELEN: to create signature designs to inspire beauty, love and peace.

FE: WHAT’S ONE OF THE STRONGEST POINTS OF YOUR JEWELRY?

HELEN: My jewelry is wearable. My 16” necklaces make the jewelry more wearable, something you want to sleep in, do yoga in, jog in.

FE: WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR PRICEPOINTS?

HELEN: Alphabet charms:
$115, plain alphabet charm – solid gold.
$450 for the pave
$185 for 1-diamond
$195 - $295 – for the gold hoops with diamond disk


FE: After visiting the NY store, it’s obvious you do much more than alphabet disks.

HELEN: I love the hammered gold large ring - “the big gold ring”. It’s tapered for mobility, and one of my all-time favorite pieces. I wear it every day.

FE: WHAT DO YOU HAVE THAT’S ON THE HIGH END?

HELEN: The pink sapphire beads with the gold lion head and diamond in the mouth.
These tend to be around $1800, this is the kind of collection you build.
There are some rings around $7,000, but they’re not in all the stores.


FE: YOU’VE GOT QUITE A FEW STORES NOW. HOW DID YOU DECIDE ON THE LOCATIONS YOU HAVE?
HELEN: Opening the stores has been about bringing the jewelry to the people. I realized that when a woman drove all the way from Nassau to Montauk just to look at some rings. That’s when I opened the New York store, but that was years after I started with a few orders I filled in Olympia from my kitchen table.

FE: YOUR NY STORE MANAGER, ANDREA, MENTIONED THAT YOU HAVE A PALM BEACH STORE NOW.

HELEN: I love Palm Beach; I discovered it 2 years ago. My customers down there like the paves, and the horsey people from Wellington come to shop, and so do people from Orlando even!



FE: TV & MOVIES HAVE BEEN GOOD TO YOU. YOU HAVE AN IMPRESSIVE # OF CREDITS. WHAT ARE SOME OUR READERS MIGHT HAVE SPOTTED?

HELEN: You’ve seen the jewelry “When In Rome” Kristen Bell, on Kathryn Heigel and Malin Ackerman in “27 Dresses”, on Sandra Bullock on “The Proposal”.
Tina wears it on “30 Rock,” and so does Mariska Hargitay on “SVU”.
Blake Lively’s been a fan forever and wears it on “Gossip Girl” as well as personally.
It’s also on characters in “The Royal Pains”.

FE: DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR YOUNG DESIGNERS?
HELEN:I financed this from my own personal cash flow. Think on your feet, and be resourceful. It’s also about how you measure your success. I never looked at the bank account part of things. I LOVE jewelry, it makes me happy, it’s like a meditative kind of thing for me.


FE: TELL US ABOUT YOUR NEXT PROJECT.

HELEN: I’m working on an engagement ring to complement the rest of the collection.
I’ve done stuff with rose cuts [diamonds], I love them, as well as the eighties’ side cut stone that ‘s cool, it’s old fashioned and has that old European style with facets all around. A diamond is like wearing a rainbow maker.



THE HELEN FICALORA BOUTIQUES

The boutiques have an appealing intimate jewelry box-like feeling. As always, the story’s in the details: the signature magenta color, mahogany floors, Madrona wood, glass-topped display cabinets, gold gilt mirrors, and chandeliers with soft pink shades.

STORE LOCATIONS

NEW YORK:
Helen Ficalora
21 Cleveland Place
Soho
New York
NY 10012
Tel: 212-219-3700


BEVERLY HILLS:
Helen Ficalora
9632 Little Santa Monica Blvd
Beverly Hills
CA 90210
Tel: 310-777-0098

PALM BEACH:
Helen Ficalora
240 Worth Avenue
5A
Palm Beach
FL 33480
Tel: 561-833-2100

CHICAGO:
Helen Ficalora
2014 N Halsted
Chicago
IL 60614
Tel: 773-883-2014

For Mail order:
Tel: 877-754-2676
Address: p.o. box 6316

For additional information, visit the official website,
www.helenficalora.com

PHOTO CREDITS
Portrait of Helen Ficalora by Julie Skarratt,
Julie Skarratt Photography, Inc.
www.julieskarratt.com
Images of the collection, courtesy of Helen Ficalora.

GRACE JONES AT THE HAMMERSTEIN BALLROOM

Text, Vivian G. Kelly

TIME & PLACE: Thursday night, July 30th
@ the Hammerstein Ballroom, 311 West 34th Street, NYC


It’s music, it’s pop, it’s fashion, no…it’s ART – It’s the one and only inimitable Grace Jones.

We were thrilled to be attending the Grace concert, which was woefully underpublicized [shame on you agents and promoters for missing out on this platinum opportunity!] With icons dying off right and left [and in the proverbial threes]
- Michael, Farrah. Billy [Mayes] we want to catch them all before it’s too late.

SHOW DAY
Stars aren’t really expected to be on time [one of the perks of stardom]. The doors opened at 6:30p.m., and thanks to an attendee who had friends in the band, we found out that Grace wouldn’t be going on before 9p.m.

SHOWTIME!
We were squarely in the middle of the standing floor seating, squashed between a drag Grace wanna-be and boys born way after 1981 when Grace ruled the music scene in downtown NY who had recently discovered her. WE were in the same boat, unlike many of our friends; we had NOT seen her at the Palladium in the eighties in the early years.

FASHION FANTASY –She emerged on stage, singing, “This is Life”, in a black and white shroud – impossible to see the face or body – yet. She’s a rock/pop star, and like a Queen, she accepted the crowd’s screams of adoration – no smile. We had the first of many fashion moments that evening, admiring the handiwork of costume designer Eiko Ishioka’s handiwork. The Japanese costume designer’s credits include Oscar-winning costume designer, known for her work in stage, screen, advertising, and print media. She won a 1992 Academy Award for costume design for Bram Stoker's "Dracula" and costumes for Cirque de Soleil.

FUN FACT
Total number of costume changes in 1 ½ hours [no break!] ELEVEN, each more fantastic than the one before.

OF SPECIAL NOTE
Grace is a woman who loves her milliner; that is she loves a good hat and knows HOW to wear them. There was a white patent gladiator helmet, a silver bowler hat, and a hat that looked vaguely Viking-like.

ROCKING THE BODY
You all want to know and that was the first question out of our friends’ mouths – “was she in shape?”
The answer, “yes!”. She looked as if she’d stepped out of a time capsule with her face and body intact, looking pretty much as she did in her eighties hey day.
The reality is that she’s known for taking extraordinarily good care of herself – no drinking, no smoking, etc. Add to that some dieting and maybe even a trip to the plastic surgeon. Even if that’s true, who cares? She’s set up a challenge for Madonna now, who looks wonderful at 50. Grace is 11 years older and still hot.

EIGHTIES FUN
Although the stage wasn’t huge, Grace packed in all the fun extras we loved back in the day. There was the wind fan, the laser lights, and the video screen showing MTV/VH-1 clips in the background.

BEST MOMENT – when Grace partnered up for some ballroom dancing with a tuxedo clad dummy and foxtrotted to “La Vie En Rose”. In between cracking jokes, such as “I’m 5,000 years old!” she also told the crowd that Director Roman Polanski asked her to use the song for his film.
If you didn’t make the New York on LA shows, you may have to content yourself with tracks on your ipod, it’s unlikely she’ll be performing again soon.

THE MET COSTUME INSTITUTE: The model as Muse – Marc Jacobs’s Magic and Anna’s clout at Work

Text, Vivian G. Kelly
Images of the Exhibit, Richard Spiegel and from the MET's official press kit

There’s always two sides to any story, and not everyone in fashion-land is on board with Anna’s work with the MET and Costume Institute.
Most notably, industry insider, Michael Gross, has penned “Rogues Gallery” an unauthorized history of the MET and some of the key players there. Gross has a rep for delivering a juicy read with a lot of inside dirt, whether it’s one of his magazine articles in New York Magazine, Vanity Fair, or in a book. Part of the criticism is leveled at the flashy MET ball that’s the same evening as the press preview. This season, the Gala Benefit took place on May 4, with Honorary Chair Marc Jacobs and Co-Chairs Kate Moss, Justin Timberlake, and Anna Wintour in charge. Unlike many charitable events, we’ve all heard of at least one member on this committee.
Under Anna’s watch, it’s turned into New York’s hottest annual event and definitely the one that scores the most press clippings. Maybe it’s not very “old money”, but flash has a way of attracting cash, and that’s what the MET and all artistic institutions need to survive.


LIKE IT OR NOT, THE MET COSTUME INSTITUTE HAS “BELONGED” TO VOGUE FOR YEARS. THIS STARTED WHEN DIANA VREELAND [FORMER VOGUE EDITREX] CAME OUT OF RETIREMENT TO WORK ON THIS THEN DUSTY, IGNORED SECTION OF THE MET. SHE WAS ASSISTED BY NONE OTHER THAN THE YOUNG ANDRE LEON TALLEY, WHO WOULD LATER BECOME ONE OF VOGUE’S KEY PLAYER’S UNDER ANNA WINTOUR’S LONG-RUNNING REGIME.


ABOUT THE CURRENT EXHIBIT
TAKE YOUR TIME going through. This is NOT a drive-by, like last year’s “Superheroes”.
Said Harold Koda, Curator in Charge of The Costume Institute "The exhibition examines a timeline of fashion from 1947 to 1997 through the idealized aesthetic of the fashion model.” "We look at the power of clothing, fashion photography, and the model to project the look of an era. With a mere gesture, a truly stellar model can sum up the attitude of her time – becoming not only a muse to designers or photographers, but a muse to a generation."


We arrived 20 minutes prior to the end of the Monday AM press preview but got to stay an hour, thanks to the gracious MET PR team.

HIGHLIGHTS
1. Listening to Anna talk to her guest while standing in front of the original Madame Gres Gown Sunny Harnett wore in a glamorous casino shot.

2. Seeing [and very tempted to touch] YSL's Mondrian color block dress

3. All of the Twiggy and Veruschka black and whites

OUR FAVORITE IMAGES
1. In the SEVENTIES SECTION – model Lisa Taylor driving her car
2. The image of a young LAUREN HUTTON with nasty remarks written about this beauty’s “imperfections” – goes to prove, NO ONE’S perfect!!

MOST OPULENT EXHIBIT
John Galliano’s couture dresses shown at the House of Dior 40th Anniversary Extravaganza


THE VERDICT
If you’re a fashion history buff, you’ll love it.
If you love fashion, period, you’ll at least like it.
EXHIBIT INFORMATION
Exhibition dates: May 6–August 9, 2009
Exhibition location: The Tisch Galleries, second floor
To read more about the exhibit, visit www.metmuseum.org

A FEW LAST REMARKS
Notably missing: Bruce Webber, Azzedine Alaia, some gritty pictures of the heroin chic grunge period

ON OUR SUMMER READING LIST:

•Rogues’ Gallery, by Michael Gross

•740 Park also by Michael Gross

•A.L.T. – to get more info about the history of the MET Costume Institute, from Andre’s perspective,
PICK UP A COPY at www.amazon.com

ADDITIONAL PHOTO CREDITS
Image of Anna Wintour & Bee Schaeffer, from www.myfashionlife.com
Image of Marc Jacobs and Kate Moss, from www.catwalkqueen.tv