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 Notable and Notorious
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| Madison Square Park. 2:15 PM. Photo: JH. |
| September 14, 2010. Beautiful end of summer day yesterday in New York. About five in the afternoon, the storm clouds rolled in from the northwest and by six it was raining. Much needed. By quarter to seven it had let up. The air was cool and redolent with the scent of the foliage. the flora and the fresh damp pavement. It was a beautiful night in New York. |
| Green all around on West End Avenue and 91st Street. |
| About that time I went up to the Museum of the City of New York where Judy Price’s National Jewelry Institute hosted a preview of its exhibition of Notable and Notorious; 20th Century Women of Style, which opens today at the Museum (103rd Street and Fifth Avenue). |
| Daisy Soros and Judy Price. |
Yaz Hernandez, Danielle Rossi, and Sarah Wolfe. |
| Judy Price and Kenny Lane. |
Phyllis Magidson, Curator of Costumes and Textiles, MCNY. |
| Leonel Piraino and Nina Griscom. |
Meanwhile back at the ranch. |
I made a point of going because Mrs. Price is a friend (and former employer) of mine. I’ve been to a number of exhibits of both costume and jewels over the years. Some are memorable (the Nan Kempner at the Met; the Jackie Onassis auction). Others were good. The ones that impress me are those that lend a sense of a time. Or an attitude that came before the now.
I went to see the last one at the Met Costume Institute on American Fashion the day it was closing. It was a mob scene and the installation was claustrophobic. The exhibit said it was a blockbuster, at least that was apparently the intended message. I left thinking how wonderful it was that so many people visit the Met and enjoy it. That and how contemporary Americans now will go anywhere dressed and looking like slobs. |
| One side of the exhibition. |
Shocking pink silk crepe by Yves Saint Laurent, gift of Annette de la Renta. |
| Left: Evening dress; Coral voided silk faille lame brocade, over-embroidered in gilt metallic and encrusted with beads. Designer unidentified, for Helena Rubinstein, late 1950s. Right: Ballgown, 1986; scarlet slubbed silk and organza embroidered in bugle beads and mylar stars, Label: Barbara Matera, Ltd. worn by Angela Lansbury during the televised rededication ceremony for the Statue of Liberty. |
Right: Designed for Congresswoman Bella Abzug, 1967. |
| Dress, gift of Amy Fine Collins. |
Left: Evening Dress, fall 1983, Black silk georgette, embroidered with red and black bugle beads (attributed to Bob Mackie, purchased at the Elizabeth Arden Salon). Gift of Lilly Fallah Lawrence. |
| Left: Evening costume, mid-1960s. Stylized purple and turquoise kaleidoscopic, printed silk jersey bra top; by Emilio Pucci/Italy exclusively for Saks Fifth Avenue, gift of Laura Johnson. |
Giorgio Sant Angelo for Lena Horne and evening dress, 1970, asymmetrically-seamed, composite-striped jersey. Label: Stephen Burrows/Burrows World (Henri Bendel), gift of Ethel Scull. |
| Dinner Ensemble, 1960s, Aqua/white, highly stylized, floral-print coat, for Alice Tully. |
Silver grey coat and dress, Balenciaga for Countess Mona von Bismarck. |
| Left: Ivory hand-embroidered caftan, 1999 (Oscar de la Renta for Pierre Balmain, gift of Mrs. Charles Wrightsman). Right: Evening pajamas, mid-1920s; Blackfloral silk damask/geometrically printed stubbed silk, unattributed, off-stage wardrobe of Imogene "Bubbles" Wilson, one-time Ziegfeld girl. |
Stage costume designed for Gypsy Rose Lee, circa 1937. |
| Left: White silk for Jesseye Norman. Center: Norman Norell for Lauren Bacall, circa 1966. |
Costume designed for Carmen De Lavallade. |
| Marie Antoinette fancy dress costume, late 1920s; pink silk floral metallic brocade, trimmed with silver lace, rhinestones and ribbon flowers, designed by Callot Soeurs/Paris. Worn by Mrs. George Washington Kavanaugh to the Knickerbocker Ball held in New York City. |
Center: Balenciaga for the Duchess of Windsor. |
| Left: Evening dress, 1966. From Bergdorf Goodman on the Plaza. Gift of Brooke Astor. Right: Evening Gown, 1955; Off-white chine floral-patterned duchesse satin. Label: Hattie Carnegie Original/Christian Dior Paris Automne-Hiver 1955, gift of Mrs. John Elliott. |
Left: Evening gown 1937. Black silk net applied with hand-cut spiraling paillettes. Label: Paquin/Paris, for Mrs. Alexander Hamilton Rice. Right: Evening dress, 1968. Black silk gazar, trimmed with white silk organza. Label: Roma-Valentino: "Made to Order/Bergdorf Goodman," Gift of the Estate of Barbara Paley. |
Last night I stayed much longer than I’d planned because although it did not speak “blockbuster,” there was so much to look at. Judging from the crowd that was spending all its time looking at the exhibits and not at the cocktail reception in the entrance gallery, I wasn’t alone. The language is elegance, luxury, beauty, riches, and of course the personalities who wore this stuff. As the sign says, “Notable and Notorious.”
This is a great exhibition if you have any interest in luxury (when it really was luxury), and high fashion because those ladies were. All of it was stupendous. My guess is the museum has a big hit on its hands. |
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