Now that the holidays are over, and we are passed Groundhog’s Day, I feel like I am finally coming up for air again. I can actually be on the lookout for cool things to do again. This is one I will be checking out soon! If anyone has been leave a comment and let us know how it is!
November 27 – May 7, 2008
Exoticism, the latest theme for the Fashion and Textile History Gallery, presents 250 years of fashion inspired by diverse cultures from around the world. This exhibition demonstrates that exoticism in fashion has changed profoundly as we have moved from the Eurocentrism of the colonial past to the hybridity of today’s multicultural “global village.” The exhibition opens with a display of saris, kimonos, and other non-Western styles, then shifts to a chronological history of mostly Western fashion, from the 18th century to the present. We see how an interest in “exotic” styles and techniques coalesced into new visual idioms, such as japonisme and chinoiserie. More than 70 looks are featured by designers such as Kenzo (Japan), Dries Van Noten (Belgium), Yeohlee (Malaysia), and Vivienne Tam (China), as well as Xuly Bët and Stoned Cherrie from Africa, Manish Arora of India, and Brazil’s Alexandre Herchcovitch, who are providing fresh perspectives on what constitutes exoticism.
Exoticism has been organized by Tamsen Schwartzman and Fred Dennis, together with Molly Sorkin, Clare Sauro, Harumi Hotta, and Lynn Weidner. Special thanks to Julian Clark and Valerie Steele.
The sari is a draped textile worn by women throughout South Asia. Different drapery styles, patterns, and colors traditionally indicate the wearer’s social class and ethnicity.
These saris were worn by Princess Niloufer Farhat Begum Saheba of Hyderabad (1916-1989). As the consort of an Indian prince, she was required to wear saris, but having grown up in France, she often commissioned designs that reflected a Western fashion sensibility in their color, motif, and placement of embellishment.
These particular saris were made in India, but Princess Niloufer also commissioned saris from French designers such as Jeanne Lanvin.
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Please don’t go to this without me!