The Museum at F.I.T.: A Personal Odyssey

Founded in 1967 as a support for the educational programs of the Fashion Institute of Technology, this museum is one of only a few in the world devoted exclusively to the fashion arts. With 50,000 garments, 15,000 accessories and 30,000 textiles dating from the 5th century to the 21st century, it's holdings put it on par with many of the larger museum collections in the world. By anyone's standards, this is one impressive permanent collection.  Composed of two main galleries, with an exhibition schedule that rotates every six months, the museum can always be accessed at any time of the year.  Their shows are innovative, informative and best of all, intimate.  If you are really lucky, you may find yourself alone in the gallery, and in the presence of greatness.  

My experience and memories of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, are relatively new.  It wasn't until 2006 that I discovered its existence! It was October of that year that I found myself with some free time after taking my design students to Manhattan for their term break.  I had already done my duty with walking tours focusing on the architecture of the 20th century and a day long stint at the Metropolitan Museum discussing the evolution of furniture styles and so I treated myself to a day off and spent it shopping for textiles in the garment district.  Turning the corner at 7th Avenue and 27 Street, to my surprise, I saw the museum signage.  It has been on my personal itinerary ever since then.

c. 1750 French Stay/stomacher

While the collection has its share of 18th through 20th century artifacts, it is how the collection is used that makes for such a fulfilling visit.  While on my last costume tour to the U.K., I was struck by how collections such as the one at Platt Hall still relied on the old exhibition format of evolution in a chronological context and how uninteresting that approach was.  This has never been my personal experience with the exhibits at F.I.T.  Through juxtapositions, director and chief curator Dr. Valerie Steele, has been able to demonstrate the many aspects of fashion and its relevance to todays patrons and designers alike.  She is able to contextualize apparently desperate items in a way that makes you think beyond the obvious.

"By exploring fashion's past, we can better understand its present and future."

Dr. Valerie Steele

c. 1830 dress

What I also like about the exhibitions at this museum is the amount of attention paid to the collecting and displaying of work by contemporary designers.  This seems to be a major mandate and from my point of view, it helps to have an interpreter and guide through the often confusing amount of material available. Once again the curatorial staff at F.I.T. are able to clearly and concisely leave me with a greater awareness of the design influences around me.

Alexander McQueen

Themes which I have personally explored with their aid have ranged from a look at "Colors in Fashion" through the recent exhibition, "Fashion, A-Z"

As you can imagine, the garments displayed were chosen for their predominant colour palette.  Colour was explored through its historical and symbolic meaning, both in a western and non western perspective.  Do you have a favorite colour?  You probably do.  What does it say about you?

Roberto Cavalli, 2003

Blue:  In antiquity it was considered a second rate colour.  Not as difficult to acquire as red or black and often associated with the Celts and Germans.  Two groups considered barbarian by the Romans.  The Christians associated it with virginity and purity.  Take a look at the original, "Madonna".  Not the rock star.  Today, blue is one of the most fashionable colours to consumers.  What does "true blue" mean to you?

James Galanos, 1955-6

Red:  The "Scarlett" woman.  Danger and warning as seen in nature and street signs.  During the French revolution, women wore red ribbons around their neck, "a la guillotine" It can symbolize both life and death and so has a duality not seen in other colours.  Asian brides prefer it, for its connotations to life's blood and fertility.  A royal colour, we see it in the uniforms of the British monarchy.  It was once one of the most expensive colours to create.

Norman Norell, c. 1962

Yellow:  It takes a bad rap.  Treason and cowardice.  Used to label the disenfranchised. In 18th century Europe it became fashionable along with all things Chinese.  Not always in fashion, but, like orange, embraced when it is.

My favorite exhibit was in the spring of 2007.  "Ralph Rucci:  The Art of Weightlessness".  It celebrated the career of alumnus, Ralph Rucci.  I have to admit that I had never heard of this designer  before, but I was at once captivated by the exhibition and became a devotee of this mans talent. (See my earlier posting on Chado: Ralph Rucci)

Ralph Rucci

The exhibition included numerous garments from the two previous decades of his work and was a celebration of his 25 years as a couturier.  The first American designer since Mainbocher to be invited to show his own haute couture collection in Paris.  In 2006, he received the first award for Artistry of Fashion, presented by the Couture Council of The Museum of FIT.

Installation at the museum

Detail of leather sequin  blouse

Four Seasons collection

An incredible gown, beaded and sequined by the firm Lesage, captured in fabric the spirit of liquified malachite.  

The Museum at F.I.T. has also partnered with other institutions.  "Chic Chicago: Couture Treasures from the Chicago History Museum" treated me to a collection that, once again, I was not aware of.  The show was as much a celebration of couture as it was of the city and women of Chicago.  Here, the emphasis on provenance, so often lacking in costume collections, provided the viewer with a greater understanding of the wealth and society of this mid-western city.  (It has made me acutely aware to keep complete notations on the garments in my own collection)  Not only did the exhibit reveal the tastes and aspirations of the women who purchased these examples, but also the native sons who put American fashion on the map.  Main Rousseau Bocher, Mainbocher, born in Chicago in 1891 and Charles James whose maternal family came from Chicago and where he began his career as a milliner.

Mainbocher, c. 1938

Charles James, c. 1954

Balenciaga, c. 1955

Worth,  teagown, c. 1900

My latest visit to Manhattan and The Museum at F.I.T. did not disappoint.  "Fashion, A-Z"  Part Two, is currently on until November 10, 2012.  My only regret is that I did not see part one.  Divided into two parts, the show features roughly 60 design examples, arranged, you guessed it, alphabetically by designer/house.  This show is a tour de force of the museums holdings and does not pretend to be anything more than a celebration of years of collecting.  The experience is like being invited into a fashionistas closet.  Sometimes, particularly on a hot day, that is good enough.

B is for Balmain, 2002

C is for Comme des Garcons, 2002

J is for Charles James, 1955

K is for Rei Kawakubo, 2005

M is for Margiela, 1997

I can't express enough how enriching my experiences at the Museum at F.I.T. have been.  If you have never been to this museum before, you must put it on your bucket list.  Visit their web site, www.fitnyc.edu/museum for more details and images from their collection.  The event calendar lists upcoming symposia and exhibitions.  The best news of all, a companion book, to be published this fall by TASCHEN, will feature more than 500 photographs from the museum's collection.  Be sure to put it on your gift list.

A FAN-tastic Museum

Manet

"dearest Albert came upstairs to my sitting room and gave me four fans and a beautiful sapphire and diamond brooch".  9, February 1840.  Queen Victoria

So wrote the young queen the day before her wedding.  Obviously, by 1840, fans were an important enough accessory to be deemed  a suitable gift alongside fine gems.

Often, while in Greenwich, I have noticed a sign post for the Fan Museum and thought to myself that someday I must visit there.  It was on my latest Costume and Textile study tour that I made sure to include it on the itinerary.  Like many specialist and private collections, this museum is not to be missed.  Though small, the museum is actually incorporated into two 18th century townhouses, the displays are interesting enough to hold your attention for easily a couple of hours.  With four rotating shows per year, you can always be assured of seeing something new every time you are in Greenwich.

For the benefit of the visitor, a display of fan making tools, processes and definitions was presented in the first display room.

Anatomy of a fan

Birth of Venus, 18th century fan paper, Gouache

The collection consists of extant examples of fan papers, as seen above, as well as a variety of styles covering the 18th through the 20th centuries.  With a strong background in design history, I was struck by how well the fan represented the period in which it was produced.  Colours, materials and motifs were all reflective of the "modes" of the day and the creativity of exploiting new and exotic materials such as, tortoiseshell, nacre, bamboo, straw work, and early plastics competed successfully with the more expected paper fans.  In this one accessory were reflected beauty, the fine arts, fashion, technological advancements and imperialistic ambitions.

Typical folded paper fan, circa 18th century

Tortoiseshell Brise Fan

Nacre Brise Fan

Carved Bamboo

18th century Straw work 

Early 20th century plastic

Display cases were beautifully arranged and clearly labelled allowing a number of people to view their contents without getting into each others way.  Themed, they allowed for insightful comparisons between fans of differing materials and stylistic periods.

Chantilly lace fan, mid 19th century

The Brise fans were my favorite. By definition, it is a folding fan consisting of sticks only, forming a flat surface when open.  A ribbon or cord is threaded through upper slots to hold the sticks together.  Fashionable in the 1830's, it might very well be of the type presented to Victoria by her cousin Albert.

Brise Fan detail

Display from Kyoto Fashion Museum

Our earliest recorded images of fans seem to be made of feathers.  While the first fans were probably made simply of palm fronds, once they became a fashionable accessory, they tended to employ more exotic and consequently expensive materials.  Like women's hats of the late 19th and 20th centuries, entire birds could find themselves mounted, especially during those Edwardian shooting parties, when the ladies would use feather fans of more native species such as, pheasant or grouse.

Jacobean lady with ostrich feather fan

Fans in the mid 19th century often combined elements such as painted silk, lace, feathers and ribbon embroidery.  The example below, while not from the collection of the fan museum, is an interesting example.  When closed, the "guard" is very beautiful and takes on the appearance of a nose gay.  Note the inset of the tiny mirror and gold filigree.  These details employ nicely the mid century interest in the Rococo Revival.  This fan once belonged to the Empress Eugenie of France.

With the advent of photography, the historian is allowed a wonderful opportunity to study the way that fans have been held, displayed and used.  The young girl below, circa 1860, is holding a fan as a suitable accessory which emphasizes a social position that further distinguishes her from her fellow contemporaries.

Mistress of Napoleon III

Souvenir fan of Paris Exposition

The Aesthetic Movement of the 1880's saw the rise of the fan to a decorative motif and ornament worthy of display on wall coverings, china and even in drapery treatments!  Peacock feathers were particularly characteristic of this period as western Europe embraced "Japonism".

By the end of the 19th century it was for formal wear that the fan really grew to outrageous proportions.  This was easily achieved with the use of the male ostrich feathers.  Longer and more luxurious than those of the female.  These fans were very high maintenance and the feathers had to be steamed by a "ladies maid" and the curls worked over a kettle.  When not in use, they would be folded away and stored in their protective boxes, in themselves, often a work of art.

Fan attitude

Feathers were often dyed in fashionable colours

The Wheel vareity, "en cabriolet"

1895, applique of lace, feathers and painted birds on silk

Mother of Pearl & Inlaid Guard

Fans remained popular well into the second quarter of the 20th century.  The example below reflects the influence of Paul Poiret and the Ballet Russes, both in it's colour and pattern.  While the fan remained popular amongst debutantes and those being presented at court, after the Second World War they seem to have faded from use.  Now, mainly of paper, they are only seen at the beach, picnic, or worse yet, in the souvenir shops that populate tourist areas.  

Circa 1914

I have only touched upon the holdings of this museum superficially.  The Fan Museum presents a fascinating and thought provoking experience as only a specialized collection can.  If you make it there, remember to plan ahead and arrange to have afternoon tea in the conservatory with its' view of the walled garden.

The Conservatory

Note:  I would like to thank and acknowledge my friend Penny Knapp for graciously allowing me to reproduce her photographs in this posting, as well as, my previous post around this tour.