Museum visits

Is this thing on? I somehow dropped off the bloggingsphere what looks like nearly 4 years ago! Wow things got busy. I'll post a proper update on the big changes in my life since last we met, but I thought I would blow the dust off this page.

Below is the last draft I had saved before life distracted me, and since I had all those photos and notes already laid out, why not? More updates on my life to come!

August, 2014:

This year has been a great year for costume exhibits for me, and I've just been delighted. Way back in March I went with a group of girlfriends to the exhibit of Downton Abbey costumes at Winterthur Museum in Delaware.

Winterthur

Winterthur

This is one of the more well-developed exhibits I've seen in a while, and it was very interesting on three levels. It was designed specifically for Winterthur, so there was a through line connecting and comparing life in a British manor such as Downton with an American estate of the same era such as Winterthur. Then there were the costumes themselves, which were stunning.

I am loving the trend of clothing being visible close up, with limited barriers, and photos not being prohibited. And the details in the costuming process, which included tidbits such as the use of vintage and antique pieces from garments that were no longer structurally sound being incorporated onto newer pieces.

The exhibit isn't touring after its 10 months, as it was very much designed for Winterthur. I hope to get back up there this fall, as my mom is interested in seeing it, and I'd love to go again. Winterthur itself is a beautiful trip, and I look forward to seeing it when the weather is nicer, as the gardens are lovely but it was quite a rainy day on our trip back in March.

Winterthur

I am going so far back to tie into a more recent exhibit I visited. A couple of weeks ago my best friend and I were in Charlotte, NC, for a family gathering of her aunt's. We had Saturday afternoon to ourselves, and after perusing the exhibits at various museums, we settled on the Mint's Randolph location. They have an extensive costume collection, and an ongoing exhibit of "Silhouettes" that tracks fashion from the 18th century to early 1900s. At the same time, they have one that puts together Dior, Balmain, and Saint Laurent.

Mint Museum

Mint Museum

 This one is a much shorter run exhibit, closing next month, but both of them were really stunning, and like the Winterthur exhibit, there wasn't glass around the clothing, and you could lean in, study, and photograph things. Throughout the museum exhibits, there would be small no-photo camera pictures on the displays of some of the antiquities, so it seemed safe to at least!

Mint Museum

I really love how museums have opened up to photography, at least in instances where it isn't damaging to the items (or breaking artists' copyright), it is sol lovely to get to capture things from the angle and of the detail that I am interested in studying.