Manus x Machina

That's the name of the exhibit that I was privileged to see a couple of weeks ago at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.  The full title of the show is Manus x Machina--Fashion in the Age of Technology. Its premise was showing how machine work has affected the world of haute couture. It was a very interesting show, although not nearly as fabulous as last year's "China Through the Looking Glass". That was hard to top or even come close to.

You can read all about the show here and see some more pictures. I'll just show you a few, from the sublime to the ridiculous. The show displayed many different facets of fashion. The clothing was organized by categories such as sequins, feathers, artificial flowers, pleating, embroidery, beading and even 3-D printing. There were over 170 garments shown from the early 20th century to the present.

This and the next three used 3-D printing.

This magnificent train of a wedding gown has a gazillion sparkly beads attached, but not sewn by hand.

One of the uses of artificial flowers, a wedding ensemble, if you can imagine.

Sequins, of course! You sure would have to have a perfect figure to wear this one. There were several shimmery gowns and dresses.

Embroidery and lace.

Black drinking straws!

The show is on until August 14, so if you are in NYC, stop by and see it. After having a terrific lunch in the museum cafeteria, we joined a free docent tour called Fashion in the Arts. The docent was fabulous and altho she only showed us 6 pieces of art, they were so much in depth. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

I'm backing up a bit here. We went into New York with the Woman's Club on a bus and our first stop of the day was a so-called Backstage tour of Radio City Music Hall. I was especially interested since my great niece is a Rockette and I really thought we would go backstage and see the dressing rooms and other things. But what we got was a tour of the theater, a history of the building, a short video and a visit with a Rockette. We got a peek at one room that held some retired costumes. I was a little disappointed.

After the tour we were on our own to do as we pleased with the rest of the day. Some went to see a Broadway show, some went for an elaborate lunch, but my friend Mary and I opted to walk the 20 some blocks to the Met. It was a beautiful day, a 10 for sure. We walked up 5th Avenue alongside Central Park, slipping in and out of the park a few times. So many people were out enjoying the weather. Spring flowers were in bloom, which just added to the day.