The Web We Weave
the met tackles blog culture
Fashion has reached the pinnacle of accessibility. Designer clothing, once a rarefied entity available only to the ultra-rich, is now available at your local Target store, where you can pick up the latest from Proenza Schouler when you drop by to purchase toilet paper. Fashion shows, too, can be viewed on Style.com within 24 hours of their actual presentation time. Who needs to scramble for standing-room-only at this season’s hottest show when you can have a front-row view from the convenience of your desk chair?
It seems only fitting, then, that the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art has brought us “blog.mode: addressing fashion,” a series of new exhibits presented both online and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that finds an innovative way to pair the fast-and-ongoing fashion dialogue with our blog-fueled information age. The exhibition, which presents over 40 costumes and accessories dating from the 18th century to the present, allows visitors to view and comment on the pieces using an online blog.
Featured pieces range from the austere and avant-garde, such as Rei Kawakubo’s 1983 minimalist black dress designed for Comme des Garçons, to the fun and mainstream, like Vivienne Westwood’s hot-pink crocodile-leather heels that presented such a challenge for Naomi Campbell. A stunning French dress in pale-blue silk-satin, originally worn by one of Marie Antoinette’s courtiers, lends the exhibit historic depth. Futuristic shoes from the spring 2006 collection of Manolo Blahnik—also the exhibit’s producer—flesh out the exhibit’s contemporary collection.
After visitors view the pieces, they are invited to post comments online and respond to other viewers’ opinions. Current posts express the blog’s provocative nature and the range of its appeal. After viewing the Vivienne Westwood heels, “Zoe” wrote, “I am six years old and I like these shoes. I would wear them but I am not sure they would be very comfortable.” “Eltone,” on the other hand, didn’t like them very much, saying, “YUK! tico-tacky. help I’m ffffaaaaallllliiiiiiiinnnggg!!! THUD!” Bloggers’ ongoing conversations are striking because of the sheer volume of posts as well as the vibrant, ongoing dialogue between people of vastly different ages and backgrounds.
The exhibition is open for viewing at the Met now through April 13. If you prefer to stay glued to that desk chair, see some key pieces at http://blog.metmuseum.org/blogmode. As “La Bricoleuse” says, “Thanks for this exhibit, i hope to get around to seeing it in person before it closes, but the blog opportunity in the interim is really a genius way to expand the viewership!” And isn’t that what the Internet is for?