@rococo-reinette - Tumblr Blog

"C'est en vain", from "Modes et Manières du Jour à Paris à la fin du 18e siècle et au commencement du 19e siècle” by Philibert-Louis Debucourt, c. 1800

thisish20

Scribe loses control of his papers, Sterling memorial library, Yale

darcylightninglewis

The MET Gala is a fundraiser for The Met. Putting on the fashion exhibition is VERY costly. Has the politics, inflation, and bullshit gotten out of hand? Yeah. To give you an idea of how much this can cost, the collection I work for has 2 gowns from 1798 & 1809 currently being conserved and had mounts made for them so displaying them wouldn’t cause further damage. They were already in a solid B shape and cost more than 50k to conserve so the public can view them for 5 months each. They will then be reboxed (archival tissue and box) for a minimum of 10 years before they’re considered to be seen again. Oh, and archival material only lasts 10 years before it has to be replaced, whether or not it’s being considered for display.

Don’t like the gala? Support local museums with a textile or fashion collection, they get fractions of the revenue or publicity, and still aim to achieve a solid fraction of what the MET does. More collections are deaccessioning their textiles because they’re costly to maintain, large and need space. However, after big names artists like Van Gogh, Botticelli or da Vinci they get the most interest in from the public. The study of clothing is an opportunity to shine light on women & minority stories as well. Don’t let the fact that some of the guests suck and have more money than any of them need take away the importance of museums and dress study.