FIDM Museum Blog

Traveling in High Style

Have you ever wondered how a complete exhibition gets from one museum to another? In this post, FIDM Museum Registrar Meghan Grossman Hansen fills you in on the process.

This month, the FIDM Museum’s award-winning exhibition High Style: Betsy Bloomingdale and the Haute Couture is hitting the road. A slightly modified version of the exhibition will be installed at the American Textile History Museum in Lowell, MA from August 14, 2010-January 2, 2011. If you missed the exhibition in Los Angeles, this is your chance to learn about a style icon and the haute couture process.

As the FIDM Museum Registrar, I want to fill you in on the behind-the-scenes activities of traveling an exhibition. The shipping has to be planned in great detail, from the number of objects, the size of the crates, to the size of the truck. In our case, the total volume does not warrant an exclusive truck, so we are fortunate to tag along with other artworks on an art-transportation shuttle from Los Angeles to the east coast. (Yes, there are trucks filled entirely with art objects criss-crossing the country!) Next, a packing list is planned with a number of considerations in mind: dimensions, weight, condition, and object accessibility (for instance, the order in which objects will be installed may be an important factor in where they are packed).

Assistant Registrar Dani Killam creates the packing list.

FIDM Museum wins Richard Martin Award!

High Style: Betsy Bloomingdale and the Haute Couture just won the Richard Martin Award! Named for Richard Martin (1947-1999), former costume curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute and the Museum at FIT, this annual award recognizes excellence in costume exhibition, including concept, research and design. It is sponsored by the Costume Society of America, and presented each year during the National Symposium. Yesterday, Christina Johnson and Kevin Jones, co-curators of High Style, were presented with the Richard Martin Award in Kansas City, MO. Congratulations to everyone involved in the High Style exhibition!

Christina Johnson, Betsy Bloomingdale and Kevin Jones at the High Style opening in October 2009.

FIDM Museum Shows Off at Debut

Our post today was written by Meghan Grossman Hansen, FIDM Museum Registrar.

Last month the FIDM Museum participated in the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising’s annual Debut fashion show—but calm your fears, there were no models sauntering down the runway in fragile historic clothes. High Style: Betsy Bloomingdale and the Haute Couture was the inspiration for an elegant display of FIDM Museum Study Collection garments donated by Mrs. Bloomingdale. This selection of colorful dresses included evening, cocktail, and day dresses worn by the style icon to notable events. Like most of her haute couture pieces donated to the FIDM Museum, many of the garments on display were designed by Marc Bohan for Christian Dior.

The completed FIDM Museum display at Debut.

Research resources

One of the best aspects of working in a museum is the constant discoveries we make about our objects. In addition to preserving and protecting the objects in our care, we also spend a lot of time researching objects in our collection. Each object embodies a specific narrative, and it's our job to document and relate this story. One of our goals in starting this blog was to make these narratives widely available. We also share our research through regular exhibitions in our gallery, presentations at academic and community venues, and through our interactions with the faculty and students of FIDM.

When we're researching objects, we utilize a variety of resources. In our post today, we're going to reveal some of our sources! Readers, we'd also love to hear from you. Where do you turn when you are trying to find out more about a particular garment or designer?

Betsy Bloomingdale interview in Vestoj

Check out issue #1 of the new fashion periodical Vestoj: The Journal of Sartorial Matters for an interview with Betsy Bloomingdale about wearing haute couture. Titled "Good Time and Passing Time: A Conversation with Betsy Bloomingdale," the interview was conducted by Kevin Jones and Christina Johnson, co-curators of the recent FIDM Museum exhibit, High Style: Betsy Bloomingdale and the Haute Couture.

You can read more about Vestoj here. Their blog lists several stores in Europe that carry the journal, but for those of us in other locations, it might be a bit tricky to find a copy. Post a comment letting us know where you found your copy!

As a special treat for our dedicated readers, here is another ensemble featured in the High Style exhibition catalog. Copies of the catalog are available from the FIDM Museum Shop.

Evening gown
Marc Bohan for Christian Dior
Spring-Summer 1963
77.116.3
Gift of Mrs. Alfred Bloomingdale

77.116.3 Detail of hand-dyed silk organza flowers

High Style: Betsy Bloomingdale and the Haute Couture video!

For those of you who asked for more video after watching The Couture Process, you are in luck today! The FIDM Video Gallery, where you will find various FIDM related videos, currently features a short segment titled "Opening Party: Betsy Bloomingdale Exhibition." The video features footage of the exhibition opening along with a short section of the documentary featured in High Style: Betsy Bloomingdale and the Haute Couture.

Copies of the catalog are still available, so if you'd like a copy, visit the FIDM Museum Shop. The catalog features beautiful images, including this image of a 1962 James Galanos day suit.

Day Suit
James Galanos for Amelia Gray
1962
77.116.10A-D
Button detail 77.116.10A-D

And the winner is...

Thanks to all of you who entered our High Style: Betsy Bloomingdale and the Haute Couture catalog giveaway! The winner, selected at random, is Diana! Fashion and Feathers, about a c. 1905 hat, is Diana's favorite FIDM Museum blog post.

It was a pleasure to read all your thoughts on our entries thus far...please keep those comments coming!

Floating forms

A well-designed and well-installed museum exhibit appears effortless, as if the objects on display were always meant to be viewed in that exact context. Despite this apparent ease, museum exhibitions require a tremendous amount of long-range planning. Christina Johnson and Kevin Jones, co-curators of High Style: Betsy Bloomingdale and the Haute Couture spent three years planning the exhibition. An important aspect of their planning was deciding how to best display the garments. As you've seen from the images we post on this blog, the FIDM Museum has an extensive collection of dress forms and mannequins. Christina and Kevin decided, however, that Betsy Bloomingdale's haute couture garments would be best displayed on floating forms. Unlike mannequins or dress forms, floating forms do not extend beyond the boundaries of the garment. This allows you to focus entirely on the garment, without the distraction of legs, arms or facial characteristics.

As you might imagine, creating floating forms is a complicated process. All of the floating forms used to display the garments in High Style were created by Carolyn Jamerson, FIDM Museum Study Collection Manager. Carolyn worked on the floating forms for almost a year! She recently gave a presentation about the process and we're going to feature a brief overview today. 

Catalog giveaway!

We have one signed copy of the High Style: Betsy Bloomingdale and the Haute Couture catalog to giveaway! Who signed the catalog, you ask? None other than the star of the show herself, Betsy Bloomingdale. The catalog is also available for purchase via the FIDM Museum Shop, but wouldn't you rather have a signed copy? Co-authored by exhibition co-curators Christina Johnson and Kevin Jones, the catalog is 52 pages long. It features amazing images of selected garments, accessories and croquis included in the exhibition and a biographical essay of Betsy Bloomingdale.

If you'd like a chance to win the catalog, tell us which of our 60 blog posts is your favorite. Post your response as a comment, or send an email. From the responses, we will select a random winner. We are happy to send the catalog overseas, so readers outside of the United States, don't hesitate to submit your thoughts. All responses must be submitted by 12pm Pacific Time on November 24, 2009.

The Couture Process

Our current exhibition, High Style: Betsy Bloomingdale and the Haute Couture, explores the world of haute couture through the experiences of Betsy Bloomingdale. To complement the ensembles on exhibition, FIDM Productions created a video documentary featuring extensive interview footage with Mrs. Bloomingdale. The documentary also features interviews with designers, including Marc Bohan, James Galanos, Hubert de Givenchy and others. Though we hope that all of you will have the opportunity to visit the exhibition, for those of you who live too far away, we're posting a section of the documentary today. The Couture Process focuses on the actual process of viewing and purchasing haute couture. The video is about 10 minutes long. Enjoy!

The Couture Process from FIDM Museum on Vimeo.