FIDM Museum Blog

Making paper wigs

When dressing a mannequin for exhibition, it's important not to overlook the details. Careful attention to the total look makes an ensemble, and an exhibition, complete. Fully dressed mannequins also help visitors better understand the time-period on display. Once we've selected a garment for inclusion in an exhibition, we consider accessories. Is jewelry appropriate? Should she carry a handbag? What about shoes? And most importantly...what about hair?

Curly hair c. 1895 topped with a straw boater. The waves were created by cutting paper on curved lines. To keep the curls from appearing limp, individual strands of hair were curled with a pencil

FABULOUS! video

FABULOUS! opened one year ago this week! To celebrate, we're taking a look back at the exhibition via a brief video. Short and sweet, it takes you inside the exhibition for a chance to revist your favorite pieces. You'll even see some pieces that have yet to be published on our blog. Can you spot Elsa Schiaparelli's shocking pink evening jacket, Alexander McQueen's peacock dress, Gianni Versace's safety-pinned leather ensembles and Adrian's brown taffeta evening gown?

For those of you who want a tangible reminder of FABULOUS!, we still have a few copies of the exhibition catalogue available at the FIDM Museum Shop. Enjoy the video and have a wonderful weekend!

FABULOUS! Ten Years of FIDM Museum Acquisitions, 2000–2010 from FIDM Museum on Vimeo.

Exhibition design at the FIDM Museum

 

Exhibition design encompasses every element of an exhibition. Paint colors, platform shapes, cases, lighting, traffic flow and many other elements work together to support and enhance the narrative created by the objects on display. At the FIDM Museum, we are fortunate to have a full-time exhibition designer on staff. A graduate of the FIDM Visual Communications program, Horacio Avila designs FIDM Museum & Galleries exhibitions and visual displays for the FIDM Los Angeles campus. Horacio works closely with our curators to create the look and feel of all FIDM Museum exhibitions. 

The gallery itself is 8,000 square feet. If you've ever been to an exhibition at the FIDM Museum, you'll know that we generally divide the gallery into three distinct sections. You might be surprised to know that most of our interior walls are not integral to the gallery--they are built and removed depending on the needs of the current exhibition. The only real limitation on Horacio's exhibition design is the height of the gallery ceiling. Horacio and his crew fabricate nearly everything in-house; when in the midst of building an exhibition, Horacio's workshop is incredibly busy. From platforms to cases, they build it all.

In our current exhibition, the 20th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design, visitors are greeted by a wall of film posters and The White Queen's costume from Alice In Wonderland. Rounding the corner, visitors encounter a visual feast: costumes ranging over a large platform that fills nearly the entire gallery space. Selections from our collection of classic film costumes fill cases around the outside of the gallery. If you caught FABULOUS!, you might remember these cases. Horacio designed them for FABULOUS! and they were re-purposed for the current Art of Motion Picture Costume Design exhibition. In this image, costume designer Julie Weiss examines a bonnet designed by Adrian for the 1940 film Pride and Prejudice.

(Alex J. Berliner/abimages)