"Fashioning Fashion" at the Resnick Pavilion

Recently I went to the new Resnick Pavilion at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Designed by Renzo Piano, the exhibition space is a single-story 45,000 square foot structure.  It really is stunning.

While at the Resnick, I visited the remarkable exhibition "Fashioning Fashion, European Dress in Detail 1700-1915."  This exhibition showcases about 200 highlights from LACMA's new European collection of rare pieces of historic fashion and accessories. The current exhibition focuses on the details of creating fashionable dress from the Age of Enlightenment to World War I.

There were so many beauties in this show.  Here are some of my personal favorites.

The first piece that struck me was this yellow dress.  It dates from 1827 and is made of silk and cotton gauze.  I was dazzled by the vivid yellow color and the pattern of dancing figures with pigtails, pipes and parasols.  The color and the narrative pattern reminded me of toile which I love and have used in my house.  Here is the yellow couch in my study.

Recently,  I spotted this gorgeous purse by Goyard and its golden yellow color was reminiscent of that of the dress.

The second piece I fell in love with is this hooded cape from Provence, France.  Brown in color and printed with pink and green floral motifs, it was absolutely beautiful.  It made me think of Meryl Streep in the "The French Lieutenant's Woman."  This kind of cape was worn by the women in Provence from about 1700 - 1830.

Here are some other beauties from this show:

I have been noticing that some of the shoes from the current fall season have a certain romance and drama about them, which made me think that they could have been worn with some of the clothing in the exhibition at LACMA.  For example, wouldn't these shoes by Nina Ricci look great worn with some of these clothes?

And how about these, by Christian Louboutin (from a few seasons ago)?

And these boots from L'Wren Scott?

If you have a chance to visit "Fashioning Fashion" at the Resnick Pavilion, be sure to purchase the beautiful book that accompanies the exhibition.  It would make a great coffee table book or a very special holiday gift.

It will have you thinking about fashion, past and present, and why fashion designers often look to the past for inspiration.