"Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" at the Met

Created by Jun Takahashi for Undercover (2024)

The critics at the NY Times can sometimes be too cool for school. Case in point: Their response to the "Sleeping Beauties" exhibit at the Met, which Suzanne and I took in on my recent trip to New York. Going in, all I knew about the show was that it had been created by the Museum's Costume Institute. And so it was a wonderful surprise to explore what turned out to be a multi-sensory exhibit. We had a blast. But the folks at the Times are apparently too sophisticated to enjoy the show, which they likened to "a children's museum, with its fetishization of interactivity, immediacy and the primacy of the senses." Even if you agree with their analysis (which I don't), how sad to go through life refusing to be in touch with your inner child. 

I struggled to figure out how to write about the exhibit and eventually decided to go sense by sense. Sight, of course, is the low hanging fruit, so I'll start there. The show was filled with dresses and gowns and even a suit or two of all varieties. Some were flat out gorgeous like this terrarium-inspired dress. It's made of 3D reinforced resin, so it would retain its shape as the wearer moved. The dress is from Tukahashi's "Deep Mist" collection, a title that references fading memories. But a lot of the clothing was more striking than beautiful, and on more than one occasion we asked each other how someone would get into a particular dress. (The answer is "with help.") 

"Shipwreck" ensemble by Thebe Magagu (2023)

But the fashion on display was only one part of the visual impact of the show. By and large, the exhibit was housed in wide corridors through which visitors were funneled. (If that makes it sound like the exhibit was crowded, you've got that right.) Occasionally the corridor would open into a small atrium with projections on circular screens embedded in the ceiling. 

This ensemble in the section of the exhibit related to the siren, a sea-dwelling seductress. The print on the fabric was taken from a 1780 engraving by Louis Le Breton entitled "Hurricane of the Antilles." And so the projections featured storm clouds and roiling seas. My favorite projection was in the part of the exhibit featuring birds and -- you guessed it -- was a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 film "The Birds." I still remember (somewhat fondly) how terrified I was as a child when I saw that movie on tv at a friend's house. Parental supervision was a whole different thing then. 

Created by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen (2021)

The audio component of the show included sound effects as well as readings. One section of the exhibit was inspired by poppies. That seemed kind of specific, but it turns out that poppies are associated with mortality, and from there it's a short jump to violence and war. This dress by Sarah Burton has a Lizzie Borden feel to my eye. But the Met took a more sophisticated approach, noting the design's nod to the sacrifices of soldiers on the battlefield. 

As we perused the clothing in this portion of the show, a recording of the poem "In Flanders Field" by John McCrae could be heard. The poem opens with these words: 

"In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row, 

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below...." 

It wasn't the type of vibe you usually get in a fashion exhibit, but it worked. 

It's okay to touch these materials! 

If you're a museum-goer, you know that one of the primary rules is to never ever touch the art. I know it can be really, really tempting sometimes. The Met knows this, too, so the designers of the show incorporated an alcove where visitors can feel the fabric of two of the dresses on display safely behind glass.  

The wall itself featured black leather daisies of the type featured on a House of Dior dress designed by Raf Simons. (This elegant dress can be seen in the link below showing the designs on the ruway.) The small cream-colored dress was a 3-D printed replica of a dress with silk flowers also created by the House of Dior. The life-sized version is quite beautiful. 

Random woman smelling the wall 

Now on to the most unexpected sense to be incorporated into the exhibit -- smell. Huh? Yes, some of the latent scents in the garments were "reawakened by reproducing their smell molecules." In one location the molecules from two dresses had been extracted and placed in test tubes for visitors to smell. And here the Met got fancy, using the scientific names for the scents. In regular speak, there were odors from things like meat and tobacco and gasoline and toothpaste. More unexpectedly, one tube contained a scent that's a "mild sex attractant for moths and cockroaches." That is a curious choice. 

In addition to the test tubes, multiple walls had been turned into the equivalent of scratch and sniff boards. So this woman is not in fact in a time out. Instead, she's smelling whatever scent has been incorporated into this wall. I, of course, smelled away as well, despite my recurring thought that this couldn't be the most sanitary thing to do. But I trusted that the Met had consulted with a medical team before including this aspect of the exhibit. I am happy to report that I suffered no ill aftereffects from fully engaging with the show. 

Gown by Pierre Gerber, Jacques Gerber 
and Madame Suzy for Callot Soeurs (1930)

The final room of the exhibit featured this gorgeous wedding dress worn by socialite Natalie Potter for her wedding on December 4, 1930. Yes, she wed on the cusp of the Great Depression, and this gown is lauded for being devoid of surface embellishment. That would have been tasteless at such a time. I'm thinking they might have gone with a shorter train, but that's just one woman's opinion. 

I mention this gown not because it was so striking, but because we had the opportunity to talk to the bride via AI. I asked my burning question: How did she go to the bathroom while wearing this gown? Her response: "One learned how to plan and endure." I also asked whether they had a happy marriage. Her response was diplomatic and went something like, "Marriage is hard. We gave it a good try but we ultimately parted ways." I get it. 

And with that, our visit to "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" was over. Our only sense that had not been satisfied was taste, so we headed off to lunch. The exhibit runs through September 2, and I highly recommend it if you're in the New York area. For more info on the show, click here. The video is terrific. And to see many of the costumes on the runway, click here. Happy viewing!