All Dressed Up
June 10 - December 30, 2007
In recent years, the IMA has made significant acquisitions of both modern and historic costumes. All Dressed Up: The Latest Additions includes extraordinary garments by revered European couturiers such as Chanel, Balenciaga, Givenchy and Lanvin. American fashion designers—including Indiana’s own Norman Norell and Halston—also will be represented. Many of these garments will be on view for the first time.
One highlight of the exhibition is an 1880s Imperial Russian court dress, created by Charles Fredrick Worth for Maria Maximilianova Romanovska, a great-granddaughter of the French Empress Josephine and granddaughter of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. The gown has a silver moiré skirt with an emerald-green silk velvet bodice and a matching 12-foot train. The train is embroidered in large-scale floral and foliate motifs with crystal beads, silver sequins and silver foil and strips. In addition, three paper dresses representing the "throwaway culture" of the 1960s and whimsical, surrealistic Bes-Ben hats created by "Chicago's Mad Hatter" Benjamin Green-Field will be shown.
