NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Museum of Art hiked up the hemline — in fact, deconstructed the whole skirt — on its “Charles James: Beyond Fashion” exhibition today, offering a sneak peek into the artistry and process of the mid-20th century couturier that was so favored by socialites.
Using the iconic Clover Leaf Ball Gown (constructed in 1953 for Mrs William Randolph Hearst, Jr. to wear to the Eisenhower Inauguration) as a template, the Met remade from scratch the black-and-white confection that can best be described as a feat of both architecture and art that, as the exhibition’s name suggests, stretches way beyond fashion.
As the model Elettra Wiedemann swanned into the Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Gallery, where the press conference was held, wearing the reconstructed gown, it was easy to see how it was designed to lift weightlessly from the dance floor like an ice skater’s skirt in pirouette — even though it weighed 10 lbs.
Next to Wiedemann, a muslin version — one of five draped study pieces James created — on a mannequin revealed the secret: the skirt comprised several separate panels that when stitched together created volume either horizontally or vertically. The total effect was a cantilevered skirt in three parts: the upper skirt of white satin; a structurally distinct wide band of black velvet, with top and bottom curves undulating in opposite directions; and a hem of white silk faille.
Certainly not your average ball gown, it’s the kind of garment you have to examine from not more than five inches away to fully appreciate.
Harold Koda, curator in charge of the Met’s Costume Institute, attributes James’ dedication to details to his start as a milliner in Chicago in the 1920s: “Those same details recur in the 1930s in a half-bias gown or in very architectural skirts in the 1950s.”
Koda also said he developed a newfound appreciation for a nearly-forgotten couturier like James.
“I love people who work with materials and are sensitive to what they do or how they act. James didn’t care — he cared about the effect of the materials,” he explained. “The big jump for me was the perceptual shift between fashion designer and artist. There’s something heroic about the way he pursued something to a certain discomfort. He just cared so much about the creative process that he didn’t mind living in virtual poverty at the end of his life, because he was still pursuing this ideal of creating an extraordinary work of art.”
Koda added: “Studying his work has made me appreciate him much better as a designer because I now understand his approach, [even if it’s so] counterintuitive to my kind of thinking.”
James had avid fans among his contemporaries, including Cristobal Balenciaga and Christian Dior. Dior has credited James for being the inspiration for his “New Look,” and indeed both couturiers’ designs reflect the silhouette comprising sloping shoulders, a cinched waist and a full skirt. Meanwhile, other iconic designers like Elsa Schiaparelli and Coco Chanel were his clients.
The preview also showcased the Butterfly Ball Gown, a brown silk, chiffon and tulle number (also designed originally for Mrs. Hearst, in 1955) that gave the wearer the effect of a bee-stung bottom. It’s a fine specimen of a labor-intensive tucking treatment over a body-hugging column sheath, replete with an exuberant volume of tulle at the back — again, best seen up close and personal.
“Charles James: Beyond Fashion,” will run from May 8 to August 10, 2014, at the new Anna Wintour Costume Center at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Click on the slideshow to preview some of the highlights.
