On the avenue today before The Metropolitan Museum of Art, it is frosty, with a selection of clothing that reflects the weather—pedestrians are hastening by with scarves and tweed coats drawn to their chins. But soon the rush of passing garments will change. In the spring, when the trees of Central Park grow fragrant and the asphalt warms, people wearing dresses in soft fabrics will pass scatterings of tourists out on the museum steps. At the start of May, a red carpet will draw up the staircase, and guests dressed for the Met Gala will catch camera flashes on their way inside. By tradition, that will be high fashion’s brightest moment, when an outfit and a personality bring each other most entirely to life. Then the attendees will enter the museum, where, most years, they would tour an exhibition of historic dresses whose wearers are long vanished, and whose fabrics are now frozen in place.
“It’s something we always struggle with—that, once a garment comes into the museum, a lot of the sensorial experiences that we take for granted with clothing are lost,” Andrew Bolton, the curator in charge at the Costume Institute, explains this morning, over tea, in a dimly lit conference room inside The Met. Photographs of more than 50 clothing items are pinned to the wall. “The positive part of it is that we’re custodians of the clothing, here to take care of it in perpetuity,” he goes on. “But that involves very specific conditions: You can’t touch it, you can’t smell it, it can’t be worn. And you can’t hear it.”
This story is from the May 2024 edition of Vogue US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 2024 edition of Vogue US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Free Reign
Boho chic, the liberated and unfettered style statement of the aughts, is back with a floaty, festival-ready vengeance.
No Filler
The sandwich” facial migrates to other parts of the body.
Now and Forever
From corsetry and embroidery to the fineness of tailoring, this season's most beguiling silhouettes offer a palpable sense of history and craft. Liya Kebede and her children connect the dots between past, present, and future.
DOUBLE ACT
Married artists Sam Moyer and Eddie Martinez have built their lives and careers on parallel tracks. Now, with simultaneous shows at the same museum, they are converging.
A WATERY STAGE
The Paris Games will kick off, in spectacular fashion, with a procession on the Seine. Gaby Wood meets the creative director orchestrating it all.
Madame Paris
Mayor Anne Hidalgo has long been a leader under scrutiny. And now she and her glorious city will be center stage for the Olympics.
THE OTHER SIDE
Sophie Turner talks about the harsh glare of attention following her breakup and how she has emerged stronger, happier, and healthier than ever.
Forza!
Tennis has a new force: the 22-year-old Italian ski racer turned court champion Jannik Sinner nickname: The Fox). Abby Aguirre meets him in the midst of an electrifying winning streak.
Everything Under the Sun
To Kendall Jenner, mental health means many things: rest, reflection, riding, reading—and being open. She talks to Rob Haskell about a decade in modeling. Photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott.
The Longest Journey
In 2022 a stroke brought Hamish Bowless teeming life to a crashing halt. After months spent in the hospital and a year back at home, he reflects on just how far hes come.