Fashion

The Met Gala

In America: A Lexicon of Fashion

(Part 1 September 18, 2021 - September 5, 2022)

The famed Met Gala is returning with gusto on September 18, 2021 with a tribute installation that will celebrate American design icons!

This epically successful and wildly colorful fundraiser which benefits the Costume Institute takes place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. This year, the theme pays homage to all that has taken place in America during this past Covid year, culturally, sociologically and politically. Andrew Bolton, the Costume Institute’s Wendy Yu Curator, came upon an interesting concept during the months of pandemic quiet, a concept inspired by Witold Rybcznski’s Home: A Short History of an Idea, (A highly recommend read).

It’s a “Walk through five centuries of homes both great and small--from the smoke-filled manor halls of the Middle Ages to today's Ralph Lauren-designed environments”

~Goodreads~

Interestingly, this concept ultimately inspired the direction of the robust theme for this year’s Gala…

Celebrating Americana

“The exhibit will be organized to resemble a home, with intersecting walls and rooms that will establish what Bolton calls “a new vocabulary that’s more relevant and more reflective of the times in which we’re living.”

~Vogue~

Let’s get ready for “Fashion’s biggest night out!

This got me thinking about how so much of what we all think and do is so heavily influenced by everything around us; a layered, multifaceted approach, consciously or subconsciously sparking our creating thinking with fireworks and flourish! Let’s take Ralph Lauren (my favorite) an icon among American fashion designers. If you watched the HBO documentary VERY RALPH you understand how the genius of his brilliant designs were inspired by vintage styles from yesteryear AND how this genius style influenced his even more brilliant American interior designs. I, for one, just drool into oblivion…

I remember my frequent visits to the top floor of the original mansion on Madison Avenue in NYC in the 80’s and gasping as I stepped off the elevator, at once removed from my everyday world. I was immediately transported into an interior design world of wonderment exploding with a mix of plaids and stripes, opulent fabrics of cashmere, linens, tapestries, rich velvets, animal skins so exotic it conjured up scenes from “Out of Africa” and colors so saturated and so gorgeous one could only think of manors, castles and English country homes.

His designs transport you to another time and place. His interiors are inspired by his fashion and his fashion is inspired by his interiors. Art at its very best.

I’m always amazed by how so much of what I do in my life is inspired by fashion! Fashion, fashion, fashion… the ultimate expression of one’s personal style and how one chooses to reveal themselves to the world. It’s an expression of what one wants to say. It pervades all aspects of lifestyle providing inspiration for interiors, tablescapes, parties and events. Let’s take a look at some FUN pairings!