For the academic aspect of my blog post this week, I decided to explore and find a museum that is listed as a CUNY free museum, and I found the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, or FIT. Since I was on a huge time crunch this week, I found it very accessible considering it was only ten minutes away from Baruch. It was right next to the FIT on 7th avenue. When I first entered the museum, there was a lady sitting in the front, who told me and my friend about two exhibits that they are featuring at the time, and gave us pamphlets with more information on the inspiration of these exhibits. The first exhibit we went to was the Expedition: Fashion From The Extreme exhibit. The different fashion styles there were inspired by the North and South poles and the outer space, and how traveling to extreme environments have influenced fashion starting from the 1960’s.
When my friend and I first entered the exhibit, we noticed it was very dimly lit like outer space, but also gave a Northern Lights vibe. At the same time, the mannequins in which the outfits were displayed on were propped on Arctic glaciers, which blended the two environments together. My friend and I were in the middle of conversation when were walking in, but we paused for a bit to admire the set up because it really was impressive. We went around and saw outfits that ordinarily would be just coats and dresses, but had some form of twist. At some points I really wished I had some of the outfits for myself because they were so unique.
After that, my friend and I went to the Force of Nature exhibit. In this exhibit, we saw fashion over the centuries blended with floral, animal print, and overall geological designs. They had outfits that could have been worn in the 1700’s, like a beautiful gown and corset paired with a men’s coat, both sporting floral prints. Some outfits could have been worn in the 1950’s, like this vintage styled dress with rose patterns on it inspired from an outfit similar that was actually made in the 50’s. We also saw a gorgeous black gown that had fabric draping all around it to give the impression of swan wings, which was my favorite.
Overall I really enjoyed this experience. I am huge on fashion old and new, and being in this museum really showed that fashion has no limits. I would come back again to see what else the Museum at FIT could come up with in the future.
