Here's the announcemnt from the Met's website:
Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, announced today that the Museum will designate the space occupied by The Costume Institute as the Anna Wintour Costume Center. The complex has been completely redesigned and renovated and will reopen on May 8 with the inaugural exhibition Charles James: Beyond Fashion. The Anna Wintour Costume Center will house the Department’s exhibition galleries, library, conservation laboratory, research areas, and offices. The curatorial department itself will continue to be called The Costume Institute.Wintour may be at the helm of the most prestigious fashion magazine in the world, but her magazine has been continuously giving us ugliness over the years. I no longer, even if greatly tempted, spend the $6.99 (almost the price of a paperback book) to skim through tens of pages of adverizement to get to the "fashion," since this fashion is often ugly.
"Anna Wintour’s extraordinary advocacy and fundraising have made this state-of-the-art space a reality,” said Daniel Brodsky, the Museum’s Chairman. “She has the rare ability to rally diverse groups across a wide range of industries to support The Costume Institute so it can educate and inspire visitors from around the world."
So, I was curious what Wintour wore to this inauguration, and here she is.
Anna Wintour, Awkward and Self-conscious
Her "gown" looks like tattered, discarded material stitched together.
And designed by Chanel. Which proves my point that modern clothing is designed to look ugly.
Below, on the left, is the original Chanel (couture) dress.
At least Wintour got rid of the shiny leather corset/belt, and pulled up the neckline, but she has left the cheap plastic gauze both at the top and at the bottom flare of the dress. Random pieces of the material are stuck on the bottom gauze.
The ornate diamond collar necklace she's wearing is incongruous with the patchwork style of the dress. But such is the haphazard style that I expect from Vogue.
Wintour's work out regime is well documented in her spindly, muscley arms.
Looking feminine and beautiful isn't really her objective. Perhaps it is "powerful" that might best describe the aim of these high profile women like Wintour. But then their wires get all crossed, and when they attempt the feminine, they end up looking awkward and self-conscious.
Chanel was well-known for the simple, elegant skirt and jacket ensembles. But, contemporary Chanel is the work of Karl Lagerfeld, the resident designer for that iconic fashion house, and it was he who designed this dress.
Lagerfeld's showcased this dress in front of the fashion elite:
The Chanel Couture fall/winter 2013-2014 collection got unveiled at the Grand Palais on July 3, 2013, during the Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week, giving us an insight into the future of Chanel, at least in the eyes of Karl Lagerfeld. The legendary designer has already gotten us used to his creative ways of making Chanel shows memorable, and this time he transformed the catwalk into a post-apocalyptic theatre. On the background of ruins, he channeled his wonderful couture creations that were apparently paying a tribute to tweed! “The Old World and the New World” was the title of the Chanel Couture fall/winter 2013-2014 collection, where the old was the ruins, and the new – the fab outfits.
The "Post-Apocalyptic" Fall/Winter 2013/2014 Chanel Show at the Grand Palais
This "post-apocalyptic" theater is what Anna Wintour condones as she wears the tattered rags by today's "fashion designer" in this "The Old World and the New World" scenario. The concrete walls were put up for the show, to cover the shining gold arches that support the walls of the Grand Palais, which was built in 1900 as an exhibition hall. Its architects, must be turning in their graves, as must Coco Chanel.
The interior of The Grand Palais from a 1900 illustration
with its gold arches in full spectacular view
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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