What did you wear in 1997?

Jun 20, 2023

This morning, The Dressed group went to The Palais Galliera, which is Paris’ fashion museum.

The Palais had three exhibits: 1997 Fashion Big Bang, The Colors of Fashion—which is about very early fashion photography and a special process they used to colorize the pictures (the science was beyond me, but did you know that mauve was the first color not made by a natural process?), and The Fashion of Movement, which is about athleisure (of course, that wasn’t a word when women first wore driving hats in the early 1900s).

The Galliera is more FIT Fashion Museum than Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Exhibit, but I enjoyed the shows very much. The 1997 show was interesting, as it reminded me of how disengaged I was from what was going on in New York (I lived in Pennsylvania). The fashion doesn’t speak to me. In 1997, I was in my flowery dress phase, which I still miss. Nothing is as easy as putting on a flowery dress; you immediately look pretty. Of course, not everyone dresses to look pretty.

*This is a 1997 Thierry Mugler design. He was inspired by insects.*

Nevertheless, the exhibit was breathtaking. Aside from Mugler, there were designs from Galliano, McQueen, Stella McCartney, Tom Ford, and Jean-Paul Gaultier. Women were wearing bold colors and a lot of black.

Next, we went to Le Musée Yves Saint Laurent, which is in his home and studio. I didn’t really love this because there was very little information about his life. The exhibition did say that unlike other designers, he drapes dresses from the shoulders and not from the waist, and I think that’s part of the reason I don’t find the dresses attractive (although I like pretty, and design should be more than pretty, so my opinion is not necessarily one that corresponds to those who love fashion).

Notice how the YSL shapes are very different from the shapes of the dresses in the 1997 show.

*I would never wear any of these. First of all, they look itchy. Second, they are so stiff looking.*

Our afternoon activity was a behind-the-scenes tour of the Palais Garnier, the Paris Opera.

We saw the costume departments (so secret that we weren’t allowed to take pictures), and the foundation underneath the building. Sound boring? The foundation, which was laid in the middle of the 19th century, was done incorrectly and water from the Paris system sometimes fills the spaces of the foundation. “And where there is water, there are fish,” said our guide. She then showed us all the fish that are swimming both in and under the building. The fire brigade feeds them since they don’t see any light.

*This fish lives in the foundation of the Opera House, but he was mean to the other fish so they isolated him.*

Tomorrow: Musée Carnavalet—the history of Paris museum—(can’t wait!!) and La Fondation Azzedine Alaïa, then a podcast taping and haute couture embroidery class.