Clothes define people. A person’s attire, whether it’s a sari, kimono, or business suit, is an essential code to his or her culture, class, personality, even faith. Founded in 1978, the Kyoto Costume Institute recognizes the importance of understanding clothes from sociological, historical, and artistic perspectives. With one of the world’s most extensive clothing collections, the KCI has amassed a wide range of historical garments, underwear, shoes, and fashion accessories dating from the 18th century to the present day.Showcasing the Institute’s vast collection, Fashion History is a fascinating excursion through the last three centuries of clothing trends. Featuring impeccable photography of clothing expertly displayed and arranged on custom-made mannequins, it is a testimony to attire as “an essential manifestation of our very being” and to the Institute's passion for fashion as a complex and intricate art form.The book's authors include some of the smartest minds and sharpest eyes in fashion studies: Akiko Fukai (Chief Curator of The Kyoto Costume Institute), Tamami Suoh (Curator of The Kyoto Costume Institute), Miki Iwagami (Lecturer of fashion history at Sugino Fa... [Read More]

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual Costume Institute exhibition is the most spectacular event of its kind. With subjects that both reflect the zeitgeist and contribute to its creation, each exhibi­tion—from 2005’s Chanel, to 2011’s Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty and 2013’s Punk—creates a provocative and engaging narrative attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors. The show’s opening-night gala, produced in collaboration with Vogue magazine and attended by the likes of Beyoncé, George Clooney, and Hillary Clinton, is regularly referred to as the Party of the Year.Covering the Costume Institute’s history and highlighting exhibitions of the 21st century curated by Harold Koda and Andrew Bolton, this book offers insider access of the first order. Anchored by photo­graphs from the exhibitions themselves in tandem with the Vogue fashion shoots they inspired, it also includes images of exhibited objects and party photos from the galas. Drawn from the extensive Vogue archives, the featured stories showcase the photographs of icons such as Annie Leibovitz, Mario Testino, Steven Meisel, and Craig McDean; the vision of legendary Vogue editors like Grace Coddington... [Read More]

Why is fashion "in fashion" in museums today? This timely volume brings together expert scholars and curators to examine the reasons behind fashion's popularity in the twenty-first century museum and the impact this has had on wider museum practice.Chapters explore the role of fashion in the museum across a range of international case studies including the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, The Fashion Museum at Bath, ModeMuseum in Antwerp and many more. Contributions look at topics such as how fashion has made museums accessible to diverse audiences and how curators present broader themes and issues such as gender, class and technology innovatively through exhibiting fashion. Drawing on approaches from dress history, fashion studies, museum studies and curatorship, this engaging book will be key reading for students and scholars across a range of disciplines.

Enjoy fabulous full-color photographs of Victorian dolls dressed in authentic period splendor. Then discover how these miniature fashions were constructed as Michelle Hamilton takes readers step by step through the sewing of selected outfits from museum collections.

An alluring, opulent showcase of hundreds of beautiful historic clothing items and accessories“High Style is filled with fashion inspiration and information. . . . Nearly every page…includes a captivating photo of one of the collection’s lavish garments or accessories.”—Threads   Published for the first time in paperback, this lavishly illustrated volume originally appeared in 2010 to celebrate the transfer of the Brooklyn Museum’s historic costume collection to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. This comprehensive survey highlights more than 200 works selected from this internationally renowned collection, which comprises nearly 25,000 extraordinary women’s and men’s garments and accessories from the 18th through the 20th century. Among the featured works are sumptuous 19th-century gowns from the House of Worth, exquisite dresses by the great 20th-century French couturiers, iconic Surrealist-based designs of Elsa Schiaparelli, sportswear classics from pioneer American female designers, and the incomparable draped and tailored creations of Charles James, along with exceptional shoes and accessories. 

This amazing Pink NASA Astronaut suit with cap from Aeromax, is the favorite for space travelers. Quality construction and details are all sewn in to create the most authentic get real gear for kids everywhere. High quality fabric, heavy duty zippers, detailed NASA patches. This product like so many other Aeromax products is designed to raise the self esteem of those who engage with it. Makes a great gift for any child, boy or girl, anytime.

An unprecedented look behind the scenes of two of New York's premier cultural events, THE FIRST MONDAY IN MAY follows the creation of "China: Through The Looking Glass," the most attended fashion exhibition in the history of The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the 2015 Met Gala, the star-studded fundraiser. Follow Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine and Met Gala chair, and Andrew Bolton, the curator who conceived the groundbreaking show, as they prepare for an unforgettable evening.

A brilliant exploration of fashion’s complex engagement with the great art and artifacts of Catholic faith and practice Since antiquity, religious beliefs and practices have inspired many of the masterworks of art. These works of art have, in turn, fueled the imagination of fashion designers in the 20th and 21st centuries, yielding some of the most innovative creations in costume history. Connecting significant religious art and artifacts to their sartorial expressions, Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination provides a critical analysis of fashion’s engagement with notions of the divine. Exploring fashion’s complex and often controversial relationship with Catholicism, Heavenly Bodies probes what dress reveals about the state of religion and spirituality within contemporary culture, and how it may manifest—or subvert—Catholic values and ideology. Art objects, such as devotional paintings and altarpieces from The Met’s collection, are presented alongside fashions from designers including Cristóbal Balenciaga, Callot Soeurs, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, John Galliano, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Madame Grès, Christian Lacroix, Karl Lagerfeld, Jeanne Lanvin... [Read More]