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Costume Institute Records, 1937-2008

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Costume Institute Records, 1937-2008 Costume Institute Records, 1937-2008 Finding aid prepared by Arielle Dorlester, Celia Hartmann, and Julie Le Processing of this collection was funded by a generous grant from the Leon Levy Foundation This finding aid was generated using Archivists' Toolkit on May 19, 2015 The Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives 1000 Fifth Avenue New York, NY, 10028-0198 212-570-3937 [email protected] Costume Institute Records, 1937-2008 Table of Contents Summary Information .......................................................................................................3 Historical note..................................................................................................................... 4 Scope and Contents note.....................................................................................................6 Administrative Information .............................................................................................. 6 Related Materials .............................................................................................................. 7 Controlled Access Headings............................................................................................... 7 Collection Inventory............................................................................................................9 Series I. Collection Management..................................................................................9 Series II. Curators' and Administrators' Files............................................................. 12 Series III. Exhibitions..................................................................................................62 Series IV. Finance..................................................................................................... 232 Series V. Library....................................................................................................... 234 Series VI. Loans........................................................................................................235 Series VII. Operations...............................................................................................242 Series VIII. Party of the Year...................................................................................246 Series IX. Promotion and Publicity.......................................................................... 274 Series X. Research and Image Files......................................................................... 275 - Page 2 - Costume Institute Records, 1937-2008 Summary Information Repository The Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives Title Costume Institute Records, 1937-2008 Dates 1930s-2008 Extent 136.0 Linear feet 294 boxes Language English Abstract The Costume Institute records document the organization’s activities from the founding of its precursor, the Museum of Costume Art, in 1937 through its merger with the Metropolitan Museum as The Costume Institute in 1946, its establishment as a curatorial department in 1959, and up to exhibitions of the early 2000s. The largest volume of records document individual curators and administrators from 1937 through the early 2000s, exhibitions organized by the Museum of Costume Art at various locations and by The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum from 1937 to 2008, and the Party of Year in administrative records from 1948 to 1970 as well as scrapbooks and publicity materials from 1948 to 2007. Preferred Citation note [Title of item], [date of item], Box [number], Folder [number], Costume Institute records, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives. - Page 3 - Costume Institute Records, 1937-2008 Historical note The Costume Institute’s precursor, the Museum of Costume Art, was established in 1937 by Irene Lewisohn, founder of the Neighborhood Playhouse, whose collection of historic and regional costume formed the basis of the Museum’s holdings. She had originally amassed it to provide historical authenticity for the Playhouse’s theatrical performances. The Museum’s statement of purpose noted that it would include the dress and accessories “of all epochs and all people, which may serve industrialists, artists, art historians, craftsmen, and students of all kind.” Early board members included Lewisohn, her sister Alice Lewisohn Crowley, theatrical producer Lee Simonson, as well as professionals from the fashion industry, notably Lord & Taylor president Dorothy Shaver and fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert. Theater designer Aline Bernstein served as the Museum of Costume Art’s first President and Polaire Weissman its first Executive Director. The Museum’s activities included providing facilities to enable visitors to study original materials at first hand, including workroom demonstrations for designers and students, establishment of a reference library of images and published materials, and a storeroom/ showroom to demonstrate examples. As often as three times annually it organized exhibitions of historic garments and accessories (see Series III. Exhibitions) drawn from its own collection as well as loaned materials, in venues including temporary quarters at La Maison Française in the newly constructed Rockefeller Center complex. During World War II the Museum’s exhibitions highlighted American design and explored such wartime issues as rationing and lack of materials, as fashion hegemony shifted away from its traditional European centers and towards Seventh Avenue. In 1942, its exhibition “Renaissance in Fashion 1942” (see Subseries III.P) was held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, exemplifying Director Francis Henry Taylor’s commitment to an expanded educational role for the Museum, and its wartime support of the fashion industries by providing artistic inspiration from its collections. In December 1944 the Metropolitan Museum announced a merger with the Museum of Costume Art, effected in 1946 with the financial support of the fashion industry. The Museum’s name was formally changed to The Costume Institute and its collection was soon moved into the Metropolitan. Its first exhibition in its new home opened in December 1946 as part of the Museum’s 75th Anniversary celebrations, and consisted of 18th and 19th century costumes supplemented by decorative arts from the Metropolitan's ten curatorial departments (see Series III.X). Groupings of materials from the departments also showed costume and design sources from ancient Egypt through the 19th century. The exhibition was designed to highlight for all viewers the variety of holdings in the Museum that might serve as source material for costume design, and to emphasize the important and productive linkages between art and industry, especially pertaining to the fashion trades. In 1959 the Costume Institute became a full curatorial department, housed in a context where the art of costume could be studied and exhibited in relation to other arts. In its first decade at the Museum, the Costume Institute served primarily as a study collection - Page 4 - Costume Institute Records, 1937-2008 that could support and substantiate the depictions of historic dress in the fine arts, as well as a resource for the design community. From the original collections of Irene Lewisohn and Lee Simonson, The Costume Institute’s holdings by this time numbered more than eight thousand costumes and accessories from around the world given by more than six hundred donors. Since 1946 The Costume Institute has raised its operating funds through an annual event originally termed The Party of The Year (see Series VIII. Party of the Year) and now known as the Costume Institute Gala. It began as a fashion industry-only event held in a hotel ballroom and featuring skits, raffles, and pageants of models in historic costume. Today it is one of the most visible and successful charity events, which each year celebrates the opening of the spring Costume Institute exhibition and draws a stellar list of attendees from the worlds of fashion, film, society, business, and music. Planning for a renovation of the Costume Institute began in 1957, and proceeds from the 1960 Party of the Year event forward were earmarked to support the rebuilding program, including new quarters designed by architect Edward Durrell Stone. After being housed in temporary quarters for four years, the so-called New Costume Institute opened in October 1971 with the exhibition “Fashion Plate” (see Series III.AAA). The ten galleries of exhibition space were three times larger than the previous space, and a new exhibition was planned to be mounted every three months. There were also new storage facilities for garments and research areas to provide designers, retailers, public relations, advertising, and merchandising professionals and students more opportunities for first-hand study of the collections. From 1972 until her final exhibition in 1987, fashion arbiter and former Vogue editor Diana Vreeland (see Series II.D) served as Special Consultant to the Costume Institute and created a memorable suite of costume exhibitions that galvanized audiences and set new standards for opulence and multimedia immersion in costume exhibitions nationally and internationally (see Series III. Exhibitions). Highlights of her era included “The World of Balenciaga” (1973), “Romantic and Glamorous Hollywood Design” (1974), “The Glory of Russian Costume” (1976), and “Vanity Fair: A Treasure Trove of The Costume Institute” (1977). After Vreeland’s era, the decision was made that costume should have a permanent showcase within the Museum, but with smaller,
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