THE ETROPOLITAN NEWS FOR Friday, October 15, 1954 M USEUM OF ART RELEASE FIFTH AYE.at82 STREET • NEW YORK Press View: Friday, October 8, 1954 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Photographs will be available ELEGANCE, STYLE IN EUROPEAN, AMERICAN DRESS DURING 500 YEARS STRESSED IN EXHIBIT BY COSTUME INSTITUTE OPENING FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15 AT METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART Five centuries of European and American costumes, chosen for their elegance of style and richness of fabric are displayed in the special exhibition, THE FINE ART OF COSTUME, opening to the public today in the Costume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The costumes and accessories selected from the collections of the Costume Insti­ tute and the Metropolitan reflect, through their form, color, texture and mobility, the changing social demands from the late 16th to the early 20th century. According to Polaire Weissman, Executive Director of the Costume Institute, who arranged the exhibit: "In the Art of Costume, the vitality of fashion living from one form into the other through creative design is of tremendous significance to its present and future. Although beauty can transcend time, the components of that beauty are a part of the age in which they were created and reflect the life from which they emerged." Earliest among the articles of clothing displayed is a 16th century hat of yellow straw in the shape of a helmet, said to have belonged to Charles V of Spain (1519-1556). The latest costume exhibited is a court dress with a twelve-and-a-half- foot-long train, which was worn by Queen Alexandra of England. The material was specially embroidered for her by the wives of the ruling princes of India, and the dress was made up in Paris in 1904. Also from the 16th century are a woman's doublet dated 1570-80, of black cut velvet trimmed with silver lace, with an elongated waist; and a courtier's cape from Spain, richly brocaded with a crimson design on a golden-yellow ground, from the Cathedral of Leon (1560-80). • j-^^^J An early 17th century pourpoint - a quilted doublet - of cream satin embroidered in gold and colored silks was once worn by Graf Zierotin of Blaude, Bohemia. The earliest complete dress on view is a formal and elegant English winter costume, dated 1690, in the style of Louis XIV. Made of taupe-colored wool this ex­ ceedingly rare dress is striped in indigo blue and henna and embroidered throughout with silver-gilt thread. The figure wearing the dress has a lace fontange headdress characteristic of the period. (more) The Fine Art of Costume -- 2 The 18th century costumes and accessories on display were made in France, Eng­ land, Italy, Spain, Flanders, Russia and America. Among the most sumptuous costumes on exhibit are those worn by three men and three ladies - manikins who reoreate an elegant court scene which might have taken place at Versailles. The figures dressed in the height of style of the Louis XV and Louis XVI periods surround a gilded 18th century sedan chair from which a lady alights. One of the men's suits with matching trousers, coat and waistcoat of cloth-of- gold woven with rose silk and elaborately embroidered is reputed to have been worn by Charles III of Spain (1759-1788). Equally lavish is a suit of blue silk, said to have belonged to a royal duke in the court of Louis XVI. It is embroidered with a design of wheat ears and flowers in polychrome silks and silver and has a waistcoat of white silk shot with silver and embroidered with the same design on a smaller scale. Among the ladies' dresses included in the group is a court robe a la francaise of white taffeta brocaded with floral motifs and made with the graceful sweep of a Watteau back, traditionally ascribed to Mme Bertin the celebrated dressmaker to Marie Antoinette. This costume with its exaggerated hips is worn by a figure with the characteristic high white powdered wig of the 18th century. Of particular interest among the 18th century oostumes displayed is a white satin jacket embroidered with mythological subjects, which is said traditionally to have been worn by the Dauphin, son of Louis XVI; and a Russian court dress worn with an overdress with a train of silver. Two dresses in the Directoire style, both dated 1793, are exhibited. One is a promenade dress from Vienna, worn with a large muff of white satin. The other is a high-waisted English dress of white Indian muslin with a border of silk embroidery. It is worn with a trained overdress of golden-yellow striped satin and a turban of white satin with yellow. Among the high-waisted dresses of the Empire style - a style which has a slimmer silhouette than that of the Directoire - is a French dress of cream satin embroidered with a peacock motif. It is said to have been worn at the court of Napoleon by Lydia Smith, wife of Jonathan Russel who was appointed American Charge d'Affaires at Paris in 1810. Also on view are French, American and Viennese Empire dresses made of pima cloth and Dacca muslin, delicately embroidered. Dresses and men's suits of the 1820's and 1830's are exhibited. The women's costumes of the 1820's still retain the high waist so popular in the Empire style. This feature was abandoned in the costumes of the 1830's which are small-waisted and have large gigot, or leg-of-mutton, sleeves. All the costumes on view are worn by manikins specially created to fit the clothes. The manikins' wigs reproduce hair styles appropriate to the periods. (more) The Fine Art of Costume — 3 Four dresses and two court costumes exhibited date from the 1850's. One hooped dress, with pagoda sleeves, is made of heather-colored ribbed silk with lacy trimming of simulated pearls and gold silk floss-covered wires and dangles. The two court costumes are Italian and dated 1857. Both were worn by members of the Bourbon family at the Bourbon court in Naples. The man's court costume has a swallow-tailed coat of black wool and a red wool waistcoat, both heavily encrusted with gold embroidery. The lady's court dress of crimson silk faille, with a separate court mantle of royal blue faille, is embroidered in a design of fleur-de-lis and oak leaves, symbolic of the royal family of the Bourbons. This dress was worn by Princess Marcantonio Doria d'Angri. An American girl's dress of coral-colored silk taffeta with a net guimp and trimmed with ruffles and black velvet is dated 1860-63. Two visiting dresses with hooped skirts, from England and America.^ in the style of the 1860*s, show the pointed waist and the characteristic backward sweep of the skirt. Bustle dresses dating from the 1880's are shown including a green satin ball gown trimmed with chiffon in columbine colors, made by Worth of Paris for Caroline Schermerhorn Astor Wilson in 1887. Also dating from this period is a French dress with a red satin bodice embroidered with chenille, and gold and silver beads and worn with a matching velvet skirt. The long torso line of this costume is close to the styles of today. Among the dresses of the 1890's is an American dress in princess style of tobacco -colored wool appliqued with black silk braid in an intricate pattern. It is worn with a dashing black feather boa and black chiffon hat. Costumes from the turn of the century are displayed with paintings of the period by Sargent, Whistler, Watrous, Paxton, and others. Among the dresses shown are an evening dress made by Worth of Paris for Anne Morgan and a ball gown by Paquin of Paris made for Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt. Dramatically installed, the exhibit offers historic interest to the student, creative excitement to the designer, and a delightful visual experience to all. - 000 -.