Gallery view of the exhibition Death Becomes Her, on view through February 1, 2015
«Death becomes her, or rather, death becomes you. Though the title of The Costume Institute's current exhibition Death Becomes Her is daunting, the show highlights the beauty of the mourning period. All throughout history, black has been seen as a dark, sorrowful, and empty color, perfectly fit for the clothes of a mourner. However, in this exhibition, black is the epitome of style. Some of these dresses were worn by Queen Victoria and Queen Alexandra themselves from 1815 to 1915. For these women, mourning didn't mean sulking in your house in a fit of rags; you went out and evoked mystery to everyone you encountered.»
This show was a source of inspiration for my own design project. In my graphic design class, we were given the assignment to represent the four seasons. The question was: How do you take something cliché like the seasons and turn it into an aesthetic design? Being a lover of fashion, I came up with the concept of designing a dress for my imaginary Queen of Seasons, just as Queen Victoria had for her periods of mourning.
Desiree. Untitled. Mixed media
One of the show's major themes was the importance of strong foundations—what's on top can't exist without what's underneath. This is one of the reasons why the branches can be seen on the dress I designed, using the tree as the center of all of nature's beauty. I also incorporated black in my design, as it is the central beauty in modest mourning attire.
An unknown speaker is credited with the following quote in the exhibition: "I have a personal theory. I think we're a generation where death is at such a remove, not for all of us, but the young people who embrace it, there's a kind of ability to fantasize about what death means." Fashion is such an easy outlet to express yourself with out loud; the feelings it provokes could be as evident as the color black or discreet like the emotion of a mourner.