Exhibition Dates: November 1, 2002 - February 9, 2003
Exhibition location: The Costume Institute
Press Preview: Thursday, October 31, 10:00 – noon
The rapturous elegance of café society in the years immediately preceding World War II will be captured in a new exhibition opening at the Metropolitan Museum on November 1, Blithe Spirit: The Windsor Set. Dating from 1935 to 1940, this extraordinary collection of French couture—featuring works by Chanel, Lanvin, Vionnet, and Schiaparelli—was donated to the Metropolitan Museum's Costume Institute in 1946. The gowns were originally part of the exhibition Paris Openings: 1932-1940, which was organized by Lady Mendl and chaired by the Duchess of Windsor to benefit French War Charities in 1940. Drawn mainly from the collection of The Costume Institute, with loans from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the exhibition celebrates a period in fashion history that is unsurpassed in terms of beauty, elegance, and craftsmanship.
With more than 80 items on display, the exhibition focuses on the women who shaped the fashions of the period, including Lady Mendl, Mrs. Robert Amcotts Wilson, Mrs. Harrison Williams, Baroness Eugène de Rothschild, The Honorable Mrs. Reginald Fellowes, Countess Madeleine de Montgomery, and the Duchess of Windsor. Among the highlights is an exquisite evening dress of white silk marquisine with silver floral embroidery that was specially designed for the Honorable Mrs. Reginald Fellowes by Elsa Schiaparelli for a reception hosted by Their Majesties the King and Queen of England at the Palace of the Elysée in 1938. Also on view will be a range of furniture by Jansen and Emilio Terry to highlight the conjunction of fashion and furnishing, a relationship that defined 'stylish living' of the period. The exhibition will also include photographs by Horst, Beaton, Man Ray and Hoyningen-Huene, and drawings by Dalí, Berard and Cocteau. A centerpiece of the exhibition is the Mainbocher gown worn by the Duchess of Windsor upon her marriage to the Duke.
Blithe Spirit: The Windsor Set is organized by Andrew Bolton, Associate Curator of The Costume Institute, with the support of Harold Koda, Curator in Charge.
A variety of educational offerings, including lectures and gallery talks, will accompany the exhibition.
The Web site of the Metropolitan Museum (www.metmuseum.org) will feature the exhibition.
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June 3, 2002
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