Often saved and passed down from generation to generation, wedding dresses are a key means of understanding fashion traditions in different cultures across time and geographies.

Marriages, which were also mergers, were potentially explosive moments, and lavish festivities may have diffused some of the tensions that might arise between families over dowry arrangements and other touchy subjects.

Wealthy and powerful daimyô ordered magnificent wedding trousseaus for their daughters, and these trousseaus became symbolic of the social rank and the political alliances upon which the marriages were founded.

Assistant Museum Librarian Leah High discusses a recent educator event hosted at The Met.

Expanding the understanding of textile and fiber arts, this edition of the Bulletin features two distinct bodies of work that are intimately connected despite being separated by hundreds of years. Placing ancient Andean textiles from South America by unknown artists in conversation with works by global modern practitioners—such as Anni Albers, Sheila Hicks, Lenore Tawney, and Olga de Amaral—Weaving Abstraction in Ancient and Modern Art shows how both traditions harnessed the structure of the loom to create dynamic geometric designs. The 50 extraordinary pieces in this volume span over 2000 years and illustrate weaving’s complex and varied ways of conveying meaning, from stunning iconography to bold structural choices. In highlighting the aesthetic and cultural choices of both ancient and modern artists, this publication elevates textile arts beyond mere ornament to assert their role in the history of art past and present.

Assistant Museum Librarian Leah High invites #MetKids to visit Nolen Library and shares five books great for summer reading.

Artist in Residence Peter Hristoff meditates on the use of symbols in art as a means of communicating information about the artist, culture, time period, and even ourselves.