tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2667120201733684509.post9053079056851812465..comments2024-01-10T04:03:58.571-08:00Comments on guidetobadtaste: Ivy Style @ FITThe Enthusiasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02666513036467767528noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2667120201733684509.post-22341818966102427872013-01-04T10:22:41.906-08:002013-01-04T10:22:41.906-08:00MFIT is the museum element of an educational insti...MFIT is the museum element of an educational institution inextricably attached to the fashion industry, so it's a bit specious to accuse it of compromising its integrity through marketing. Marketing is existentially central to fashion--not only commercially, but historically: looking at the clothing of any era, we're most interested in the cut of the clothes that sold.<br /><br />That point aside (which the exhibit itself isn't at pains to make), the curators of "Ivy Style" did not set out to create a strictly historical exhibit, but rather a non-sequential profile of an aggregation of styles which continues to resonate (in well-marketed retailers, that is--that's where clothes do their resonating). The latter-day iterations/imitations of those styles aren't interlopers--they're part of the main point the exhibit is making.<br /><br />All this is not to say that the exhibit is perfect. You unwittingly highlighted what I'm pretty sure is its most glaring curatorial error by illustrating your post with a photo of a college blazer which I'm almost certain is NOT--as it was described in the exhibit--a reunion blazer FROM 1919, but rather one from the 70s commemorating the CLASS of 1919. Just look at those lapels!<br /><br />Personally, I also would have preferred a more purist exhibit of "primary source" Ivy artifacts (not that they're particularly rare yet), but you have to judge a show by it's own merits, and I think the curators did right by themselves here. In any case, its success portends a greater curatorial focus on menswear, which will only be a good thing. <br /><br /><br /><br />Andrew Yamatonoreply@blogger.com