By: Taryn

Currently my Saturdays are spent grooming the young minds that will comprise tomorrow’s Beauty Industry at The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. I graduated from the Beauty program ten years ago, and so I consider it a special honor to give something back on my weekends. This does not stop me from groaning about waking up early on a Saturday.  My fellow blush blogger, Kim, also teaches a class, so she certainly deserves her place in heaven with me. One of my favorite things about being a part time instructor at FIDM is taking advantage of all the incredible exhibits at the FIDM Museum.

The Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibition, an annual favorite of mine, displays over 100 costumes from more than 20 films released in 2009.  Frankly, the exhibit itself is a visual masterpiece, taking 50 people a full year to create! I made my first visit last weekend during my lunch break, but  I’ll definitely be going back before the conclusion on April 15th to more thoroughly explore the vast array of costumes.

Particularly enthralling are the pieces from four of the five designers nominated for this year’s Academy Awards: “Bright Star” (Janet Patterson), “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Monique Prudhomme), “Nine” (Colleen Atwood) and “The Young Victoria” (Sandy Powell).  The fifth nominee, “Coco Before Chanel,” designed by Catherine Leterrier was unfortunately missing in action.  The exhibit also always showcases 2008′s Oscar winner, so keep an eye out for items worn by Keira Knightley in ”The Duchess,” designed by Michael O’Connor. This year also features two films with costume designs by FIDM Grads: “Aliens in the Attic“, designed by FIDM Grad Mona May, and ”Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian”, designed by FIDM Grad Marlene Stewart.

Photo: David James/Weinstein Co.

My personal favorite was Penelope Cruz’s over the top scarlett number in “Nine” (still from movie at left because they wouldn’t let me take my own picture!) but as a whole I most enjoyed the  items from “An Education” (Odile Dicks -Mireaux), “Pirate Radio” (Joanna Johnson) and “Inglorious Basterds” (Anna Sheppard).

Interesting to note here, FIDM utilizes mannequins that are true to the proportions of the actors, so you can enjoy imagining the size of your fave celebs. Remember way back when people said Kate Winslet was too big for Leo in “Titanic,” well I assure you that when you looked at her itty bitty dresses on display that was most certainly not the case. Her dresses are tiny! And coming from someone who is 5’1 that should mean something.

Another couple of fun facts from the FIDM website:

“Star Trek Costume Designer Michael Kaplan was not a fan of the original TV series and had not seen any of the previous movies.”

Star Trek (Designer: Michael Kaplan)

“The Young Victoria Costume Designer Sandy Powell made Victoria’s coronation robe completely from scratch, starting with the fabric. The intricate embroidery from the original robe was recreated by printing and hand painting.”

The free exhibition is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  You’ll thank me. I promise. As will my students, who just got assigned an extra credit project

xoxo,

Taryn

Tags: academy awards, costumes, Vintage Fashion

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 12:52 pm and is filed under fashion&style. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.