Charles James: Beyond Fashion Exhibit

The Charles James: Beyond Fashion exhibit is a stunning new exhibit in honor of the famous couturier held at the newly renovated Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The focus of the exhibit are gowns, and the designer’s creative process. Recently, the Met held the infamous Met Gala Red Carpet where the stars came out in full force to celebrate the kick off of the exhibit which resides partly in the new Anna Wintour Costume Center. 

So if beautiful, whimsical gowns make your heart flutter you will love this show, and it’s also the first to be split between two locations within the museum. The first half is inside the Costume Center; the second half is within the special exhibition galleries on the first floor.

All of the clothing are broken down into four categories: Spirals & Wraps; Drapes & Folds; Platonic Form; and Anatomical Cut.

Charles James is known as “America’s First Couturier” and the exhibit shows the techniques and details surrounding the creation of each dress. The exhibit shows the viewer this technique as a  small spotlight moves around each dress on display, giving information on that exact part displayed on the screen giving the visitor the opportunity to figure out what’s inside of the dreamy creation.

There’s also a scrapbook on display with photos from Bill Cunningham who was friends with the designer.

The exhibit runs from Thursday, May 8th and through August 10th and will be another blockbuster show that I look forward to seeing.