Saturday, February 12, 2011

Update: Eco-Fashion Exhibition Now On-line

Saturday, February 12, 2011
Susan reporting:

Last summer I wrote about a fascinating fashion exhibition that I'd seen at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC. Eco-Fashion: Going Green not only featured a selection of clothes from the 18th c. to the present, but also posed many thoughtful questions about style-driven consumerism, the use and re-purposing of textiles, and the ever-increasing mark fashion has left on the environment.

Unfortunately, as is often the case when delicate fabrics are on display, cameras were forbidden in the galleries, and I wasn't able to include pictures with the blog. Now, however, FIT has put a detailed version of the exhibition on-line. Check it out here. It's a great resource that will make you think not only about fashion in an historical context, but also about what you'll be purchasing for your own wardrobe this spring.

Left: Two-piece day dress, green silk faille & chenille (dyed with arsenic-based green dyes) , c. 1865, USA, Museum purchase, FIT collection. Photograph courtesy FIT.

5 comments:

Tory said...

This came at the perfect time since my daughter is working on a homework assignment about how kids can be more "green" in their shopping. Enjoy your blog all the time, but this weekend you get a gold homework star in our house!

nightsmusic said...

I am honestly amazed sometimes with the things they didn't know back then, that we survived as long as we did. Imagine your clothing slowly killing you don't have a clue as to the culprit.

Anonymous said...

Really depressing. Makes you think twice about what kind of sh** is put into all those clothes today coming out of China, doesn't it?

Tonya said...

Thank you once again for another interesting link. I'm forever learning something new with all these links you provide. I had to chuckle at the comment that anonymous made it is some what true. Blessings.

Carrie#K said...

Wow, that's much more thought provoking than I anticipated. Now my fashion challenged/comfortable style is more green, if not exactly a boon to the economy.

There's a historical fashion exhibit Pulp Fashion at the Legion of Honor, interestingly, she's crafted the dresses out of paper.

 
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