New Costume Exhibitions - Get Thee to New York!

If ever there was a summer to go to New York, 2010 is it. Last year, the Metropolitan Museum and the Brooklyn Museum began the massive job of transferring the Brooklyn Museum's extensive costume collection to the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum. In the process, so many treasures have been discovered that an unusual double exhibit was designed to highlight the finds. Today, "American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity" opens at the Metropolitan Museum in Manhattan. This portion of the exhibit focuses on archetypes of American fashion, including "Gibson Girls" and "Screen Sirens". Following are some highlights you will see at the Met.

Jesse Franklin Turner gold lamé dress, 1933

Etta Hentz Grecian style evening gown, 1944

Charles James silk and metallic gown, 1936

Nellie Harrington sweater and pleated skirt, 1928

Silk and rhinestone evening gown, c. 1909-11

"American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity" is on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art May 5, 2010 - August 15, 2010. Tomorrow, the companion exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum, just a subway ride away!

All images courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute Collection.