Treasures You Can Touch
October 27th, 2008Filed under: Education, Exhibitions
One of my favorite parts of this exhibition are the touchable miniature “copies” of two featured gowns. From the beginning of the project, the exhibition team wanted to engage our visitors with the objects a little more than usual. We thought of using digital technology as a way of showing how each garment was constructed and even toyed with the idea of creating full-size copies that could be worn. In the end, creating touchable copies in a miniature size was determined to be the best option.
Two gowns from the exhibition were selected that have the most interesting construction and undergarments. Interns Katie Allen and Michael Hall spent the entire summer cutting and sewing the copies that could be touched by the general public. They even carved the actual dress form used to display the copies out of a block of foam to the exact proportions of the original wearer. The two gowns selected were the 1861 white satin gown attributed to Worth & Bobergh, worn by Mrs. Nancy McCormick, and the 1954 yellow and gold chiffon and net gown by Charles James, worn by Mrs. Margaret Willing.
Tags: Couture, Fashion, Timothy Long
October 27th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
We just went to the exhibit on Sunday and viewed our daughter, Katie Allen’s, and Michael’s miniature gowns. How they constructed those intricate dresses without a pattern to work with is just incredible! We thoroughly enjoyed the entire exhibit, it was very well put together.
October 30th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
I’m so glad you were able to see the fruits of Katie’s labor! Katie was a joy to work with. You must be very proud of her!