One of the most highly-regarded collections of American and European costume is to be transferred from the financially-struggling Brooklyn Museum to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The move will allow for garments to be properly cared for and exhibited after a lengthy period out of public view, as due to the cost of exhibiting such pieces the collection has been in storage for more than a decade.

Two pieces from Charles James.

The 23,500 piece collection is to be integrated into the Met’s Costume Institute. Amassing over more than a century of collecting, it includes a definitive collection of Charles James material, as well as signature pieces by both American and international designers including Elsa Schiaparelli.  It’s big win for both the museums and fashion enthusiasts – by combining the Brooklyn collection with the Met’s current pieces we’re given an extensive timeline of fashion history.

Largely assembled from the closets of grand ladies of Brooklyn and Manhattan, the newly-named Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection will be a definite must-see for anyone interested in how fashion has progressed over the years.  Click here for an in-depth read about the collection and acquisition.

Above Top: Pieces from the Met’s Costume Institute collection include from top left: Yves Saint Laurent, two dresses from Courreges, two outfits from Rudi Gernreich, platforms from Ferragamo.

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I mean really, come on guys! Stop messing with us!!! My heart, let alone my pocket book just can’t take too much more. Just another thing to add to the “wish list”. This “Monogramoflage” collection is yet another brilliant collaboration between Louis Vuitton and Takashi Murakami. It was revealed earlier last month that this pattern was part of the Murakami exhibit currently at the Brooklyn Museum. But when I saw the actual bag in the most recent Harper’s Bazaar I nearly lost my mind. This is a perfect example of the “trickle up” effect. Now, by “trickle up”, I mean the streets influencing the higher end market. Every fashionista, sneaker crazed, streetwearing, bamboo rocking lady (and I bet there is a guy or two out there that’s thinking about it) is gonna want to either wrap this scarf around his/her neck or slang this tote over their shoulder. This was made with “us” in mind, the art conscious, trend savvy, taste maker…or perhaps for those with money to feel more “street” or urban. Either way you look at it, Canal Street is gonna have a hay day with this one!

My boyfriend, Mr.Marc Jacobs, has done it again.

 We all know about the Murakami Exhibit now showing at the Brooklyn Museum.  However, I recently came across these pics of an apparent LV Street Market that is also part of the exhibit.  This market is obviously supposed to be a replication of Canal Street. Hellloo?!  So, are those real bags in the pics or are they fake? Why wasn’t I asked to help out with this installation? Do you think they have secret back rooms with all the ‘good’ stuff? Why don’t they have a dude in fake bling selling mixtapes?  Why haven’t they asked to have Cookie Cutter apparel be a part of this?  These are the questions I ponder. I must go see this immediately.    

April 5–July 13, 2008Morris A. and Meyer Schapiro Wing and Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Gallery, 4th and 5th Floors

The most comprehensive retrospective to date of the work of internationally acclaimed Japanese artist Takashi Murakami includes more than ninety works in various media that span the artist’s entire career, installed in more than 18,500 square feet of gallery space.

The exhibition © MURAKAMI explores the self-reflexive nature of Murakami’s oeuvre by focusing on earlier work produced between 1992 and 2000 in which the artist attempts to explore his own reality through an investigation of branding and identity, as well as through self-portraiture created since 2000. Two works examining these subjects were a part of a group show, My Reality: Contemporary Art and the Culture of Japanese Animation, presented at the Brooklyn Museum in 2001.

Among the works included in this large-scale survey tracing the trajectory of Murakami’s artistic development are many of his acclaimed sculpture figures including the 23-foot-high Tongari-kun (2003–4); Miss Ko2 (1997), a long-legged waitress who has become one of the artist’s signature characters; and Hiropon (1997), a Japanese girl jumping a rope created by milk spurting from her gargantuan breasts. Among the paintings on view will be Tan Tan Bo (2001), as well as Tan Tan Bo Puking—a.k.a. Gero Tan (2002).

Ticket information after the jump!

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