Every year in May, the Costume Institute exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum begins. This year's theme is Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, a multi-sensory experience involving sight, hearing, touch, and smell.

The exhibition is a tribute to Nature and showcases 250 outfits inspired by flora and fauna. The idea is to use Nature as a metaphor for fashion, highlighting its fragility and ephemerality and emphasizing the importance of thinking about sustainability and regeneration in fashion.

Some outfits are so old and delicate that they can no longer be displayed on mannequins and must instead be shown horizontally - the “sleeping beauties.” However, the sponsor TikTok used AI to help demonstrate how these garments were worn; you can see this in my Instagram post.

My tip is: if you are visiting New York City, go to the museum on a beautiful day and take the opportunity to go up to the rooftop to see the work of artist Petrit Halilaj from Kosovo. He created sculptures based on children's drawings in various countries' conflict areas. It is one of my favorite places in NY, especially in the Summer and when the Autumn colors invade Central Park in October.

Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion

Now on view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 899 through September 2, 2024

Free with Museum admission

Hi, I’m Marcia Crivorot, a Personal Stylist based in NY. I send newsletters with style tips, brands to know, and products twice a month. Unlock previous editions of my newsletters and receive my emails firsthand by subscribing.

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