Today was a rare & exceptional day--I had free time. An entire day to myself to do whatever I wanted to do with it. While the thunderstorms brewed overhead threatened to keep me holed up in my room for the day (the metro is a good half hour walk from campus & I forgot to bring an umbrella to Russia with me), I'd heard so much praise for the Dior Exhibition at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Art that I braved the less than stellar weather and made my way downtown.
Notice the no photography sign, which I very clearly ignored. Whoops.
I guess I should admit that in my previous life (pre-grad school aka when I had disposable income), I was a bit obsessed with fashion. One of my friends once commented opening my closet was like having one's own private Saks 5th Avenue. Burberry, Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton--they all chill in my closet in the forms of handbags, shoes and accessories. One day, when I have disposable income again, one of my dream items to own is a dress by Dior*. While I don't have the funds to fund my love of designer duds anymore, I still wanted to make my way to the exhibition to see one of my favorite design houses.
I have to say, honestly, that I wasn't expecting much. The price for the ticket was 200 rubles (roughly $7.14), so in my mind I was prepared to see a dress or two worn by the latest Russian socialite and maybe some sketches. What I actually saw blew me away.
It was one of the most elegant and well designed exhibitions I've seen. Everything from the sheer number of dresses they had on display, the fantastic movies about the production of many of the signature items (it takes 4 months to make one of the rings!), to the layout of the exhibition itself was just incredibly well done. Even the little audio tour guides were imprinted with the Lady Dior pattern. Too amazing.
I guess I should confess here and now that I was naughty. The exhibition was supposed to be "no photos allowed" but several people were strolling around with their digital cameras and phones, and taking pictures so I did too (you know the saying "When in...Moscow). None of the guards seemed particularly concerned about enforcing the rule so I snapped away (quickly because I am a chicken hence the blurriness).
I walked around the exhibit several times and watched most of the videos about the design house & the process of creating the dresses, bags & jewelry twice each. It ended up being the perfect way to spend a rainy Moscow day.
One of my all time favorite dresses.
*Before he revealed himself to be such a not-nice person, I really wanted a dress by John Galliano because it's just fun to say John Galliano for Christian Dior.
No comments:
Post a Comment