FASHION GENIUS
Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty
The late Karl Lagerfeld was a giant in the world of fashion. He designed for Chanel, Fendi, and his own studio. The Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute exhibit, Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty, showcases his talent and his creativity in an almost endless series of beautiful ball gowns, funky and militaristic dresses and suits, and elaborately detailed wedding gowns.
He was a consummate sketcher, and it’s intriguing to see his freehand sketch of a design next to the finished product.
In the early galleries, there are also video interviews with several of his skilled seamstresses talking about what it was like to work from a sketch and how precise he was in what he wanted. I would have liked to spend more time watching these videos, but I kept moving along.
As one would expect, most of the clothes are black with white being the next dominant color; here and there are shades of pink or rose and only occasionally a blast of bold color. One also sees gold fabric as well as gold accents or items depicted on a gown.
The Chief Penguin was somewhat reluctant to see this exhibit and indicated he would do part of it with me and then split off. Instead, he too went through the many galleries, one of the sprinkling of males midst women of all ages.
We didn’t use our preview day tickets so we ended up going another day and joining the virtual queue once inside the building. I give the museum credit for managing interest this way. We got text message confirmation of being in line and a notice of when it was our turn to enter the exhibit (essentially no wait then.) If you are at all interested in high fashion, I recommend this exhibit. I think it’s one of the best fashion ones I’ve seen here!
HIGH DRAMA—ROYAL STYLE
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (Netflix)
Although not explicitly about fashion, it’s hard to ignore the elaborate and beautiful gowns worn by the women in the Regency era. And, if you watched any of the previous seasons of Bridgerton, you’d be familiar with the mature Queen Charlotte. She was imperious, dictatorial, and not particularly likable. She was also married to George III, known as “mad King George.”
This new series gives us Charlotte’s backstory, how she was brought from Germany to marry George and to provide an heir.
Their beginnings are not auspicious, and deviating from history, George is already suffering from mental illness, and his mother the dowager queen tries to control all. The series is darker than the earlier Bridgertons with more depth as well as poignancy and pain.
In addition to Charlotte & George’s love story, there is romance between two male courtiers, and an exploration of both forced marriage and the loneliness of widowhood. Lady Violet Bridgerton, mother of the young marrying Bridgertons, and Lady Agatha Danbury, a wise and elegant widow, reappear and one gets to know more about their earlier years and to participate in their growing friendship.
It’s also a lusty series (I thought about the “for mature audiences” warning from Call the Midwife) with plenty of bedroom scenes and lots of skin. The Chief Penguin and I watched the entire six episodes over six nights and enjoyed it immensely. It’s heartrending, touching, and complex. Kudos to Shonda Rhimes, a very creative writer and producer. Highly recommended!
Note: Lagerfeld photos by JWFarrington. Header photo was taken in the exhibit.
