The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute has long been the arbiter of how fashion meets fine art, but its latest exhibition, "Costume Art," does something unprecedented: it places the dressed - and undressed - human form at the center, not as an afterthought but as the main event. For a lingerie historian, this is a revelation. The show's 200 pairings of garments and artworks trace a lineage that includes the bustier, the body stocking, and the corset, each a sculptural testament to how we shape - and are shaped by - what we wear. The corset, for instance, has evolved from a tool of rigid silhouette to a symbol of empowerment, a journey echoed in the exhibition's celebration of body plurality.
Andrew Bolton, the chief curator, has orchestrated a space where every body matters: the pregnant, the corpulent, the disabled, the aging. Mannequins are no longer the impossibly thin ideals of yesteryear; they are scans of real individuals, including designer Michaela Stark, whose subversive designs celebrate exposed bulges and creases. This shift mirrors lingerie's own history - from the restrictive whalebone corsets of the 19th century to the inclusive sizing and adaptive designs of modern brands like ThirdLove and Savage X Fenty. The exhibition even nods to the "Naked and Nude Body" with a portal featuring Vivienne Westwood's fall 1989 nude leggings, a nod to the designer's punk-inflected rebellion against conventional beauty.
The show's setting in the Condé M. Nast Galleries, just steps from the Great Hall, signals fashion's permanent place in the museum's hierarchy. But it's the content that resonates: a Dior ensemble by Maria Grazia Chiuri is displayed so visitors look up its skirt, revealing intricate construction - a gesture that demystifies the hidden architecture of garments, much like lingerie's own secret engineering. In an age of Ozempic and looksmaxxing, "Costume Art" offers a corrective: a celebration of the body in all its forms, from the mortal to the divine. As Bolton noted, "The body is under attack from AI and politics. Celebrating its differences is a way to start a conversation." For anyone who has ever worn a garter belt or a bralette, this exhibition is a mirror held up to history - and to ourselves.
Originally reported by WWD