Erato and I had a great day on Wednesday! Here is the round up of our adventure...
Muse on the loose! 10am - American High Style: Fashioning a National Collection
If you love beautiful clothing or want some vintage inspiration for your own sewing endeavors, this exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum is excellent. Here are a few highlights:
Do you ever get the impression that your body was designed for the silhouette of another era? This gorgeous dress, with its exaggerated hips, called to me. 
Apparently, Paris Hilton was not the first affluent woman to spoil her pooch. 
Erato loved the back of this Charles James number. 
Given my recent interest in lingerie, I was immensely drawn to the lace treatment on Charles James iconic clover dress. Stunning.
Erato is the original Carrie Bradshaw when it comes to shoes. She just confessed to me that she has run out of places to store her ever-growing collection. She loved the heel of these.The most stunning works in the exhibit, IMHO, were the architectural masterpieces by Charles James. One thing I noticed, however, is that there is very little new in fashion - or maybe it is more like "everything old is new again". Particularly, I was struck by the exposed zippers on some of the circa 1935 Elsa Schiaparelli dresses (popular in the last 12-18 months), animal prints from the 1950's, and overall, how sexually provocative some of the dresses were (here and here) during eras that I think of as more staid and buttoned-up (1930's and 1950's). I know that every generation thinks that they are the first to discover sex, but I am still having a hard time picturing my grandma wearing something like these.
1pm - Lunch at Perry Street
After our museum trip, we headed to Manhattan for lunch at Perry Street. If you love to eat great food, but hate the prices at NY's top restaurants, I cannot recommend Jean Georges' empire highly enough. JG is a premiere NYC chef, with some of the best restaurants in the city. So what does he do? He offers a $26 pre-fixe lunch menu at most of his places (Perry Street, Spice Market, Nougatine at Jean George,...). Is that a lot for lunch? Yes. Is it a lot for one of NY's best? Not by a long shot. We were served a strawberry gazpacho as an amuse bouche. I followed it with sweet chili crab dumplings (delicate and divine) and then the best fried chicken (with spicy pea puree and pickled onion) that I have ever eaten, finishing with a molten chocolate cake. Erato had crispy poached eggs with vodka creme and caviar, followed by a tuna burger and ending with strawberry rhubarb cheese cake. Not bad for $26 each, ehh?
3pm - A stroll along The High Line
We left the restaurant feeling fat and happy, and so decided to walk uptown to the Garment District. If you have not yet gone for a stroll on the High Line Park, I also highly recommend it.
And, here is a fashion-y fact for you: Diane von Furstenberg was one of the driving forces and funders of the project. The park passes right by her office, which you can see with it's "DVF" printed on the side of the building.
End of the High Line. It sure was hot yesterday!
4pm - Fabric shopping
We spent so much time doing other things, and so only left ourselves 2 hours for fabric! But we hit paydirt at Mood and Elliott Berman. I will post about our haul on Monday.
6-9pm - Winding Down and Wrapping Up
We were feeling pretty wiped out by our day at this point, so we ducked into Stitch bar for a pick-me-up. After that we walked downtown to Schaffer City Oyster Bar, a NY institution, for some oysters (Erato) , clam chower (me), a bit of wine and to chat about our day. The one thing we absolutely agreed on was that we will definitely be doing this again in the fall!
11pm - Coma Sets In
After trekking home and showing Phineas my fabulous purchases, I collapsed into bed a very very happy and exhausted sewist. What a great day!
Have a great weekend, everyone!
1pm - Lunch at Perry Street
After our museum trip, we headed to Manhattan for lunch at Perry Street. If you love to eat great food, but hate the prices at NY's top restaurants, I cannot recommend Jean Georges' empire highly enough. JG is a premiere NYC chef, with some of the best restaurants in the city. So what does he do? He offers a $26 pre-fixe lunch menu at most of his places (Perry Street, Spice Market, Nougatine at Jean George,...). Is that a lot for lunch? Yes. Is it a lot for one of NY's best? Not by a long shot. We were served a strawberry gazpacho as an amuse bouche. I followed it with sweet chili crab dumplings (delicate and divine) and then the best fried chicken (with spicy pea puree and pickled onion) that I have ever eaten, finishing with a molten chocolate cake. Erato had crispy poached eggs with vodka creme and caviar, followed by a tuna burger and ending with strawberry rhubarb cheese cake. Not bad for $26 each, ehh?
3pm - A stroll along The High Line
We left the restaurant feeling fat and happy, and so decided to walk uptown to the Garment District. If you have not yet gone for a stroll on the High Line Park, I also highly recommend it.
And, here is a fashion-y fact for you: Diane von Furstenberg was one of the driving forces and funders of the project. The park passes right by her office, which you can see with it's "DVF" printed on the side of the building.
End of the High Line. It sure was hot yesterday! 4pm - Fabric shopping
We spent so much time doing other things, and so only left ourselves 2 hours for fabric! But we hit paydirt at Mood and Elliott Berman. I will post about our haul on Monday.
6-9pm - Winding Down and Wrapping Up
We were feeling pretty wiped out by our day at this point, so we ducked into Stitch bar for a pick-me-up. After that we walked downtown to Schaffer City Oyster Bar, a NY institution, for some oysters (Erato) , clam chower (me), a bit of wine and to chat about our day. The one thing we absolutely agreed on was that we will definitely be doing this again in the fall!
11pm - Coma Sets In
After trekking home and showing Phineas my fabulous purchases, I collapsed into bed a very very happy and exhausted sewist. What a great day!
Have a great weekend, everyone!
4 comments:
What a wonderful day!
ok - I need a day in nyc with you. That sounded absolutely fabulous! Start planning... (Is that too bossy?)
Not at all, Magenta. Let's do it!
Wow! Sounds like you ladies had a great time!
Post a Comment