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subscribe to style file blog via RSSone wedding dress that’s not going in a box under the bed
May 12, 2008 9:47 am
If the wedding dress on display at Olivier Theyskens’ intimate talk at the Met last week looked familiar, chances are it’s because you’ve already seen it in the pages of Vogue. The Costume Institute’s newest donation, a strapless one-of-a-kind Theyskens for Nina Ricci number with embroidered cape and veil, was the same one that Lauren Santo Domingo (née Davis) wore down the aisle for her Colombian nuptials in January. Since Santo Domingo has been a co-chair of the Costume Institute’s Junior Friends Committee for several years, it seems an obvious second home for the couture garment. Says Costume Institute head Harold Koda of the acquisition, “Collecting haute couture has certain issues unrelated to the collecting of other art forms. For example, size matters! A donor ideally conforms in body type and proportion to the aesthetic of the originating couturier—Lauren is perfect in this regard.” While it’s uncommon for the museum to accept wedding dresses, Koda felt that the garment was an unparalleled example of Theyskens’ work, bridal or otherwise. “[The dress] is overlaid not only with the designer’s thoughtful history narrative, but also his signature poetic and romantic sensibility. Olivier is true to himself, yet also mindful of the refined femininity characteristic of the Nina Ricci house.” Was it hard for Santo Domingo to hand over what Koda called “the show-stopper gown” to the museum? “Only the Costume Institute could appreciate that dress as much as me,” she sighed. “And I know it’ll be in good hands there.”
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