FIDM Museum Costume Exhibit 2017

What does February mean to you? Contrary to some thinking, I see late winter and spring as a time for the annual motion picture costume exhibit at FIDM.  I find this fascination rather ironic because I don’t sew and I certainly don’t buy many fancy clothes.  My favorite garments are jeans and hiking boots.  So what is the attraction?  How about Art, Creativity and Beauty?

It’s the 25th year for the costume exhibit and this year’s show is amazing.  Do I say that every year?  Of course I do!  There is always such an array of color and style packed into a small exhibit area.  One could rush through it in an hour, but it took me three.  There’s just so much to see, ponder and appreciate.

I admit I haven’t seen all the movies represented, and I may not know the names of the actors who wore the costumes.  But I have heard of the designers.  Colleen Atwood‘s name kept appearing this year.  She won the 2017 Academy Award for Costume Design for the movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.  Her work for Alice Through the Looking Glass is stunning.

One reason for the annual pilgrimage to FIDM is to check out the costumes for the recent Star Wars movie.  As a fan, this sort of thing is almost mandatory.  On display this year were costumes from Rogue One.    My daughter and I studied every detail, including weapons.  Will we make our own cosplay versions?  Not too likely as we haven’t the skill.  Nonetheless we keep trying.

It’s the details that really impress me.  Can one see this while watching the movie?  I doubt it.  We have a sense of it in the romantic and lush costumes that Florence Foster Jenkins wore in the movie of the same name.  Like the titular character, her wardrobe was over the top. The designer was Consolata Boyle.

Everything is there: the layers of fabric, the jewels, the headdresses.  It all contributes to Florence’s sense of the theatrical and the playful.  Florence’s innocent and childlike quality comes out in these costumes.  Yes, this was one movie I did happen to see.

I love the hats from Love and Friendship.  The costumes were designed by Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh, a name with which I’m not familiar.  I subsequently discovered she is an Irish designer and I think she did  a sensational job.

If you have any interest in movies or costumes, I urge you to visit.  The Motion Picture Costume Exhibit will be on display at the FIDM Museum in downtown Los Angeles through April 22nd.  Admission is free.  I went on a Saturday and parked in the lot below FIDM; the entrance is on 9th Street.

Needless to say, I took many photos a few of which are available on my gallery.