Conversations at The Lake Merritt

Art History Lecture Series: High Style - The Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection

A docent from the Legion of Honor in San Francisco will present a lecture on this new exhibit.  "Gowns, accessories, and other looks by the most influential designers of the last one hundred years—including Chanel, Givenchy, Dior, and Charles James—trace the evolution of fashion in the 20th century. See this exclusive West Coast presentation from the Brooklyn Museum’s distinguished costume collection.

 These fashions worn by American women reflect the nation’s tastes and transformations during the decades between 1910 and 1980. Significant looks from French couture houses include designs by Jeanne Lanvin, Madeleine Vionnet, and the iconoclastic surrealist designer Elsa Schiaparelli. Additional attention is given to the pioneering generation of American women designers working in the 1930s through the 1950s, such as Bonnie Cashin, Elizabeth Hawes, and Claire McCardell, and their male counterparts, including Norman Norell, Mainbocher, and Gilbert Adrian."