Fashion World

Speaking of staring at museum walls, we recently visited de Young to attend an exhibit, The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk.

While Jean Paul Gaultier sounded oddly familiar and definitely French, we had no clue about who he was or exactly what his contribution was to the fashion world.  So I did what any intellectually curious person would do in this modern age.  I googled him and read his page on Wikipedia.

I learned that Gaultier was the master mind behind Madonna's infamous "cone bra".  Something simple yet extremely provocative and sexually expressive.  Iconic.  Also, Gaultier was the creative director at Hermes for a number of years.  (Staff discount?)  During his free time, he designed costumes for numerous celebrities and movies, including a little movie called The Fifth Element.  Wikipedia also educated me that Gaultier was well known for his controversial gender-bending sense of fashion.  This brief research on Gaultier led us to the exhibit.

There was nothing normal about this museum experience.  The entire museum, which is often sparsely populated and quiet, was packed and pumping with loud and fast-beat music.  A big stage in the front with performers in funky outfits.  A runway with people practicing the model walk.  People getting dressed up and putting make up on at a nearby station.  Families, couples, girlfriends, gays and lesbians, old ladies, toddlers, and little pre-teen girls and boys were all over the place.  Apparently, we missed the memo about dressing up for the occasion.  People were dressed in the most random stuff - spatula, feathers, empty cans, etc.  One lady must have hated everything in her house because she showed up pretty much naked.  She was wearing a simple gold hat, a pair of gold panties, a pair of gold slippers, and a long purse that reached down to her knees that did not match the rest of her minimalist outfit.  Most importantly, her right hand held tightly to someone who must have been her pre-teen son.  He looked frightened.  By his mom or others around him, we could not be sure.

Inside the exhibit was fabulous and amazing.  Gender-bending outfits, cone-shaped bras, shocking photos, raw sketches, high tech displays of outfits on mannequins that looked so real.  We captured what we could on the camera given the madness and the crowd, and share them with you below.  Enjoy!

The original cone bra

Madonna's cone bra for the Blond Ambition World Tour (with Gaultier)

Staring at Museum Walls

Before I started dating B, I rarely visited museums.  Of course, if someone asked me if I enjoyed going to museums, I would put on the most sophisticated look I could muster, tilt my head slightly to the right, adjust my eyeglasses, and respond in a British accent: “Why yes!  Museums are fabulous!”

And that wasn’t a lie.  Well, accept for the British accent part.  I did enjoy going to the museums before.  But for how long?  That was another matter.

A typical visit to the museum would go like this.  On a Saturday, I would enter the museum with my friend, eagerly approach the reception area, pay for my ticket while silently grumbling about the ticket price, and follow the crowd.  Looking at everything and reading virtually nothing, I would fly through the museum and be done within an hour (give or take 30 minutes depending on the size of the museum and more importantly, the size of the museum gift store).  Often, I would find myself waiting for my friend while sipping on a fruity-sounding-but-not-fruity-tasting beverage purchased for a reasonable price of $7.

Whenever I saw someone, who had obviously come to the museum alone, standing in front of an art piece for a ridiculously long time, I was convinced that person was either (1) pretending to conduct an in-depth analysis of the art while paying a closer attention to who is watching him or her (i.e., trying too hard), or (2) wondering what to eat for dinner (i.e., daydreaming).  I simply could not fathom what would motivate someone to stand and stare at an art piece for longer than a few seconds.

Since we have been together, we have visited numerous museums worldwide.  At first, I flew through the museums and ended up waiting for him at the museum gift stores and cafes.  Slowly, I found my way back to wherever he was lingering and we started talking.  Without trying to be anything but ourselves, we would simply chat about the art and the emotions and thoughts that came to our minds.  Slowly but surely, my nearly false interest in museums blossomed into the kind of love that will last a lifetime.

Now, I am that weirdo standing in front of an art piece, lost in my little timeless world, observing every corner of the museum and appreciating all the emotions, thoughts, and questions triggered by its components.  Someone may look at me and silently accuse me of daydreaming or simply, of being strange.

But it’s okay.  I have another weirdo standing next to me staring at the same wall, holding my hand.