Visiting Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion?

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Projects and Research

A Royal Undertaking: Preparing the Costumes for Visitors to Versailles
Composite image: one the right, a pair of hands performs detailed work on a gown dressed on a standing mannequin; at right, a piece of textile patterned with stripes and delicate florals rests across a flat surface

Behind-the-scenes efforts of the Costume Institute installation and conservation teams to prepare garments for display.

Iris Van Herpen: Behind the Scenes at The Costume Institute Conservation Laboratory
The conservator Sarah Scaturro stands to the right of two dresses by Iris Van Herpen mounted on dress forms; there is a small play button icon in the bottom left-hand corner

Watch a video in which Sarah Scaturro, conservator in The Met's Costume Institute, discusses two innovative dresses by the designer Iris Van Herpen, whose use of unorthodox materials and construction techniques presents challenges for long-term preservation.

House of Worth Ball Gown: Behind the Scenes at The Costume Institute Conservation Laboratory
A conservator points to an area of an embroidered gown resting across a large white table; there is a small play button icon in the bottom left-hand corner

See how Glenn Petersen, conservator in The Met's Costume Institute, treated this House of Worth ball gown from 1898 to reverse losses to its visual cohesion caused by time and previous restoration.

18th-Century Court Suit: Behind the Scenes at The Costume Institute Conservation Laboratory
A conservator sits at a table where elements of an dark brown 18th century suit have been spread out across the table surface; there is a small play button icon in the bottom left-hand corner

Learn more about the materials and methods used by Laura Mina, associate conservator in The Met's Costume Institute, to prepare an 18th-century French court suit for exhibition.

Conserving Degas
A conservator wraps a skirt around a sculpture of a ballerina dancer by Degas in the Impressionist painting galleries; there is a small play button icon in the bottom left-hand corner

Watch a video about the construction of a new tutu for The Met's cast of Degas's famous sculpture, The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer. The Met's costume conservator Glenn Peterson discusses the history of the sculpture and the decisions made in the conservation of its tutu.

Are Yantorny's Virtuoso Shoe Trees Really Old Violins?
Composite image: in the foreground, a low-heeled, pointed shoe with a wooden insert appears in profile against a seamless off-white background; in the background, an open suitcase containing pairs of shoes that are also filled with wooden inserts rests agains a greyish seamless background

Read about how conservators Glenn Petersen and Mecka Baumeister and Jan G. Reeder, former consulting curator for the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Costume Institute, examine the mystery behind and debunk the myths around Pierre Yantorny and his work.