Visual Arts | February 9, 2017

Peabody Essex Museum's wearable-art exhibit

Fashion collides with high art at the Peabody Essex Museum.

by Nell Porter-Brown

From The March-April 2017 Issue

*American Dream,* by Sarah Thomas
Courtesy of World of WearableArt Limited

*Lady of the Wood,* by David Walker
Courtesy of World of WearableArt Limited

Lady of the Wood, by Alaskan carpenter David Walker, is just that: a mannequin sporting an eighteenth-century ball gown crafted entirely of mahogany, maple, cedar, and lacewood. Walker steamed, bent, and polished timber to form a hooped skirt and “puffy” sleeves cuffed by fine-grained lacewood that matches a dainty bodice. Some 32 such ingenious ensembles—selected from winning entries in New Zealand’s annual design competition WOW® World of WearableArt^TM—appear at the Peabody Essex Museum through June 11. For 25 years, the popular competition has drawn a diverse set of artists who vie to merge fashion and high art. New Zealand jeweler Sarah Thomas, inspired by the shiny, sleek lines of vintage cars, created her own spunky, don-able version, American Dream, from papier-mâché, builder’s foam, and vinyl. It lacks an engine, but who wouldn’t want to cruise through a party dressed in the ’57 Chevy Bel Air classic?

Published in the March-April 2017 print issue under the headline “Dress for Excess,” in the Harvard Squared section.

You might also like

A vase of yellow flowers on a table next to an orange and a glass.

Harvard Art Museums restores a rare glimpse of an American master.

A photograph of the inside of the From Iran exhibit at the Harvard Peabody Museum

Tk tk Iran

Artist Azadeh Akhlaghi reconstructs moments of Iranian political upheaval in a series of meticulously staged images.

Five individuals are posed in a monochrome outdoor setting near a cinderblock building, some standing, some seated.

Photographer and writer Morgan Smith chronicles life beyond the violence in Ciudad Juárez and other Mexican towns.

Most popular

A former Harvard College writing tutor changes her mind on LLMs.

Two laboratory researchers, one seated and one standing, in a scientific lab with equipment.

The stakes are high for this husband and wife: one of them will die if they don’t find a cure.

A woman with long, wavy hair wearing a white suit, seated in a bright, modern room.

The Harvard graduate’s roundtable talk show touches on hot button issues from religion to sex.

Explore More From Current Issue

Colorful cartoon animals, including dogs, cows, rabbits, and a fence, on a pink background.

Letters to the Editor

Inseparable cows, big dogs fostering a tiny kitten, and a show beagle’s second act

Three hands hold smartphones displaying social media profiles with likes and hearts.

Tell us about how social media impacts your daily life.

A woman with curly blonde hair sits casually against a stone wall, wearing a black top and jeans.

Chloe Chapin trains her Broadway costume designer’s eye on the history of men’s fashion.