”The Costume Institute’s fall 2019 exhibition featured promised gifts from Sandy Schreier, a pioneering collector, who over the course of more than half a century assembled one of the finest private fashion collections in the United States. The show explored how Schreier amassed a trove of twentieth-century French and American couture and ready-to-wear, not as a wardrobe, but in appreciation of this form of creative expression.” [source]
Sandy Schreier, a fashion historian and private collector from Detroit owns more than 15.000 couture items and accessories from France, American ready-to-wear, and early twentieth-century Italian designs. She also owns Hollywood costumes such as Rita Hayworth’s dress from ‘Gilda’, Zsa Zsa Gabor’s dress from ‘Moulin Rouge’, or the metal-mesh mini dress by Roberto Rojas that Twiggy wore in Richard Avedon’s photograph (second image, below). The Met exhibition featured just 80 of these collection items, and they took up the entire Costume Institute’s show space… makes you think of the size of storage room needed to house the entire collection, doesn’t it!
Roberto Rojas, dress, 1967 – Gold and silver metal mesh 
Jessie Franklin Turner, tea gown, 1939 – Gown of peach and apricot silk chiffon 
Zandra Rhodes, dress, A/W 1972-73 – Polychrome-printed silk chiffon embroidered with pink floral sequins
Ensemble, S/S 1976 – Polychrome-printed blue silk chiffon embroidered with blue floral sequins
Philip Treacy, hat, Spring 2003 haute couture – Black braided straw with polychrome butterflies of painted turkey feathers 
Bes-Ben, hat ca. 1946 – Red leather, red cotton thread, plastic-coated wire, and white beads 
Alexander McQueen, dress S/S 2008 – Black silk twill embroidered with portrait of Isabella Blow in black and gold sequins and bugle beads 
Probably French, evening dress, ca. 1925-28 
Probably American or French, evening dress, ca. 1925-28 – Yellow cotton plain weave embroidered with gold metal paillettes, gold glass bugle beads, clear glass beads, and seed beads; clear glass crystals 
Paul Poiret, ”Bataille” evening dress, 1925 – Gold pleated lamé and gold and black lace embroidered with black and silver sequins 
Probably French, evening coat, ca. 1923-28 – Silver lamé embroidered with polychrome seed beads and silver metal cord 
Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo, ”Delphos” dress, 1920s-30s – Pleated black silk charmeuse, black silk cord, and brown-and-white glass beads 
Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo, Coat 1920s-30s – Brown and green silk velvet on silk-cotton ground printed with metallic pigment 
Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo, Coat 1920s-30s – Burgundy silk plain weave printed with metallic pigment, cord of burgundy silk and gold metal threads, cream-and-red and brown glass beads 
Lucien Lelong, evening dress, S/S 1938 – Ivory silk organza with floral appliqué of ivory and green silk mousseline embroidered with white and green bugle beads 
House of Dior, by Yves Saint Laurent – ”Aubade” evening ensemble, S/S 1958 – Dress and hat of blue-and-white warp-printed silk taffeta 
Delicata Shoes, 1958 – Blue-and-white warp-printed silk taffeta, white and tan leather 
House of Dior, ”Du Barry” evening dress, A/W 1957-58 – Pale blue silk satin
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
January 2nd, 2020
