Day 1 - American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery

Day 1, April 30. On the first day of our epic trip to Washington DC, my fiance and I headed to the American Art Museum and the adjoining National Portrait Gallery. Both museums were gorgeous and filled with beautiful art and fascinating information about historical figures. The American Art Gallery had a few Copley paintings and a great deal of American Indian portraits.

In the National Portrait Gallery, I saw various plaster face molds of Abraham Lincoln. If you compared the mold made before he became president and the one months before he died, you can tell the terribly toll the Civil War had taken on his health by the worry lines all over his face. When I was in fifth grade I was obsessed with Abraham Lincoln because I saw this great movie called Tad, told from the perspective of his little son.

Not my original image, but the Kogod Courtyard in the American Art Museum was impressive:


The marble lady looks like she's wearing draped fabric. Yes, she had a perfectly impossible tummy. -_-




Victorian ladies:




Breath-taking silver!


LaForge stained glass peonie and peacocks


Joan of Arc wood carving - reminds me of Musa.



American women during the federalist/regency period


I have a similar gown!


An award for those of you who read the entire blog entry:

Mr. Willoughby Gets His Comeuppance


from Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters Amazon Book Trailer

Early Regency Cross-Over Gown 1790s

This is an early regency style dress made by Jamiehistoriccostime. It has a high waist and cross-over style bodice.

Here's more information about cross over bodice dress by American Duchess.














I was at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, in the new Americas wing. It housed art from John Singleton Copley, John Sargent and much more. I'll have to go back to take photos. Anyway, one of my favorite pieces was a wedding gown circa 1799, in the Newport gallery. The plaque explained that diaphanous high-waisted, white flowing gowns where all the rage in Europe, reflecting a new interest in Greek and Roman styles. But in New England, the gowns were considered scandalous and too revealing. So this bride tried to be a bit more conservative, but still fashionable:

LACMA Fashion Exhibit 1700-1915

When we were in California we dropped by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) which had a fashion exhibit showcasing textiles and costumes from the 18th to 20th century. It was meant to educate visitors about fashion trends, so the exhibit was divided into sections about silhouettes, techniques, and textiles. You can see the museum catalog book at Amazon. It's called Fashioning Fashion: European Dress in Detail 1700-1915.
Here are some of my favorites:





Here's the full album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/zeemeems/FashionExamples


This other blogger though had a better camera than I, so therefore better and more detailed photos.
http://micheleroohani.com/blog/2010/12/01/giant-barbie-dolls-and-fetish-boots/