High Style at the Legion of Honor: What We Can Learn From Fashion History

As a native to San Francisco, a world class city home to a plethora of art and culture, in combination with my mother's love for Art History and sense of style, and my own love for all things Historical, I basically grew up in museums. Some of the highlights over the years include a Balenciaga exhibit, and a Smithsonian exhibit of First Lady's Inagural gowns in Washington DC. This past weekend, I've got a new exhibit to add to the list of faves!

The Legoin of Honor is easily one of my favorite. First of all the scenery does not get any better, surrounded by Lincoln Park and veiws of the famous Golden Gate. Their collection ranges from Baroque furniture, ancient artifacts, and of course some Impressionist art encompassing peices from Degas, Van Gogh and many more! But if you've been there as many times as I have, then it's the special exhibits that are truly worth going for. Sadly, the High Style exhibit leaves back to the Brooklyn Museum after next weekend, so I'm so glad I got the chance to go!

For me, it was absolute and total perfection. My photographs and writing simply do not do the featured peices justice. With the costume colection spanning from 1910 to the 80's, I had roughly 70 years of fashion history to marvel at, by iconic designers such as Dior, Givenchy, Chanel, Balenciaga, Lanvin, Schiaperelli, Charles James and many more! The garments beauty stood the test of time, and honestly, each and every one of them could be worn today and look just as chic. Featured below are a few of my highlights from the exhibit.

Looks from Dior and Balenciaga are featured here, right to left

And here we have the quintessential little black dress by Coco Chanel

And two great looks, which I would wear in a heartbeat from Elsca Schiaperelli.

And couldn't you just imagine two flapper babes partying at Great Gatsby-esqe bash? It really makes you wonder what women wore these, what they were like, and what fabulous things they were doing in such beautiful clothes.

The real showstopper; the belle of the ball was a gown by Charles James dubbed the "Tree" gown worn by the most promient women of high society. Yes, I took my own pictures for my own documentation, but for to show the true beauty of the dress, I've included a picture from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, so take it all in and marvel for a second, or a few minutes as I did in the actual exhibit.

Now if you don't want that dress, there's something wrong and you should probably stop reading my blog. As I was standing and admiring the grandeur of this gown, a little girl standing next to me proclaimed my to her mother: "That's gonna be my prom dress!" and I smiled and said, "Me too kid, me too." In a perfect world. What a beautiful sight to see a young girl enjoying fashion with her mother as I did.

Not all of us have the lives we dream of, being able to wear couture gowns and whatnot, but from them, we can learn to take risks, and wear garments with beautiful detailing and a fit that goes with the natural shape of your body. Check out my "Wardrobe" and shop styles similar to the exhibit from High Style to affordable.