"Elegance is never out of style" Metropolitan museum of art "jaqueline de ribes - The Art of style"

​Fairfield County "It!"

​went to the

Metropolitan Museum of Art

​to view

"Jacqueline de Ribes 
​
The Art of Style" 

                             

"Style is what makes you different; it’s your own stamp,
​a message about yourself.”  Jacqueline de Ribes

      

         

It took Jacqueline de Ribes, 87, eight years to agree to this exhibit.

The Met curator, Harold Koda, eventually convinced her the show would not be about ego, but of childhood passion blossoming into reality.

Upon entering the Costume Institute at the Met, there is a large screen with several scenes from different periods of her life.  One of them is an adorable picture of young Jacqueline with her sister dressed in burlap sacks.  Youthful couture.

​Jacqueline was born to an aristocratic French family and later married a Count.  That sounds very enviable, but her childhood was challenged by the early loss of her beloved grandfather, and World War II, where she personally witnessed numerous atrocities at the hands of the Nazi's.

She finished her education at a convent, where she was put in charge of the school plays, which included designing wardrobe for the shows.   

​

​Jacqueline bought many of her clothes from the top designers, such as Jean Paul Gaultier, Yves Saint Laurent, Balmain, Emanuel Ungaro, Guy Laroche, House of Dior, Bill Blass, Valentino, and Armani.  She also frequently asked them to alter their vision to include her ideas. 

She was listed on the International Best-Dressed List, at twenty-eight and inducted into its Hall of Fame in 1962. 

       

“I was always timid about going to Chanel, though, I was afraid she wouldn’t agree to my meddling.”  Jacqueline de Ribes

     

​​She wore this see-through dress to the ballet, at 73, designed by Yves Saint Laurent in 2002.  Sequined over certain body parts, she paired it with a chinchilla wrap.

​This gown is one of my favorites, found in the black and white evening wear section of the exhibit.  I love the drape and flow.

      

“Elegance is the art of being astonishing without creating astonishment.”  Jacqueline de Ribes

    

One of the early masquerade balls she attended was in Venice, the Beistegui Ball, after she married the Count when she was nineteen.   Before marriage, women were not allowed to go to balls only debutante parties.  

In order to make a statement, she designed the dress(es) and brought  two identically clothed and masked Italian princesses as her escorts.   Her gifts of creativity, elegance and intrigue fully in motion. 

​ Jacqueline says of this ball,
“and now I am told I’m its
​ ‘last survivor’!”

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Later,  in the 1980's and 1990's Jacqueline created her own couture collection.

               

​A fabulous exhibit!

Open until Sunday, February 21, 2016.


"It!"      Woman       Kyle

       



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