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R egan explained the masterwork, as a whole, is more than just about fashion, but helping the audience truly understand where the pieces originate from and why. "For us, we felt it was an important opportunity to share with our audience how we collect, why we collect, and what we do, because such a core part of our mission is educating the public about fashion," Regan said. "We really wanted to illuminate what we consider to be a fashion masterwork. It's organized chronologically because it's based off of what we consider a master shift in the periods and why the objects were created as a reflection of the evolution of fashion. So we wanted to make clear what our focus is. The 18th century, for instance, which is so much about textiles and weaving and embroidery compared to the 20th century, is focused more on individual designers and iconic pieces that best represent those designers contributions to fashion." Starting with the 18th century, The Costume Institute features fashion from France and Great Britain, both style leaders throughout America and Europe that had helped grow the industrial revolution as well as global trade. Revealing the era's tailors and weavers, textiles and embellishments were used heavily throughout these pieces, for both men and women, though women's clothing typically wasn't made with complicated cutting or sewing. Because the materials were so valued, they were often reworked into new pieces when fashion changed, therefore dresses from that time period are a rare find and a true testament to fashion history. The 19th century was a much more accelerated time for fashion, by way of technological developments that shaped garment production and changed the way communication and transportation of styles were done. The era is known for changing the silhouette of fashion by way of underwear such as corsets, which dramatically changed natural figures. Because of this, a new and refined cut and construction was created, and as technology such as the sewing machine was able to make more ready-made garments, fashion lost its hand-made design. Luckily, Charles Frederick Worth, of the House of Worth, established the model for haute couture, moving away from ready-to-wear by elevating the creative and technical work with intricate details done by hand. "I think fashion is such a vivid expression of a particular art and I think because we all have an intimate relationship with dress, it's in some ways more accessible to people," explained Regan. "Fashion tends to reflect an aesthetic that concerns a particular era and so it's a way of getting to better understand the political and social conditions of the time, as well as the artistic materials." V U E N J . C O M 58 VUE ON THE ARTS

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