Music’s Never Out of Style
Millions will tune in Wednesday night to see how the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears and Madonna are dressed when they strut their stuff at the Grammy Awards. Why? Because what rock ‘n’ roll stars wear resonates not only on fashion runways, but also in street style.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute attempts to explain this influence in “Rock Style,” a joint exhibition with Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Although L.A. is the capital of the music industry, the exhibit will only be shown in New York and Cleveland. It’s just as well, because “Rock Style” is nice to look at, but short on context and interpretation.
But the show is a visual feast with dozens of fashionably loud looks. Psychedelic pink, blue and acid green tassel suits worn by the Beatles for “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” mingle with Elvis’ black wool emerald-encrusted jumpsuit designed in 1975 by Bill Belew of IC Costume Co. in Hollywood, and a rubber dominatrix outfit designed by Catherine Courtney for Marilyn Manson.
Courtney Love’s cargo pants from Hole’s recent album, “Celebrity Skin,” and Bruce Springsteen’s everyman Fiorucci jeans and plaid flannel shirt are quieter, more subtle examples of rock style.
Other ensembles represent collaborations between designers and musicians, such as Madonna’s Jean-Paul Gaultier cone bustier, a Versace slip gown worn by Tina Turner, and Bob Mackie’s “Statue of Liberty” get-up for Elton John.
The exhibit does a nice job of showing how artists influenced each others’ dress: The Who’s fascination with the Union Jack is noted in a coat worn by fellow British rocker David Bowie and designed by Alexander McQueen, according to the exhibit. A Margi Kent black chiffon and silk panne velvet ensemble worn by Stevie Nicks on the cover of the 1977 album “Rumours” is paired with a black velvet dress with flowered beading designed by Linda Gravenites for Janis Joplin. (Nicks has often cited Joplin as the source of her ethereal style.)
“Rock ‘n’ roll artists make timeless statements,” L.A. designer Kent said. “In 1999 or ‘98, Anna Sui and a lot of designers did Stevie Nicks looks, which they said were inspired by her.”
Where “Rock Style” falls short, however, is in providing examples of how rock has shaped popular fashion trends. The Beach Boys made California surfer style popular coast to coast; Marilyn Manson’s Gothic look had teens powdering their faces white and dying their hair black, and Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” phase sent women shopping for fingerless lace gloves and rubber bracelets.
Kira Franz-Knight, the collections administrator for the Costume and Textiles department at the L.A. County Museum of Art, described the exhibit she saw recently as glamorous but said, “It didn’t give any context or relevance. To just show pretty clothes and not explain why they are important is not useful.”
Franz-Knight cited “Velvet Goldmine,” the 1998 film by Todd Haynes that chronicles a teen’s fascination with glam rock in the 1970s, as a better example of how rock style was translated into the public arena.
For the Met to assemble such an impressive collection of rock ‘n’ roll frocks and not give them their due is a shame.
