happy things of the day

1. Zettai unmei naptime.

2. Listening to people listening to Night Vale is even more fun than listening to Night Vale oneself.

3. Walked around all free-like after dark, in a big weird polygon, and found my way home again.

4. Lemon bars!

5. Relaxing and reading. (Heiresses of Russ 2013, Hersh's Rat Girl)

most correct sticker

Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion

Seattle Art Museum, June 27–September 8, 2013 and moving to a few other places in future

Overall, this was a very interesting collection with beautiful and interesting garments, most of which were displayed very well. The exhibit started us out easy with evening gowns in dark colors -- the "In Praise of Shadows" room -- but I can't speak to the rest of the intended presentation because we pretty clearly went through it backwards. They definitely made an excellent move by having a small area showing videos of European and American designers' work around the same time to let viewers understand the historical context of the Japanese folks' groundbreaking work. There was a good, broad selection of materials and shapes, and an appropriate focus on earlier works by the major designers in the 1980s, since that's when Japanese fashion seems to have had a big pushback against and influence on haute couture.

One major disappointment was the exhibit's booklet, which has exactly ONE page about anything in the show. I also think it was a big mistake to project videos of fashion shows in the same room with the displayed garments: I understand space limitations and the logical impulse, but what it led to was people standing immobile in rooms, not in the middle because they would block the projection, therefore directly in front of where you'd need to stand to see the clothes. They needed to at least alter the display method.

Lots of commentary on designers and pieces below, not nearly exhaustive but not at all short, so ( cut for your convenience. )