By Jennifer Glickel
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
EAST HARLEM — While fashion’s most cutting edge designs will grace the runway on the Upper West Side during Fall Fashion Week, a collection of designs worn by some of New York’s most prominent 20th century women will be shown in East Harlem.
"Notorious and Notable: 20th Century Women of Style," a new show opening next Tuesday at the Museum of the City of New York, will profile some of the city’s most stylish women of the last century through their iconic wardrobes, including garments and jewelry.
"These women for one reason or another captured the public’s imagination in New York throughout the 20th century," said Phyllis Magidson, the MCNY's curator of costume and textiles.
"They’re not consistent in personality or social stature, but they were all women who were very keenly aware of the fact that they were in the public eye and heads would turn wherever they went."
The featured women range from artists, writers, and journalists to socialites, philanthropists, and businesswomen, and each is represented by an item from her wardrobe. Some of the most recognizable names include Brooke Astor, Mrs. J.P. Morgan, Jr., Angela Lansbury, Lauren Bacall, Helena Rubinstein, and Louise Whitfield Carnegie.
"New Yorkers historically have always been preoccupied with fashion as a means of showing their wealth and their high taste level and clothing has always been a status symbol in New York City," said Magidson
Many of the dresses in the exhibit were designed by the legends of the haute couture and fashion field, Magidson added, including Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, Balenciaga, Paul Poiret, Yves Saint Laurent, and Christian Dior.
"I think that the show will be surprising to many people in that many of the designs, despite the fact that they were designed early on in the early 20th century, are very relevant today," Magidson told DNAinfo.
"Notorious and Notable: 20th Century Women of Style" opens at the Museum of the City of New York on Sept. 14. MCNY is located at 1220 Fifth Avenue between 103rd and 104th Streets.
