Papiers a la Mode Exhibit

Last week for the New Years holidays we had a girl’s day out visit to The Baker Museum at Artis-Naples in Naples, FL.   My mother Diane, my niece Paige and my daughter Amelie & I went to see the exhibit Papiers a la Mode: The Exquisite Art of Isabelle de Borchgrave.  I have been waiting to see this since it opened in late September, if you’re local this exhibit is a must see!  Go see it now since this is the last week (it closes on the 12th of January).  Sadly the museum doesn’t allow photography and the gift shop isn’t open yet which was a disappointment, but still worth the visit.

The exhibit was so awe-inspiring!  The show consists  of over fifty period costumes, inspired recreations of the last 300 years of fashion all meticulously crafted out of paper.   The accompanying video shows Isabelle and her team of artists as they paint, cut, crumble and pleat paper to transform it into clothing.  The process of creating is just as interesting as the final pieces.  The creations are simply amazing, the transparent lace and fine detail of the embellishments was breathtaking.  My favorites were a piece inspired by Paul Poiret, the 19th century walking dresses and the extravagant gowns from the  Elizabethan and Georgian periods.  My own style tends to be a little more modern/minimal but this exhibit made me long to embroider and embellish.  My daughter loved the sculpted paper flowers and shoes.

photography credits: © Alain Speltdoorn and ©Andreas von Einsiedel

Since I couldn’t take any photos I added a board on my pinterest profile to show off more of the pieces I loved.  You can view it here!

One of the really lovely parts of this museum is the Children’s room.  This dedicated children’s art space offers weekend classes and programs and has tables set up for the kids to make art based on the current exhibit.  Ami had a blast picking out buttons, cutting paper and glueing together her collage!  They also had a pop-up costume book, Fashion a la Mode, by Isabelle de Borchgrave that I need to get!  Here’s Ami’s inspired art!