Just a stone’s throw away from the hustle and bustle of Canal Street in Chinatown you’ll find a quieter street with a hidden gem: MOCA NYC.
Back in January, I visited MOCA for the first time to attend a panel, “Female, Fashionable, New York“, to hear perspectives of three Asian American women in the Fashion industry. This is when I found out that MOCA would have two upcoming fashion exhibitions:
Front Row: Chinese American Designers
and Shanghai Glamour: New Women 1910s-40s
Ever since January, I’ve had April 26 marked on my calendar because these exhibitions combined my interests in learning about the Chinese culture with my background in fashion. Also, if there’s one era I could time travel back to, it would be Shanghai in the 1920’s. That being said, I recently went to the public opening of the two exhibits and was not disappointed. MOCA had a nice selection of Chinese American designers ranging from Anna Sui and Vivienne Tam to the more contemporary designers of Jason Wu and Derek Lam. As for the Shanghai Glamour exhibit, it was as good as being trip in a time machine.
And for a bonus, I got to see the other exhibition on display: With a Single Step: Stories in the Making of America
Here my friend and I are in front of a dress by Vera Wang.
Besides the fact that it is incredibly beautiful in its own right, it happens to be a part of the Spring 2013 collection titled, “Mei Meng”- Chinese for beautiful dreams. Perhaps you’ve noticed that I sign my posts as AndreaM. Meng also happens to be what my last name would be in Chinese so I thought it was an interesting coincidence. “Dream” is just part of my name! Now that I think about it… this explains a lot of who I am as a person…
Not to mention, red symbolizes prosperity, love and joy- who wouldn’t be drawn to that?
Definitely my favorite dress of the whole night.
If there’s one color I wish I could pull off confidently, it’s red.
If you haven’t been to MOCA NYC before, right now is a great time to go. You have to go see these garments up close.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
-AndreaM
Museum of Chinese in America, 215 Centre Street, New York, NY 10013 http://www.mocanyc.org/visit/
“The key is falling in love with something, anything. If your heart’s attached to it, then your mind will be attached to it.”- Vera Wang
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