Before the holidays, I had the pleasure of attending the exhibition “Yves Saint Laurent: The Perfection of Style” at the Seattle Art Museum.  I regret that I have not shared my experience sooner as this is the FINAL weekend that the exhibit will be in Seattle. There was so much to take in and I enjoyed the exhibit so much that I am returning Friday to take one final tour of the more than 100 outfits, 1,o00’s of sketches (including early paper dolls), and walls of fabric swatches that comprise the exhibition.

Sketches and fabric swatches; many with corresponding outfits.  It was so fun to see these sketches come to life.  Also, they are organized in chronological order – interesting to see how the designs and actual sketches evolved throughout the designer’s career.

I was impressed with the detail in which the exhibit portrays the designer himself; in doing so it demonstrates how history, pop-culture, and art influenced the design house’s styles (and vice versa).  In particular, I enjoyed how Yves Saint Laurent influenced women’s style, even the way that they bought read-to-wear and individual pieces (rather than an entire couture outfit), and how this impacted the entire fashion industry. I’ve included a small sampling of my favorite pieces.  You can find tickets to the exhibit at Seattle Art Museum.  Because this is the final weekend (closing January 8th), the museum recommends buying tickets in advance to ensure entry into this popular exhibit.

There are a number of paper dolls from Yves’ childhood. Cutting out fashion models from the day, he would then dress them in his designs! These may have been my most favorite part of the exhibit.

Block prints of patterns later come to life on the garment.1966-67 “Pop Art” Dress

Thank you for reading. Happy Friday! ~Jenn