The Vatican also loaned out a series of its own mitres for “Heavenly Bodies,” which together offer a complicated history of politics and religion throughout Italy. In that way, Rihanna’s outfit returns the garment to its more diverse origins. Though mitres may be best associated with Catholic bishops today, that wasn’t always the case. Indeed, Catholics most likely got the idea from their non-Christian forebears. At one point, Jewish High Priests wore headdresses known as “mitres,” as well.
In his epic poem “The Faerie Queene,” from 1590, Edmund Spenser writes: “And like a Persian mitre on her hed / She wore.” Here, the mitre is described as non-Western ornamentation and dress for a woman, not a man. The exhibition’s mitres themselves have cross-cultural history. They emphasize how Islamic art impacts Green, as well the designer visually unifies elements of cultures that were both the aggressors and aggressed in the ancient conflict. The curators placed a beige quilted canvas ensemble by British designer Craig Green in dialogue with the Nine Heroes Tapestry, which features the Catholic warriors used to inspire the succession of 11th- to 13th-century conflicts, from King Arthur to Charlemagne. The portion of the show situated in the Cloisters explicitly references the Crusades. (Fittingly, Madonna-the pop star-sang “Like a Virgin” at the gala.) For millennia, this dichotomy has inhibited sexual expression for both women and men. So does its corollary: the madonna/whore complex, which relegates women to two proscribed stereotypes-either pure or debased.
Yet the more sinister imaginings of the sect are also subtly present: The press materials suggest that Christian Lacroix’s wedding ensemble from autumn/winter 2009–10, along with his other designs, “invoke the concept of the ‘virgin bride.’” Throughout many of the show’s white gowns, the concept of the virgin birth reverberates. The exhibition itself hinges on the assertion that the enchantments of Catholicism (stained glass, rosary beads, holy water) have inspired designers who grew up in the religious tradition. She emphasized what the world should already know: that you need not be white, Catholic, or a virgin to deserve reverence (though in America, you might need to be a celebrity). (Whether this look inspires highly structured, ornate headwear for future collections remains to be seen.)Īs Rihanna co-opted a symbol of Catholic power, she simultaneously undermined the more detrimental tropes of the belief system and highlighted its potential for creative and aesthetic advancement. Thanks to High Priestess Robyn Rihanna Fenty, it’s now as good a time as any to investigate the mitre. Galliano also created Rihanna’s look-a silver mini-dress, matching robe, and mitre-though, this time, for Maison Martin Margiela, where he’s worked since 2014. The lavishly embroidered and jeweled robes matched the garments’ accompanying “mitre,” a kind of headdress for bishops (perhaps most popularly depicted in their chess piece representations). Glimpsing the designer outfits (and even the ecclesiastical garb) on view throughout the Met’s Byzantine and medieval galleries Anna Wintour Costume Center (its largest exhibition to date) Robert Lehman Wing and the Cloisters, a visitor was wont to covet at least a few pieces.Īt the Met Gala later that evening, Rihanna’s outfit riffed on one of the exhibition’s most fabulous get-ups: the House of Dior’s Evening Ensemble from autumn/winter 2000–01, designed by John Galliano. Monday’s “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination” preview at the Metropolitan Museum of Art sufficiently inspired at least one deadly sin: greed.
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