Venezia!

            Venice is known for its winding canals and historical architecture, but I went for the clothes. The first museum we visited on our trip mainly focused on vintage and more modern couture and highlighted some of the most famous designers in the world. The entrance had grand high ceilings and the dress Madonna wore to the Venice Film Festival in 2011. From there it only got better! I saw couture dresses by Versace, Armani, Prada, and, one of my personal favorites, Valentino. Versace had two creations: one black and purple silk organdie dress (worn by Abby Cornish) that looked like it had a hundred little petals gently sprinkled on the skirt of the gown, and one evening dress (worn by Anne Hathaway) in seafoam green organza and glazed chiffon – it made her look like an ethereal mermaid of Hollywood.

            Prada had one of my second favorite dresses (worn by Gwyneth Paltrow) in pale pink silk with an attention grabbing bow detail on the back.

            However, my favorite modern dress was the one Jessica Alba wore to the premiere of Machete.

            There were so many gorgeous and diverse styles from all eras. I personally liked the items more from the modern times (generally the past century or so). Seeing the variety of textiles (velvet, tulle, fur, Chantilly lace!) and the structures of dresses that I recognized (like the robe a la Françoise style dress made of fur!) was so cool!

A few other famous attire items were from The Talented Mr. Ripley with Matt Damon, The Tourist with Angelina Jolie, Death in Venice  (mostly by Piero Tosi), and De Gasperi: The Man of Hope (mostly by Alessandro Lai). My favorite piece of clothing in the vintage collection was a perfectly structured evening gown made by Lai in black silk taffeta and Chantilly lace. Many of the other designers (even more modern day ones) used Chantilly lace in their collections featured in this exhibit (like in Scognamiglio’s Spring and Summer 2011 line). The attention to detail was incredible with many of the fabrics falling just right so as to create a flowing waterfall of fabric. Alberta Ferretti, Gianfranco Ferre, Lorenzo Riva, and Guiseppe Lanotti, who had THE MOST STUNNING pair fire engine red suede shoes with gold piping and red crystal embroidery.

            I didn’t find the Fortuny museum nearly as interesting as the first one. It seemed like a random collection of items put together in a messy sort of way. The modern art in the attic went pretty well with the atmosphere, but it was a little confusing to be skipping from Fortuny’s art and collection to extremely modern and subjective art.