MOCA Pacific Design Center: Rodarte Dresses and Lounging by Fountains

Finally I made it to MOCA at the Pacific Design Center to see the Rodarte Exhibit. After over an hour of driving (round trip), several attempts at parking, and walking around the design center campus in a huge circle, I finally found the actual museum building and exhibit. Then, the exhibit turned out to require no more than 15 minutes to see everything in it. Had this been your average fashion exhibit, I might have been disappointed, but even with all I went through to get there and get back, the Rodarte exhibit was worth it!

The detail in these creations is really phenomenal. My pictures do not at all communicate the complexities of every piece. Each dress (or tutu) seemed to be composed of a dozen different materials -- knotted leather, feathers, crystal, twine, tulle, pearls, wool, even cheesecloth! I see now why the Mulleavy sisters quickly became fashion's darlings. Up close I could see how they fused materials together, and I could appreciate their intricate construction, where each loop of fabric held up another loop (kind of like the M.C, Escher of draping). I don't think any image on the internet can do these clothes justice. It is really something to see in person if you get the chance. The exhibit is open until June 5th.

After all my work to get there, I didn't want to leave once I was done pouring over the dresses (also I still had a lot of time left on my meter since I vastly overestimated the size of the exhibit). So I treated myself to the Mulleavy-edited issue of Lula magazine, and I sat by the fountain in the sun perusing the first pages. It was a lovely to way to spend day 1 of my stay-cation.