Fashion is art

In lieu of a winter exhibition this year, the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art introduced on Tuesday its first fashion audio tour of the museum, describing the importance of clothes as seen in a portrait by Jacques-Louis David or a fourth-century B. C. Greek statue or a German suit of armor.

That may sound like a dull substitute for a fashion show, but the tour — because it is narrated by Sarah Jessica Parker, who talks about art history with the same breathy relish and melodic rhythm she might deploy to deliver a pun-soaked voice-over as Carrie Bradshaw — becomes a sassy exploration of dress that both reveals and titillates. That’s more than you could typically say for Asmat body masks or a Peruvian nose ornament resting in a glass case.

NYT