\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI like the idea that some of the glamour of fashion is rubbing off on painting and artists,\u201d the artist John Currin tells me. \u201cI care about painting even more than sculpture or architecture or photography; still, I think these things coexist wonderfully, especially fashion, because it\u2019s been so beneficial for the museum.\u201d Institutions like The Met need change, he argues; nothing should be regarded as sacred. \u201cThey should have a celebrity zoo at The Met,\u201d he says. \u201cPeople naked in cages. They can work out in front of everybody\u2026. I\u2019ll give up the bookstore if that\u2019s what it takes. (The Met has not given up its store\u2014only relocated it.)<\/p>\n
Finally, I asked my husband, Calvin Tomkins, who wrote the history of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Merchants and Masterpieces<\/em>) the question I\u2019d been asking everyone. \u201cCan costume be art and art be fashion?\u201d He answered with a resounding \u201cYes!\u201d and added, \u201cIn fact, the two are so close that they can\u2019t help being In this story: hair, Jimmy Paul; makeup, Kabuki; manicurist, Jin Soon Choi; tailor, Carol Ai.<\/em><\/p>\n
each other.\u201d<\/p>\n