Phreshly Squeezed

As much as I love educational things (i.e. think museums and documentaries), me stepping into Le Musée National de la Marine is still a long shot. Seeing so many boats and instruments can only keep me entertained for long. But at 8€, I figured that I may as well give the museum a twirl. Reason for me being in the museum was to see the now finished exhibition, Les Marins Font la Mode. Posters have been up for this since forever and has been running since February. I completely forgot about it and rushed to make sure I could see it on its last day, last Sunday afternoon.

Past and present uniforms of French mariners

Located at the back of the museum, you have to head down a flight of stairs and present your ticket to the security guard (it was a couple extra Euros to get into this part, which was all I really was looking for). At first, I was disappointed. The room just presents the history of and examples of past French marine uniforms. Exhilarating for eight Euros, yeah?

Corridor leading to more marine fashion goodness!

You turn around, ready to leave and then notice that a corridor on onside of the staircase asks you to follow it. This is where the good stuff is found. Posters of celebrities wearing marine inspired clothing, old marine themed designer clothing hangs behind the display cases, and a television screen portraying popular commercials of the mid-20th century welcome you as you walk down the hallway.

I was curious to look at the other corridor that was found on the side of the staircase. It was more children’s marine fashion and hats than it was celebrities and glamor.

Marine inspired fashion; in front, Yves Saint Laurent outfits

This leads me to the best part of the exhibition. An elevated platform in the center of the room features designer ensembles inspired by marine uniform fashion, with designers such as Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent, and Jean Paul Gaultier (you get to see the outfit that the Le Male cologne bottle is modeled after!), ranging from the 50s up until last year. Flanking the platform on the left are the stereotypes of mariners explained (such as their tattoos and hero persona), and on the right, you find a close examination of how each piece of the uniform has influenced fashion.

Heading to the very back of the exhibition room is a small area where Parisian high school students, who specialize in fashion design, show off their marine inspired designs. I personally would have loved to see a couple of these ensembles (only three were fitted on mannequins) featured on mannequins instead of being left on hangers. But it was still good to see young people being given the chance to get involved with exhibitions.

Related posts:

1. Andrea Crews AW11: Les Morts Vivants de la Mode
2. Les Arts Decoratifs: Fashion from the 90s to the New Millennium
3. Yves Saint Laurent Exhibit: La Révolution de la Mode