"Fairy Tale Fashion" Exhibit at the Museum at FIT

The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology reinterprets the original fairy tales written by the storytellers Brothers Grimm, Charles Perrault and others...

Not the Disney versions. 

Since these fairy tales were more like fictional horror stories graphic cautionary tales to keep children well-behaved,  the literature is quite horrifying—read Hans Christian Andersen's story of The Little Mermaid and you'll get an idea of how the storyline would scare a child into obedience. 

Thanks to Walt Disney, we recognize these stories and their figures in a much more romantic, positive light today. My curated stories were Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella, but my favorite dresses were the red gown in Snow White and Rose Red and the Marchesa gown in Sleeping Beauty.

It makes sense that we would continue to find fairy tales fascinating—they allow us to escape into a world away from our own.

Snow White and Rose Red

Advances in technology continue to press the superiority of the rational mind, but there's something seductive and powerful about surrendering to fantasy. Escaping from "responsibility" to act in accord with arbitrary standards in pursuit of freedom aptly summarizes the attitude of the millennial generation.

Beauty and the Beast

For younger generations, there has been a growing concern about a child's inability to think imaginatively—why would a child want to dream of an imaginary friend if a game on their iPad can easily substitute the effort? It's a widely known and accepted fact that creativity and imagination drive children to develop critical thinking and socialization skills.

The "Fairy Tale Fashion" exhibit is a beautiful curated collection of designer fashion, but it serves a greater purpose—it embodies the human desire to escape the mundane, if only for a little while.

Cinderella

Sleeping Beauty

The constant demand to balance personal desires, external expectations and unknown futures can only amount to a burning desire to seek refuge from it all—this is why displays of fantasy in the modern world are ever so important today. 

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Fairy Tale Fashion is on display through April 16, 2016. Learn more about Fairy Tale Fashion on the Museum at FIT's website.