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Behind the Scenes
“Dressing the mannequins is more than just pulling arms through sleeves and draping fabric so that it falls in natural folds,” says Debbie Rapps, Foreign Press Officer who accompanied me through the exhibit. Clothes are a language unto themselves, which is why it took the know-how of Alia Ben-Ami, curator since 1969, to present the exhibition. For example, we’d expect the layers of a late nineteenth-early twentieth century Algerian outfit consisting of a chemise, sleeveless dress and jacket to be worn in that order. But surprise, surprise…the jacket was actually over the chemise, but under the dress. Aside from the order of the layers, clothing also broadcasted social messages. “There’s a meaning behind how a sari is wrapped and how buttons are closed,” explains Efrat Assaf Shapira, exhibition curator in the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Wing for Jewish Art and Life. “With traditional Ethiopian robes, a different message is projected according to where on the body the embroidered pattern falls. Similarly, by wrapping her scarf a certain way, an Ethiopian could relate that she was feeling sad. And if you were to see a typical Bukharin gentleman in the late nineteenth-early twentieth century wearing several elaborately embroidered jackets, you’d realize that he wasn’t simply suffering from the cold – he was letting you know that he was wealthy enough to own a good supply of quality clothing.”
Impacting Today’s Fashion
The Israel Museum exhibition is far more than just a tribute to the past. Contemporary Israeli fashion designers were recently invited to use Dress Codes as an inspiration for their creativity. “We don’t want the exhibit to remain in the museum,” explains Assaf Shapira. “We want it to influence the world.” The contribution of fashion designer Yaniv Persi was presented alongside one of the most unlikely exhibits: the burka. Tight fitting at the back, the black dress resembled more of a cape from the front.
Ilana Efrati, who is known for her natural dying techniques, presented a jacket whose lining was a kaleidoscope of color, reminiscent of the colorful patterns used in Bukharin clothing.