INSPIRATION: The Modern Woman.

I love this so much; all I want to do is wear an Op Art coat and stand near a Helen Frankenthaler painting.

From The New York Times' The Lively Morgue:

June 26, 1963: Reviving the American Indian art of painting on furs, the Fifth Avenue fur designer Jacques Kaplancommissioned five American artists to paint on his collection to be worn by “the modern woman.” Within two hours, the first coat — painted by Anuszkiewcz, with a geometric arrangement of black dots on white calfskin — was sold to Mrs. Harcourt Amory. Each design came as a complete surprise to Mr. Kaplan, as he allowed the artists “absolute freedom to do whatever they wanted.”

Photo: Mayer Liebowitz, The New York Times 

ART TO WEAR: Unbuttoning the Met.

Ji Eon Kang, Dress, 1997

It's a sad day for collectors of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's iconic metal admission tags, which have been discontinued.  In memory of the colorful pins, here is a look at Ji Eon Kang's dress made of the ubiquitous mini medallions, a class project-turned-memoriam. The pins have been described as "a kind of coin minted expressly for entry into the museum" and represent, to many, the identity of the Met and the cultural identity of New York City.

 How Shocking: Met Unbuttons.

Via.