Superheroes at the Met

On Thursday we journeyed from Wil's house near Union Square up to the Metropolitan Museum to see "Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy," an exploration of superhero costumes and their influence on fashion. On the way we passed through Central Park, where we saw carriage drivers madly texting as their horses clopped along, a bass/sax busker duo who charmed us with their wry asides ("Well, we ain't got a barrel of money -- yet!"), and a mysterious silent silver gentleman who consented to have his photo taken only after we responded to his mimed request for a tip.

The younger members of our party had begun to wilt in the muggy heat by the time we arrived at our destination; fortunately the Met's superheros did not disappoint. The curators had a field day with this juicy, fluffy, hipster-geek topic – displaying original costumes from superhero movies & TV alongside crazy haute couture pieces from every era, all tied together with breathless labels (“Michelle Pfeiffer…sported a costume that embodied the alph-cat/omega-kitten duality of Catwoman’s personality…”). It’s really kind of tragic that photography was forbidden...

This exhibit gave us a whole new perspective on the Met -- the place is simply crawling with superheroes, it turns out. We wandered seamlessly from Wonderwoman and the Incredible Hulk to the Greek statues (definitely superheroes, but not wearing much in the way of costumery...) and then the Medieval Armor (Ironman had nothing on these guys!).

Our favorite suit of armor was the one that featured Medieval wingnuts -- located so prominently front and center that we wondered if this might have been the guy who invented them, showing off.











Simon spent the next hour designing superhero costumes for his all-too fallible parents, which we will definitely be wearing under our clothes the next time you see us.


(Or wait, maybe not... We are suddenly reminded of Michael Chabon's marvelous essay "Secret Skin", which warns us that "the superhero costume as drawn disdains the customary relationship in the fashion world between sketch and garment. It makes no suggestions. It has no agenda. Above all, it is not waiting to find fulfillment as cloth draped on a body." We tend to agree... but we sure hope Mr. Chabon makes it up to the Met to have a look at some pretty entertaining attempts.)