Evening hat 1889

Curator: Let's take a closer look at this photograph, "Evening hat," taken in 1889 by Berthe. It’s now housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. What are your initial impressions? Editor: There's an arresting elegance. It’s the plush materials—velvet, fur—contrasted with the sleek artificiality of the mannequin that intrigues me. It feels simultaneously opulent and coldly removed. Curator: The contrast is very carefully designed. This kind of headwear was, in its time, almost like a wearable sculpture. And photography really captured it in its essence. Look at how the composition leads our eye across those sharp angles. The dark and light contrast creates almost a study of form. Editor: And notice how fur and feather motifs were incredibly fashionable as a symbolic language during the era. They channeled themes from nature, status, and femininity, which became tied into the upper classes' fashion choices. Each detail spoke volumes about the wearer. Curator: Exactly. It creates an almost baroque effect, with visual textures juxtaposed with more geometrical features, as if to showcase skill, while the photographic eye of Berthe manages to smooth everything over. Editor: It presents this crafted object in a context that still feels relevant today. I appreciate that tension—the old versus the new, and what those opposing visual elements represent in the shifting narrative of societal progression. Curator: I find the medium itself so relevant. It emphasizes an era where clothing shifted to accommodate the camera, from wide dresses to refined dresses and accessories as here. But it all speaks to different types of artistry that intertwine within it. Editor: Agreed. Its strange modernity stays with you—it acts like a window through time. I almost feel as though the details have a story to share.