Shop for Yourself

Humans have long marveled at the secrets of poisons and sought to detect their presence and protect against their toxic powers, as many fascinating artifacts on view at the exibition will reveal. Prized objects included celadon dishes, believed to detect poisons; fossilized shark teeth, thought to be dragon tongues that could "purify" food of deadly compounds; and fossilized sea animals called crinoids, believed to be antidotes to common poisons. more »

The fundamentals of haute couture in Europe and America — highly sexualized fitted forms, balance, finish, invisible tailoring and complementary color and pattern — are noticeably absent from contemporary Japanese fashion. Instead, imperfection, transience, austerity, asymmetry, roughness, simplicity and subtlety are valued. As designer Yohji Yamamoto affirmed, "I think perfection is ugly. Perfection is a kind of order ... things someone forces onto a thing. A free human being does not desire such things." more »

The show explores the use of glass beads for fashion and ornament, as traded goods and objects of ritual. Included are Venetian chevron and millefiori beads, Roman mosaic beads, West Africa bodom beads, Egyptian eye beads, Chinese horned eye beads, Japanese magatama beads and Bohemian beads imitating precious stones. North American beadworked garments and contemporary beaded objects by Joyce Scott and David Chatt are on display. more »

Doris O'Brien writes: So why deny folks that pleasurable opportunity in lieu of staying home with family and friends, watching TV, or maybe even talking to one another? There are lots of movie-goers on Thanksgiving; why not shoppers? But far be it from me to tell business people how to run their enterprises or customers how to spend their time or money. After all, nobody has to shop on Thanksgiving if they don't want to. more »