apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

If you decide to display clothes, please make sure they are not close to a heat source, a vent, or direct sunlight.

Also, beaded garments really shouldn't be hung up at all, so resist the urge to put Grandma's fancy flapper dress on display. The weight of the beadwork can weaken the fabric and eventually cause rips if it's not stored flat.

I was a fairly serious ballet dancer and have some beautiful tutus as a result. I display them on dress forms and rotate them throughout the seasons in different rooms of my house.

Unless it's in a frame, clothes should not be hung on the wall. Says to me you don't have room in your closet. Almost makes a home look like a museum or thrift store.

Please take down the antlers and use some kind of hooks instead. Antlers are far worse than the Stay Calm Carry On poster.

Sidebar: I LOVE the mirror in the first picture - does anyone know where I could get this?

I have a handmade silk and metal embossed Cleopatra costume from the 30's and my great grandmother's hand painted silk flapper dress handing high up on the the dark brown walls in my bedroom, and I love them. Besides being beautiful, they give me a sense of peace and tradition. No it does not look like a museum of thrift shop and I get compliments on them all the time.

Maybe kimono or Chinese opera robes or even a flapper dress, but I don't want to see your ironic Hawaiian shirts or bowling shirts or vintage T-shirts. More than that, I don't want to see plastic hangers as "wall art". Clothing as art is one thing, but I don't want to see stuff you wear.

The tutus sound cool.

I think that's just what she is gonna wear tomorrow...

mskk, do you have pictures? I am dying to see the cleoptra costume!!

Does anyone know where the bedspread in the first picture is from? I love it!

I have a cute wire dress form in the bedroom. I put my latest sewing project on it, or I'll display a new and exciting purchase there. I also sometimes have a bad habit of dressing it for the season: right now it has a warm wintery hat on (and the dress for the beach I never got around to altering. . .). I don't think I have any clothing that would look good on display in one of our main living spaces though.

@melodie-nelson: I MUST do a house tour since AT inspired me to repaint and decorate. It's on my list, and the dress will be in it.

Palmetto, I strongly agree with you.

Does anyone know where the shelf (holding records) is from in the first pic?

LAlove, it seemed like kind of a vintage piece at first, but on closer inspection, it is likely enough a DIY. 4 boards and 6 legs or pipes, maybe casters. The smaller one on top looks like it might be flanged to the bottom part or just placed on top. I'd be surprised if it was from a factory and a store.

My take on the scene here is that it's made to look like the dress one is to wear later or the next day. I don't think there's anything terribly wrong with clothes as art, but I draw the line at shoes. The format of these arts is such that they're meant to be displayed on the frame- wear the art for best effect. Shoes really look best on the feet, not at home on shelves for some iconic effect. It's not that shoes can't be beautiful, but by the nature of the shape of a foot, shoes by themselves look weird to me; they're built to solve the problem of covering the shape of a foot with decorative results. I think hats are ok for display, they don't seem as awkward for some reason.

Anyhow. A person with some clothing to display as art (other than wearing it) will almost invariably tend to build around the subject a plausible scenario of "about to get dressed," or "about to be tailored." I hardly ever see clothing as an absolute focal point without such a context. If you have some sort of mannequin or dressmaker form, that's similar to wearing the item or ensemble while being able to wear more practical items every day, and not endangering your art with sweat, spills, or tears. Since clothes are "person-shaped" and meant to drape in 3 dimensions, all of these contexts exhibit the art how it will look best. On the other hand, appearing to be caught mid-task operates against the artfulness of displaying clothes that way.

I did. A purple dress to match the rug:P

Those hangers make me cringe. :s

In the first picture, it looks as if the cat is coming away from scratching the heck out of that dress. I'd be very careful about doing this if you have a feline roommate.

Emily

If I'm going to wear something pretty, I often take it out and hang it over the door the night before or up to a few days, if it's a big fancy event with a fancy dress. I have a few really gorgeous items that stay in the closit most of the year, and I like to take them out to see them once in a while. I don't figure it hurts them to air out, either.

And no, I've never had problems with the cats, but then, I hang them high (the dress, not the cats. ;) The dress displayed above is a little high for comfy scratching range too). Once in a while they try hiding behind them, but all in all, far less disturbance than some other parts of the decor. (Their new thing is hiding under the tablecloth and running out, so the dinky table with the huge peace lily tips.)

So, try a temporary display and see if you like it. If so, wtf, it's YOUR room. Do listen to the display tips above, though, if the item is precious.

The tutus do sound cool! Pictures please!

some clothing -- kimono for example -- are easily mounted on a wall -- I rotate a small collection of about 12 on a bar that hangs above my sofa.

I use a dress dummy for ethnic and vintage pieces I've picked up over the years -- also a rotating collection.

I get the museum comment all the time. I just ignore it.