The Brooklyn Museum started out as the Brooklyn Apprentices’ Library to educate tradesmen. It grew into one of the oldest and largest museums in the country with 140,000 things you can look at. (They even have a feminist art center! Which I didn’t realize until I was making this blog post!)
Construction started on the building in the 1890s, but due to the size of the building and WWI, construction didn’t complete until the 1920s.
The featured exhibit when I was there was called “Solid Gold,” which showcases gold in pop culture throughout history. Naturally, there was an entire wall devoted to Elizabeth Taylor’s role as Cleopatra in the 1963 movie.
And speaking of Cleopatra, this gold rope chain wig was inspired by both the Egyptian queen and Rick James’ “Super Freak” hair. Janelle Monae wore the headpiece on the cover of Rolling Stone in 2023.
Aya Nakamura wore this Christian Dior gold rooster feather gown for her performance in the Paris Olympics opening ceremonies in 2024.
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