Fairy tales come to fashionable life at Fashion Institute of Technology

Fairy tales have long been a major inspiration for the world of fashion. Just look at the Cinderella inspired dress actress Lupita Nyong'o wore to the Oscars in 2015.

In her description of what the word fairy tale means to fashion, the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology curator Colleen Hill states that the it is often used to describe fashion which is considered spectacular or inaccessible. Beginning Friday, January 15, 2015, MFIT unveiled their exhibit dedicated to fairy tales to the public. The displays proved to be nothing shy of extraordinary.

In the world of fashion, fairy tale inspired clothing is usually connected to how we remember popular dresses from Disney Princess movies like Cinderella or Snow White. The true history behind fairy tales dates back to authors like Charles Perrault, L. Frank Baum, the Brothers Grimm, and Hans Christian Andersen. These men who wrote stories, some of which are now centuries old, would grow to become some of the biggest influences on fashion designers from the likes of Alexander McQueen to Rodarte.

Fairy tales are brought to life through fashion in FIT's latest exhibit

Upon first entering the exhibit, visitors can see how the physical construction of a book alone has influenced fashion. One of the first looks in the exhibit is a dress by Issey Miyake that was part of a collection actually entitled "Book." The dress appears to be made from story book paper. The look was inspired by designer Naoki Takizawa's first visit to New York's Morgan Library which houses many early volumes of fairy tales.

Takizawa wasn't the only designer who took inspiration from books, however. Charlotte Olympia also had a clutch in the exhibit that was virtually a replica of what you'd expect a fairytale anthology to look like.

Upon entering the doorways through the main exhibit, visitors are greeted with several sections of clothes, each dedicated to a different fairytale, including stories like Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, and The Snow Queen just to name a few. There are over 80 installations in the exhibit.

While many of the designs were directly inspired by fairy tales, some of them are period appropriate looks. For example, there is a costume based on the type of gown that fits in the time period Beauty and the Beast is set in. The concept of the rose as a motif in fairy tales is also present in a Dolce and Gabbana gown that is worthy of the Academy Awards red carpet, and a Rodarte dress adorned with three-dimensional roses crafted from organza.

There was no shortage of shoes in the exhibit either. An *Alice in Wonderland heel from Nicholas Kirkwood and Cinderella inspired shoes from Christian Louboutin were on display in all their fairy tale inspired glory.

"Fairy Tale Fashion" makes clear how designers have been influenced by those stories that were read to us in childhood. Of course, the whimsical creatures, the dresses from periods all throughout the last millennium, and the sense of aristocracy throughout fairy tales were bound to make great inspiration for fashion throughout modern and contemporary times.

The FIT exhibit will be open until April 16. The Museum is located at 227 W. 27th Street in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood.