Singer Rufus Wainwright and artist E.V. Day at Lincoln Center opening

I remember the first time I encountered some haughty haute couture bird who worked in a vintage shop in Paris. She trilled when she used the word “prrrovenance!” The word provenance basically means origins or history, much in the same way a crest or precious heirloom can represent a family. “What a bunch of bullocks!” I thought originally. But as I’ve come to understand art and fashion that requires a certain craftsmanship, the word has grown on me. And a couple nights ago, renowned artist E.V. Day — who famously breaks female stereotypes by making objects overtly sexual or in essence, turning a detailed looking glass on objects of fetish — bastardized a bunch of opera costumes at NYC’s Lincoln Center. Dresses, all lace and baubles, a few with money dripping from folds and one (from the opera Don Giovanni) with a black glove reaching straight for the costume’s bloomers, hung from the rafters. The New York City Opera handed E.V. their costume archive for this special exhibit. (Exhibit opens to the public at the David H. Koch Theater on November 6th.)

Hats from several operas — the Magic Flute, Casanova, Turandot — reinterpreted by E.V. Day