54 | NOVEMBER 21 • 2019
Arts&Life
exhibit
continued from page 52
TOP: Schreier with designers Isaac
Mizrahi and Michael Kors, and with
Bette Midler at the DIA’
s Frida Kahlo
exhibit in 2015.
ABOVE: Sandy and Sherwin
Schreier, right, with fashion
designer Zandra Rhodes and
hairsylist Vidal Sassoon.
to speak for Hadassah and who has visited
her home in the past, has expressed plans to
attend opening events, calling attention to
exhibit items.
A Mizrahi painting of Schreier appears
in the exhibit catalog, which profiles the
collector, who developed two books linked
to the history of her holdings: Hollywood
Dressed & Undressed: A Century of Cinema
Style (1998) and Hollywood Gets Married
(2002).
Schreier, the mother of four and grand-
mother of seven who is a longtime vol-
unteer in the library at the Holocaust
Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, did
not choose the pieces in The Met exhibit,
but she readily remembers experiences
associated with many of them.
EXHIBIT HIGHLIGHTS
“This exhibit is not totally reflective of my
entire collection,” explains Schreier, who,
over time, hosted Met representatives vis-
iting Michigan to make their selections.
“These are the pieces that helped make the
museum’
s collection more complete.
“The piece everybody likes talking about
the most is the Twiggy dress. Richard
Avedon took a famous picture of Twiggy
(a 1960s model and actress) in this dress,
designed by Roberto Rojas.
“Shortly after my husband passed away
in 2014, I got a call from Roberto. I had
never talked to him before, but he wanted
to thank me for giving him credit. We got
together in Florida and became friends.”
The exhibited ensemble by Ives Saint
Laurent is important to Schreier because
it recalls the time she was an accessories
designer working with him. She found the
outfit when asked to appraise the couture
estate of Elizabeth Parke Firestone.
Schreier owns several dresses by Adrian
Greenberg, who went by Adrian as a Holly-
wood costumer associated with The Wizard
of Oz, among many other film favorites.
Schreier interviewed his widow, actress
Janet Gaynor, about collecting some of
Adrian’
s most famous pieces, which are in
the exhibit and part of her Met donation.
“Sandy Schreier’
s gift — one of the largest
in recent Costume Institute history — will
dramatically enrich the museum’
s holdings
of 20th-century fashion,” says Max Hollein,
Met director. “We are thrilled and honored
to receive these important treasures, and we
look forward to presenting an exhibition
that celebrates the exceptional artistry of
the objects and reflects on the origins and
impact of this tremendous collection.”
Schreier, who has never worn any item in
her collection because she considers each
artistically innovative and to be preserved,
is busy deciding what she will wear to
exhibit events. She also is working on her
memoir, which will be released in 2020.
“My life has been a fantasy, especially
meeting all the famous people in the cre-
ative arts who come to see my collection,”
she says. “The item that came in November
is a chocolate-colored couture gown made
by Moschino many years ago. I have been
looking for that dress for a long time. I’
m a
chocoholic. How could I resist it?”
“My life has been a
fantasy, especially
meeting all the famous
people in the creative
arts who come to see
my collection.”
— SANDY SCHREIER
PHOTOS COURTESY SANDY SCHREIER