Fashion as art? Perhaps.

Fashion as history? Maybe.

Fashion as a predictor of fashion to come? Certainly.

Twentieth-century couture has made the transition from closet to museum in an exhibit at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts on the University of Utah campus. Called "Streamlines: Fashioning the Appearance of the Modern Woman," it's a retrospective of women's fashions in the 20th century.

Margot Shott, who moved to Utah to be the fashion and publicity coordinator for Weinstock's, is the guest curator.

Among the exhibit's highlights is a Madame Gres black, silk-jersey evening dress from the late '30s.

From the displays, you can see how clothes from decades ago have influenced what you see on retail racks today.

Shott considers the1950 Dior cocktail dress a masterpiece of construction. It's nipped at the waist, has a full skirt and is made of "face-powder beige" silk organza. The influence of that silhouette continues. "Everything I have seen in current fashion magazines is the full-skirted party dress," said Shott during a telephone interview.

The exhibit also features a Pucci silk-jersey, two-piece dress. "He was famous for his brilliant geometric prints . . . , which are being revived today. Every store is full of Pucci-inspired prints. You see handbags, scarves, belts, blouses, everything," she said.

UMFA isn't the only art museum with fashion in its galleries. It is keeping lofty company in that respect.

"Chanel," with 63 fashion designs as well as examples of cosmetics, perfume, jewelry, handbags and shoes, is at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York through Aug. 7. It honors the designer who rose from humble beginnings — the child of unmarried peasants who grew up in an orphanage — to become a household word. "Fashion passes . . . style remains," she once said.

Shott recently visited the Chanel exhibit.

"I had never actually seen a 1920s Chanel suit in person," she said. "It has almost a cardigan jacket, very simple. The quality of the fabric and the way it's cut, it's absolutely timeless. I would very, very cheerfully put that on."

She was not alone in her thinking. As she went through the New York exhibit, she overheard women say that even today they would wear the dress they happened to be looking at.

And as the pioneer of modern women's sportswear, Chanel fulfilled her own prophecy: "I want to be part of what is to come."

Which dress in the Salt Lake show would Shott like to wear? The Dior cocktail dress. "Everybody loves that dress," she said.

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If you go

What: "Streamlines: Fashioning the Appearance of the Modern Woman"

Where: Utah Museum of Fine Arts

When: Through June 30

How much: $4 adults, $2 for seniors and youth

Phone: 581-7332

Web: www.umfa.utah.edu

Also

Special tours for groups of five or more; reserve in advance

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E-MAIL: kclayton@desnews.com