Van Gogh-Inspired Costumes Shine at NYBG's Vibrant Dress-Up Day

In a whimsical tribute to the revered 19th-century painter Vincent van Gogh, New York Botanical Garden visitors reimagined his signature motifs as wearable interpretations.

To complement the garden’s ongoing exhibit, “Van Gogh’s Flowers,” people from all walks of life arrived in bold, imaginative costumes, competing for first place in NYBG’s Van Gogh Dress-Up Day. In the thick July heat, vibrant fabrics adorned with rich yellow blooms and swirling blue skies took center stage, echoing some of the Dutch artist’s most prominent works — “The Starry Night,” “Self-Portrait” and “Sunflowers,” among them.

“We really want folks to be able to engage with the natural world and have that bridge to the art world,” said Nora Mango, vice president for audience strategy. “With the Van Gogh look-alike day, we thought it was something that felt really organic, because we were seeing people turn up anyway, dressed up.”

As contestants rolled in, Pleasantville High School art teacher Greg Nemec worked with quiet focus under the shade of one of the garden’s lush trees, painting “en plein air” — translated from French  “in the open air” — a  practice central to impressionism and post-impressionism and one Van Gogh deeply embraced.

Nemec’s straw hat, frayed at the edges, cast a thin shadow over a face painted in strokes of warm rusts, ochres and violets, as if he had just stepped out of “Self-Portrait with Straw Hat.” His long-sleeved shirt rippled with quick, vertical strokes of blue and white, mimicking the artist’s brisk brushwork, while his trousers swirled with yellow, pink and peach. Even his shoes carried the theme — ornate with expressive brushstrokes in earthy hues.

“The building blocks -— like secrets to a kind of successful Van Gogh-inspired costume -- are lots of color, more colors than you think you need,” Nemec said. “There’s a lot of non-flesh tones in the face. The shadows are purpley. The highlights are greenish. When it adds up, it looks kind of like skin.”

The meticulousness paid off: Nemec’s layered homage earned him first place in the contest. 

A few steps away, mother-and-son duo Gabriel and Susan Krauss offered a different interpretation, centered on artist and muse. Gabriel’s dark beard, streaked with bright orange wax, mimicked Van Gogh’s own, while Susan wore a sunflower headpiece and a skirt patterned like the ceramic vases from his still lifes. 

“I decided to upgrade our idea a little bit because there’s a costume contest going on,” Gabriel said. “I brought a guitar and she’s going to sing Don McLean’s ‘Starry Night’ — she’s my singing sunflower.”

The contest was part of the garden’s broader tribute to Van Gogh and his deep connection to the natural world — a realm that shaped much of his work. Spanning the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory and surrounding grounds the show, "Van Gogh's Flowers," draws directly from the post-impressionists’ enduring love of botanicals.

More than 18,000 plants bloom in sweeping arrangements — irises, roses, lilies, and of course, Van Gogh’s beloved sunflowers — transforming his painted world into something visitors can wander through. 

Outdoors, dozens of sunflower varieties shared space with French artist Cyril Lancelin’s “Towering Field of Sunflowers.” The installation pairs massive, gold-toned aluminum petals with living flowers swaying in the summer breeze.

One of the exhibit’s most innovative takes is a recreation of the Garden of the Hospital at Arles, where Van Gogh spent a year between 1889 and 1890. 

Its pathways and plantings -— wheat fields, sunflowers, poppies -— mirror what the artist would have seen.

Van Gogh, who never sold a sunflower painting in his lifetime, is now celebrated as one of the most beloved artists in the world, particularly for his expressive botanical blooms, splashed with thick, gestural brushstrokes.

While most contestants gravitated toward the radiant yellow flowers, Cheryl and Whitney Berman chose a different muse. The mother and daughter’s shimmering teal skirts, intricately patterned lavender scarves and umbrellas adorned with delicate petals paid homage to “Irises,” painted during Van Gogh’s stay at the asylum in Saint-Rémy. 

“All the advertising [for the exhibit] makes you think of sunflowers,” Cheryl said. “We wanted the poor iris to have a moment.”

The judges agreed: their inventive take earned them second place in the contest.

By early afternoon dozens of contestants assembled in front of the Haupt Conservatory, transforming the lawn into an impromptu runway. 

Hats brimmed with petals, jackets looked like living palettes and whole skirts rippled with painted skies. The crowd hooted and cheered for their favorites. 

“It’s wonderful to see people bringing their own interpretation to his work,” Mango said. “It’s playful, but it’s also a way of engaging with art and nature in the same breath.”

Behind the spectacle lay months of preparation. 

Nearly all of the sunflowers on display are grown from seed or seedlings in the Nolen Greenhouses, and many coaxed into bloom ahead of schedule to match the show’s opening. The plantings are designed to shift with the seasons, ensuring the colors harmonize with Van Gogh’s palette.

By late afternoon, the prizes had been awarded, but the day felt less about competition than about inhabiting Van Gogh’s world for a moment.