love fashion photography nearly as much as I love fashion. In high school, my bedroom was plastered with pictures I'd pulled from magazines. I didn't care if they were fashion spreads or fashion ads. My sister sneered at this, but the photos made me feel glamourous and taught me a sense of style.

Though I no longer plaster my walls with glossy pages, fashion photography is an art form I will always admire. And some of the finest ever taken is about to be the subject of a first-ever exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts.

Do you remember the Versace campaigns of the late 1990s? Amber Valleta, Kate Moss, Karen Elson—all shot by Richard Avedon, who worked with the company for more than a decade. The most famous by far is his portrait of "Dovima with Elephants." But Avedon's work during the late 1940s in Paris is the most alluring and my favorite. Much of it will be on view at the MFA starting next week (August 11) through mid January.

Avedon was discovered by Alexey Brodovitch in 1945, which set him off on a career in the fashion industry. Later on he went to work as a staff photographer for Vogue for more than 20 years. He was the inspiration for the character Dick Avery in the movie Funny Face, which the MFA will be screening.

I don't get to the MFA nearly as often as I should, but there will be no excuse this fall. The museum is calling October "Fashion Month," and there are many more style-related events scheduled. Although I'm not totally intrigued by the Ed Hardy meet and greet, I'm sure he's a character. On the other end of the designer spectrum, there's an upcoming showcase of Arnold Scaasi gowns. None of these events compare to Avedon, though.

I will have to tell my sister about the exhbit and see what she thinks about those silly fashion ads now.