The Met Extends 'China: Through the Looking Glass' Through Labor Day

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Go ahead, take that August vacation: "China: Through the Looking Glass" will be waiting for you when you return. The New York Times reports that the Metropolitan Museum of Art's big Costume Institute exhibit that examines the Far East's influence on fashion has been extended through Labor Day weekend, giving New Yorkers and tourists alike an extra three week to take in the spectacle.

"This exhibition is one of the most ambitious ever mounted by the Met," museum director and chief executive Thomas P. Campbell said in a statement. "And I want as many people as possible to be able see it." The paper noted that Chinese tourists have made up a significant portion of its attendees thus far.

The extension could prove to be record-breaking: "Through the Looking Glass" has drawn in 350,000 visitors so far, putting it on pace to beat 2011's "Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty" attendance of 661,000 people. That show was extended an additional week to handle the influx of people, which memorably resulted in epic lines both inside and outside the museum.

But, as the Times points out, since this exhibit takes up three times the space as the McQueen one, visitors haven't had to buy membership passes or wait for hours on end for entrance—at least not yet, anyway.