The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s unveiling of “Costume Art” drops the velvet ropes that once corralled the exclusive worlds of fashion and art, giving visitors an all-access pass to all types of dressed bodies and some not-so-dressed ones, too. It’s not just that the Costume Institute’s spring exhibition is now conveniently housed just steps away from The Great Hall in the Condé M. Nast Galleries, but its 200 or so pairings map out the centuries-sweeping connections between works of art and garments. Instead of looking at fashion through the lens of art, the dresses, jeans, body stockings, bustiers and other garments are more prominently positioned. By flipping the switch, the aim is to look at fashion and the human form with a wider, and hopefully, wiser lens that considers our commonality, too.  The 12,000-square-foot prime real estate indicates just how indispensable fashion is to art as well as to The Met in terms of attracting visitors and donors through The Met Gala .…