tart oneself/something up

When the Museum of Modern Art in New York announced a mid-career retrospective to Bjork, an Icelandic singer, some critics pounced. Others wondered why the museum was tarting itself up as a marketing vessel for a pop star with a new album coming out. It would be nice to report that the museum has had the last laugh. Alas, the only thing it reliably does is waste people’s time http://econ.st/1x0e6Fj

verb

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1[WITH OBJECT] (tart oneself up) Dress or make oneselfup in order to look attractive:she came back only to tart herself up for the nextevening

1.1(tart something up) Improve the appearance of something, typically in a way regarded as flashy orsuperficial:the page layouts have been tarted up with cartoonsshe tarted up the buckle with some sequins