Local Culture

Ancestral Attire

The MET takes a look at the influence of women’s fashion

by Caitlin Roche   |   Apr 26, 2010

Ancestral Attire

Lucile Brokaw (Photo: Martin Munkascsi in 1933)

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America’s focus on image has intertwined women’s identity with their wardrobes, creating an iconic look for different moments in history. As we finger through old photos, we will find that a single outfit can serve as the material embodiment of a zeitgeist. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has designed a new exhibit entitled, “American Women: Fashioning a National Identity.” The exhibition explores the feminine experience from the 1890’s to the 1940’s and serves as a display of how fashion has helped to form a gender out of a sex. Different archetypes will be presented: from the “Gibson Girl,” to the “Suffragist” to the emergence of the “Screen Siren.” The costumes from each period will be accompanied by a panorama backdrop, lighting, video, and music in order to capture the ambience of the period.

The exhibition is not just a looking glass into the history of women’s fashion but it shows the roots of different models that are still used to group and characterize women. One could argue that the “Screen Siren,” adorned in her low cut gown and embellished with jewels, paved the path for our current celebrity culture or that the style of the “Suffragist” will forever be associated with a self-identified Feminist. The importance of the relationship between women and fashion through the ages is increasingly relevant as the sexualization and objectification of women, as well as female stereotypes, grow as a public concern. Paralleling ongoing discussions of the effects of women in the mass media, the exhibit culminates in the final gallery with a multimedia installation of women in the early mass media.

The exhibit opens May 5, 2010 and runs until August 15, 2010 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue. The exhibition is organized by Andrew Bolton with the support of Harold Koda. The exhibition is included in general admission tickets and more information about the museum and the exhibition can be found on their website, www.metmuseum.org.