Exhibition Review: Gender Bending Fashion

Abstract

The Boston Museum of Fine Arts’ recent 2019 exhibition, Gender Bending Fashion, explored some of the ways in which designers and wearers in European and American contexts have challenged traditional ideas around dress and gender over the last century. This included the rejection of conventional dress codes (in the form of men wearing skirts and women wearing suits); the blurring of gender lines in fashion (the combination of “masculine” and “feminine” design elements and the construction of unisex clothing); as well as attempts to transcend the idea of gendered dress altogether (through the creation of new forms of genderless clothing). This review highlights key objects featured in the exhibition, with special attention paid to everyday ensembles and personal narratives that effectively communicated ideas of embodiment, cultural experience, and fashion storytelling that were missing from some of the high fashion garments on display. The deliberately critical and academic approach taken by the curatorial team is discussed, as are some of the tensions and material challenges inherent in representing different bodies and expressions of gender in the context of a major museum fashion exhibition. This exhibition addresses themes that are of critical importance to fashion curators, scholars, and anyone interested in fashion studies more generally.