Researching for Exhibitions in the Study Space

When asked what I would want to learn from my internship, I was primarily focused on my interest in curation, and how I would love to find some practical experience in developing an exhibition that was not entirely studio-art based, or involved work of my own. Annette has offered me two opportunities throughout the semester to research and develop pop-up exhibitions for the TFC's Study Space, which presents outfits that typically correlate with lessons or focuses by the Fashion Design students. I am in the process of finishing the first of the two - this exhibition relates to 50's Fashion specifically for a Fashion/Computers course. The other, which would be closer to the end of the semester, is up to me to choose and develop.

I have spent a large majority of the past few weeks simply studying fashion trends from the 1950s. I have specifically kept my research based in the United States in order to keep myself afloat as someone who only knows about some of the more iconic silhouettes of the era, ie. red lipstick, the cotton-print dress, Stepford Wife-Esque inspirations. Annette has allowed me to be as bombastic or general as I choose. It could simply be framed as an "inspired by decades" theme, or I could be more specific and potentially even critical if I choose to be.

I certainly want to inject a voice into the chosen objects, so my exhibition inspirations have been from articles I have found in vintage Vogue magazines that specifically correlate to the outfits chosen - therefore characterizing them, and hopefully bringing a new context to an otherwise straightforward exhibit. I'm sure you can imagine some of the offhanded content you would find, particularly in regard to women, in an era that is specifically known for its resurgence of gender-bias conformity. Some of the descriptions that I have read do not age gracefully. Something that was fashion-forward in the publishing year feels more sardonic when read with a present-day eye. Here is one of my favorite excerpts from "American Look" (Vogue Article Feb 1, 1950):

The French journalist intones, like a litany: “She has a room with a bath in a good hotel. Her clothes are always pressed. She owns a hundred pairs of white gloves. She has good skin. She goes to art exhibitions, and she has amusing, upsetting opinions. She always thinks she is too fat.” (pg. 125)

This is one of the more extreme characterizations I have found in these magazines. I do plan to choose excerpts from additional sources, particularly for menswear, but I hope to pair these publications with the clothing in order to add a new dimension of understanding to them and to breathe more life into what would otherwise be a somewhat encyclopedic presentation. I'm actually meeting with Annette today to bounce ideas and get some clarification on a few things regarding presentation and my own understanding of the garments - so I'm looking forward to confirmation of my findings and new potential sources for research!