April 13鈥揝eptember 2, 2024

Dress Up

鈥淧laying dress up begins at five and never truly ends.鈥濃擪ate Spade

Fashion allows us to take on different roles, choosing clothes, jewelry, shoes, handbags, and other accessories to transform the way we are seen and the way we see ourselves. One鈥檚 choice of dress can make a political statement, express a mood or communicate personal identities. Through more than 100 works from the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播鈥檚 collection, 鈥淒ress Up鈥 celebrates 20th- and 21st-century style with fashions by Alexander McQueen, Bob Mackie, Pauline Trig猫re, Patrick Kelly, and Oscar de la Renta; jewelry from designers like Hattie Carnegie, Lanvin, Elsa Peretti, Schreiner, and Trifari; accessories by designers like Thom Solo; illustrations; and photographs by Cecil Beaton and Martin Parr.

Looking at jewelry as fashion and fashion as jewelry, this exhibition removes the delineation between the two to focus on how they play an integral and inseparable role in self-fashioning. Objects with beads, sequins, and sparkles blur the lines between fashion and jewelry while at the same time extending and expanding our ideas about them. From a jeweled brooch or shoe, to an heirloom ring or little black dress, each selection can represent a variety of stories and lived experiences.

Thematic sections explore child鈥檚 play, identity politics and more, and feature myriad new acquisitions鈥攊ncluding shoes and dresses from the collection of Donna Summer, an ensemble by Project Runway alumna Korina Emmerich and local jewelry artist Tiffany Vanderhoop, and a ring by Of Rare Origin, a version of which was worn by poet Amanda Gorman at the 2020 US presidential inauguration. Spectacular loans include an Iris Apfel ensemble from the Peabody Essex Museum and cuff bracelets designed by Fulco di Verdura for Gabrielle 鈥淐oco鈥 Chanel, which she was photographed wearing throughout her life.

  • Henry and Lois Foster Gallery (Gallery 158)

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Additional generous support from the David and Roberta Logie Fund for Textile and Fashion Arts. Supported by the Loring Textile Gallery Exhibition Fund and the Fashion Council.

With gratitude to Leica Gallery & Store Boston.