THE MET PRESENTS 'AMERICAN WOMAN: FASHIONING A NATIONAL IDENTITY'

THE SPRING 2010 EXHIBITION ORGANIZED BY THE COSTUME INSTITUTE OF THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART IS 'AMERICAN WOMAN: FASHIONING A NATIONAL IDENTITY', THE FIRST DRAWN FROM THE NEWLY ESTABLISHED BROOKLYN MUSEUM COSTUME COLLECTION AT THE MET. THE EXHIBITION, ON VIEW FROM 5.MAY THROUGH 15.AUGUST, EXPLORES DEVELOPING PERCEPTIONS OF THE MODERN AMERICAN WOMAN FROM THE 1890s TO TO THE 1940s, AND HOW THEY HAVE AFFECTED THE WAY AMERICAN WOMAN ARE SEEN TODAY. FOCUSING ON ARCHETYPES OF AMERICAN FEMININITY THROUGH DRESS, THE EXHIBITION REVEALS HOW THE AMERICAN WOMAN INITIATED STYLE REVOLUTIONS THAT MIRRORED HER SOCIAL, POLITICAL AND SARTORIAL EMANCIPATION. EARLY MASS-MEDIA REPRESENTATIONS OF AMERICAN WOMEN ESTABLISHED THE FUNDAMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS OF AMERICAN STYLE, A THEME EXPLORED VIA A MULTIMEDIA INSTALLATION IN THE FINAL GALLERY OF THE EXHIBITION. THE EXHIBITION WILL FEATURE OVER 80 EXAMPLES OF HAUTE COUTURE AND HIGH FASHION PRIMARILY FROM THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM COSTUME COLLECTION AT THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, WHICH WAS TRANSFERRED TO THE MET IN JANUARY 2009. MANY OF THE PIECES HAVE NOT BEEN SEEN BY THE PUBLIC IN MORE THAN 30 YEARS.
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