The notion is familiar, but it can’t be said enough: “The ideal fashionable body… can loom over us as a rigid expectation, affecting how we view and treat our bodies, as well as how we view the bodies of others.” These words welcome viewers to Emma McClendon’s show at the Museum at FIT, The Body: Fashion and Physique, which doesn’t hold back as it revisits the role of the fashion industry on human self-perception.
On the surface, the exhibition charts a familiar progression of body ideals, but the crinolines and Calvin Klein ads are filled in with lesser known moments. There is an example of Liberty of London’s early 20th century attempt to challenge the corseted look with medieval-influenced dresses (they didn’t catch on) and a 1930s rubber girdle that targeted “disfiguring fat,” proving the Western fear of natural insulation goes back generations.
McClendon doesn’t just add depth to existing knowledge though; the treatment of our contemporary fashion landscape is exceptional. An opening video featuring a variety of industry insiders addresses the democratization of fashion by social media, which has enabled individual women and men to chip away at the power of fashion editors to feed readers a singular body ideal. They also highlight deeply-ingrained practices that aren’t being effectively challenged, like the merchandising of “plus sizes” into segregated areas of a shop. Among the many dresses on display, one of the most striking is the result of a decidedly modern exchange: in 2016, the actress Leslie Jones tweeted about her inability to borrow red carpet dresses on account of her size (she wears a size 10; the average American woman wears a 16) and Christian Siriano eagerly offered to help. A stunning red, floor-length gown, just one of the results of their partnership, is prominently highlighted in the show.
In the context of hundreds of years of “ideals,” a visitor sadly gets the sense that women can’t win. Where Poiret gave women room around the waist, his dresses didn’t accommodate hips. When Siriano was applauded on Twitter for working with Jones, he was right to reply, “It shouldn’t be exceptional to work with brilliant people just because they’re not sample size. Congrats aren’t in order, a change is.” So when you visit, make time to watch that inspiring opening video a second time on your way out, and let this show serve as another call for fresh, diverse voices to speak up in the world of fashion.
The Body: Fashion and Physique at The Museum at FIT is open to the public through May 5.
