“Gender Bending Fashion”
Marlene Dietrich wore a tuxedo in the film Morocco, 1930. “Gender Bending Fashion” at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is the rare fashion exhibition that addresses a vital, of-the-moment cultural discussion while at the same time placing it within a historical framework. Gender and identity are subjects that affect government policies and fashion. And change is happening fast: It wasn’t long ago that the murse (or man purse) transitioned from a joked-about accessory to a serious revenue maker. Similarly, today, the mention of men in skirts extends beyond the visual of David Beckham in a sarong and describes what’s happening on the ground. (Looking for proof? Check out our street-style galleries.)
Defining identity on a spectrum rather than along binary lines is a paradigm shift that goes hand in hand with new modes of self-presentation. Designers like Virgil Abloh and Alessandro Michele lead the way in the industry, whose designs resonate with the real pioneers of this sea change and the millennials and Gen Z kids who embrace fluidity. According to Michelle Finamore and Penny Vinik, Curator of Fashion Arts at the Museum of Fine Arts, it’s always been this way. “Historically, when you go back to other moments when gender-bending is happening, it is in moments of youth-driven cultures—so the 1920s and 1960s and 1970s. Those are the key historical moments when people have been pushing against the status quo.”
The curator tried to look at fashion history through different perspectives, not just a designer-focused lens. The result is a multilayered show that brings past and present together innovatively. A digital album, for example, introduces contemporary gender-bending Bostonians, while subcultures like Teddy Girls and Pachucas (zoot suit–wearing Mexican-American women of the 1940s), who have traditionally been outside of the conversation, are given space. “We did try to get across that it’s stories and narratives that bring the objects to life,” says the curator.
Finamore makes a point of introducing lesser-known boundary-pushers like Dr Mary Edwards Walker (a pants-wearing Civil War surgeon who once said, “I don’t wear men’s clothes. I wear my clothes.”) among more familiar brands (Gucci, Comme des Garçons) and faces (Dietrich, Bowie). “One thing that we came across when we had these interviews and discussions,” observes the curator, “is that people look to those icons in terms of how free they felt expressing their style.” As the Thin White Duke sang, “We can be heroes.” Here is a curatorial point of view on “Gender Bending Fashion.”
Why is gender-bending fashion gaining traction now?
Historically, when you go back to other moments when gender-bending is happening, it is in youth-driven cultures—the 1920s, 196,0s, and 1970s. Those are the key historical moments when people have been pushing against the status quo. I feel like there is a lot more freedom of expression right now. Millennials and Gen Z drive that; they’re finding their communities via social media, and they have a platform to express themselves and be more comfortable expressing themselves, no matter where they come from. That has completely changed the game regarding [them] feeling comfortable in their skin and getting out there into the world.
