American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity

Over the past week, we've been having an interesting conversation about whether one can identify characteristics of "American" style and how we might differentiate between it and "European" style.  We began discussing it in Anne-Marie's post, Dressing simply with patterns, and Liz followed up by posting Pattern Styling Experiment, Take Two.  As it turns out, this is a great time to be exploring this question!  This spring's exhibit at The Costume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum of Art is going to be called "American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity."  The Met's press release for the exhibit explains,

"The exhibition, on view from May 5 through August 15, 2010 (preceded on May 3 by The Costume Institute Gala Benefit), will explore developing perceptions of the modern American woman from the 1890s to the 1940s, and how they have affected the way American women are seen today. Focusing on archetypes of American femininity through dress, the exhibition will reveal how the American woman initiated style revolutions that mirrored her social, political, and sexual emancipation. Early mass-media representations of American women established the fundamental characteristics of American style – a theme that will be explored via a multimedia installation in the final gallery."

For more information, visit the press release here.  Looks like it might be time for a Scholar Style Guide field trip!