This one-day conference will coincide with the exhibition Invisible Men: An anthology from the Westminster Menswear Archive, a major exhibition exploring menswear from the beginning of the 20th century to the current day. The exhibition will feature over 180 garments and will be the largest menswear exhibition to be staged in the UK.
Both in museums of the decorative arts or dedicated fashion museums, menswear, and the history of menswear are significantly underrepresented. Despite the explosion in fashion exhibitions over the last 45 years, menswear is still comparatively marginalised or excluded from the history of dress. Its inclusion often framed only in the well-worn tropes of the ‘dandy’ or ‘peacock’. Why has menswear been ignored for so long? Why is menswear absent from the museums of fashion and the decorative arts? What is it about the aesthetics and design process of menswear that makes it resistant to investigation in comparison to womenswear?
Speakers include:
Sign up and follow your favorite conferences.