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Fashioning The Future:
Our Future From Our Past
October 30, 1996 - April 11, 1997
As we sit on the threshold of a new millennium it seems only natural to reflect on the past and contemplate the future. Contemplation of the future of any endeavor requires that we put it in proper historical perspective. We can use history to gain an understanding of our present situation and to guide us in deciding our future direction. This exhibition shows how historicism in fashionable dress reveals ways in which we create our future, not simply by incorporating new ideas and technologies, but by building on our past.
In studying the history of clothing, it is obvious that past fashionable elements of clothing resurface as new from time to time. As you study the exhibition, you will see that the revival styles displayed are not strict line by line replication, rather, they are essentially variations of historic clothing with a new twist. Such revivals often are created with an eye to the past, while simultaneously incorporating contemporary influences. The result is a totally new creation. Thus, the creative reinterpretation of historical styles are more an evolution of a design than a direct copy. The new garments reflect changes in society and influences of new technology that affect our lives, and will continue to do so into the next millennium.
This exhibition provides examples of historically revised and revived fashions from the middle 18th century through the 1990's that have received their initial design influence from Classical Greece, The European 14th - 16th Centuries, or The Elizabethan Era in England and Europe.
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Educational Program |