It has always been so easy for me to chalk up male style to be boring or simple since most of what I was seeing was the same thing over and over like suits with ties or button up shirts and nice pants. I didn’t start paying attention to menswear very deeply until I became more interested in fashion in general, and even then I always gravitated to what my female style icons were wearing. Looking at fashion through the ages solely from the lens of what men were wearing made me realize how much I had been missing out on. The Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London was quite a treat to experience and opened my eyes to a new realm of fashion.
The exhibit was structured to take you on a journey through the history of menswear chronologically but also by style and theme. The exhibit started out with mens undergarments including what men wore through different time periods including pieces from the 1800s as well as from now. One set of garments that stood out to me in this section was a Giorgio Armani suit from 1994. The suit was a simple cream color and made in Italy out of cotton, silk, and linen. This suit displays the sophistication of menswear that is prevalent through all of history through the softness of the textiles and look of the fabrics. Only the collar is buttoned to allow the coat to flow out. The bent arm that pushes the side of the coat back more also adds some pleating and folds that add dimension to the feeling of the fabric and the shape of the suit. The pants have wide legs which allow for a looser fit and less emphasis on the shape of the legs. All of these elements highlight how successfully Armani was able to create a relaxed feeling without any of the rigidity that was so prevalent in menswear allowing it to fit into this section of the exhibit beautifully.
The next garment that really stood out to me was in a section of the exhibit that showcased a lot of the extreme and lavish decoration and ornaments on many clothing pieces. One of these was a suit and cloak made my Randi Rahm. The suit and cloak were worn by Billy Porter at the 2019 Golden Globes styled by Sam Ratelle. The suit is gray with excessive beading and embroidery of colorful flowers all over with a hot pink satin lining. The designer was inspired by the extreme decoration of 18th century menswear in Europe. Porter describes that wearing this suit on the red carpet makes himself “a walking piece of political art” showcasing how fashion has changed so much through history. In the 18th century this type of excessive decoration was normal for the elite and made them stand out in a way that made them the epitome of style. Yet in 2019, this suit is described as a political statement. This garment showcases how the place of menswear in society has morphed.
The final garment I want to single out from the exhibit is a Pierre Cardin ensemble from the Cosmos Autumn/Winter Collection of 1967 in France. The futuristic, space-age, and minimalistic style of the suit was so unique. The silhouette of the suit stood out from everything else in the exhibit. I loved the boxiness of the tunic with the color-blocking of the layered pieces and belt. As a middle ground between what the extremes of men’s and women's fashion were, Cardin was able to find a middle ground in terms of the shaping of the pieces.
Overall the exhibit was extremely well curated and a journey through the evolution of menswear while also highlighting some exceptional garments that pivoted what we knew about menswear at the time as shown through the garments I chose. The goal of the exhibit was to deconstruct what we have always imagined menswear to be and showcase how unique and varied fashion for men has become through the ages.
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