Last Call on the Met's American Fashion Exhibit

The exhibit wants to make the point that the clothes on display have great political meaning -- that fashion had a great deal to do with women's changing roles and increasing independence during that time in history. No doubt, women gained more freedom and women's fashion changed during that time, but the exhibit confuses effect with cause.

For instance, in the drabbest room of the exhibit, devoted to the Suffragists, the wall text explained that suffragists wore certain colors: purple, white and green, and then purple white and gold, which "forged a visibly shared public identity. The American women's adoption of these colors signified her identity and performance as a suffragist, as did her adoption of the latest fashion and accessories."

Really? So adopting the latest fashion and accessories is a political act? In the last panel of wall text, there's a concession that each of these fashion "ideals" were created by media and fashion companies in order to sell advertising, movies, and yes, clothing and accessories to the self-same women. I'm sure the Suffragists would have been most irritated if they could have known that in 2010, one of the nation's foremost cultural institutions would proclaim that a potent weapon in the struggle for the franchise was...shopping.

There's a good argument that can be made about women's fashion and politics. This just isn't one of them. But still, if you're in New York City this weekend, go see the exhibit before it closes. Just ignore the absurd wall text (and probably the audio tour narrated by Sarah Jessica Parker) and focus on all the lovely fashion.