Waistcoat, 1730-40
Silk
In China, bright yellow was reserved for the emperor, empress and dowager empress from the 1630s. The colour became fashionable in 18th-century Europe as part of the wider taste for Chinese products and designs. This waistcoat's citrusy background, which makes the embroidered floral motifs pop, is echoed in the soft brocade of this jacket from the 1960s. Carnaby Street fashionistas appropriated Indian designs, like the shape of [a] coat named after those worn by Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
[V&A]
Taken in the Exhibition
Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear
(March 2022 to November 2022)
At a moment of unprecedented creativity in men's fashion and reflection on gender, this exhibition explored how designers, tailors and artists – and their clients and sitters – have constructed and performed masculinity, and unpicked it at the seams.
...The exhibition showcases the variety of possible masculinities across the centuries from the Renaissance to the global contemporary: from looks by Gucci, Harris Reed, Grace Wales Bonner and Raf Simons, to paintings by Sofonisba Anguissola and Joshua Reynolds, contemporary artworks by David Hockney and Omar Victor Diop, to an extract from an all-male dance performance by Matthew Bourne's New Adventures.
The exhibition presents around 100 looks alongside 100 artworks, displayed thematically across three galleries, Undressed, Overdressed, and Redressed.
The second gallery, Overdressed, explores the elite masculine wardrobe, epitomised by oversized silhouettes, lavish materials like silks and velvet in daring colours, and symbolic patterns to express status, wealth and individuality. On display will be armoured breastplates, silky smoking suits, makeup and shaving equipment, sweeping capes, ribbons and lace, including Grinling Gibbons' wooden carving imitating a Venetian needlepoint lace cravat. Through the lens of contemporary fashion designers including Rahemur Rahman and Kim Jones, Overdressed will show how historic ideas begin to shift, with a full rainbow of masculine outfits on display.
[V&A]
Waistcoat, 1730-40
Silk
In China, bright yellow was reserved for the emperor, empress and dowager empress from the 1630s. The colour became fashionable in 18th-century Europe as part of the wider taste for Chinese products and designs. This waistcoat's citrusy background, which makes the embroidered floral motifs pop, is echoed in the soft brocade of this jacket from the 1960s. Carnaby Street fashionistas appropriated Indian designs, like the shape of [a] coat named after those worn by Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
[V&A]
Taken in the Exhibition
Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear
(March 2022 to November 2022)
At a moment of unprecedented creativity in men's fashion and reflection on gender, this exhibition explored how designers, tailors and artists – and their clients and sitters – have constructed and performed masculinity, and unpicked it at the seams.
...The exhibition showcases the variety of possible masculinities across the centuries from the Renaissance to the global contemporary: from looks by Gucci, Harris Reed, Grace Wales Bonner and Raf Simons, to paintings by Sofonisba Anguissola and Joshua Reynolds, contemporary artworks by David Hockney and Omar Victor Diop, to an extract from an all-male dance performance by Matthew Bourne's New Adventures.
The exhibition presents around 100 looks alongside 100 artworks, displayed thematically across three galleries, Undressed, Overdressed, and Redressed.
The second gallery, Overdressed, explores the elite masculine wardrobe, epitomised by oversized silhouettes, lavish materials like silks and velvet in daring colours, and symbolic patterns to express status, wealth and individuality. On display will be armoured breastplates, silky smoking suits, makeup and shaving equipment, sweeping capes, ribbons and lace, including Grinling Gibbons' wooden carving imitating a Venetian needlepoint lace cravat. Through the lens of contemporary fashion designers including Rahemur Rahman and Kim Jones, Overdressed will show how historic ideas begin to shift, with a full rainbow of masculine outfits on display.
[V&A]