'Fashion & Feminism' Marching The Catwalk To The Ulster Museum
Words by Sabrina Garnier
From runways to picket lines
FASHION & FEMINISM curated by Charlotte McReynolds is part of the National Museums Northern Ireland’s year-long thematic programme Hear Her Voice, which highlights female artists, designers and iconic figures through series of exhibitions and events across the museum.
I had the pleasure to visit the Ulster Museum and meet Charlotte McReynolds and walk through the rich inviting exhibition showcasing over 200 years of fashion. The exhibition truly felt like travelling through time, from the 1800s until today and each piece tells us about key moments in history that celebrates confident women who made a strong feminist statement through their sartorial choices and beyond.
FASHION & FEMINISM. Curated by Charlotte McReynolds - Ulster Museum, Nation Museum of Northern Ireland,
: ‘National Museums NI’
From suffragettes using fashion as part of their campaign to win the vote to contemporary fashion designers shedding light on social injustices; FASHION & FEMINISM offers a rich insight on feminist culture throughout history. The exhibition brings together many never seen before artworks commissioned by Charlotte Reynolds and offers art lovers a fantastic opportunity to experience, learn and see in person artworks from different times history that each tells a story about feminism.
Curator Charlotte McReynolds at FASHION & FEMINISM ‘National Museum NI’
DRESSED TO PROTEST
White Muslin gown with Train from the 1800s
‘National Museums NI’
Alex AW18 TEATUM JONES
‘National Museums NI’
The earliest artwork from the exhibition is a white Muslin gown with Train from the 1800s (right image) and stands next to a portrait of Mary Wollstonecraft (1759 – 1797), one of Europe’s earliest feminist thinkers. Wollstonecraft acknowledged the importance of fashion and devoted an entire chapter on the subject in her book: Thoughts on the Education of Daughters. Wollstonecraft believed that the wearer should always feel natural and at ease. Charlotte McReynolds tells me that the choice of this relaxed yet graceful gown embodies Wollstonecraft ideals and presents us with a visual representation of fashion during the 1800s.
A contemporary piece that reminds me of the early feminist ideals of Wollstonecraft is the most recent piece of this exhibition, the ‘Alex’ dress AW18 by British fashion brand Teatum Jones. The fashion duo Catherine Teatum and Rob Jones, are the creatives behind Teatum Jones and create fashion pieces inspired by human stories. The beautiful ivory ‘ALEX’ dress represents hope and Teatum Jone’s AW18 collection GLOBAL WOMANHOOD, presents a collective of 25 women who embody the Teatum Jones spirit – Bold, confident, creative and smart – including women such as models Munroe Bergdorf, Kelly Knox, singer Foxes, editor Sophia Neophitou and activist Caryn Franklin.
‘SUFFRAGETS MUST NOT BE DOWDY!’
Christabel Pankhurst
From picket lines to the runways, fashion has played an important and often overlooked role when it comes to the visibility, unification, inclusion and equality of women.
Suffragettes were adept at using fashion to present a united front during their battle for the vote and accessorised with purple or green hats (image above) as a symbolic fashion statement when marching together. Each colour represented an ideal and members were encouraged to wear colour-coded outfits such as white to symbolise purity, purple for loyalty and the green for hope.
FASHION INNOVATORS & REFORMERS
The fashion industry also played an important role in empowering women in the workforce and offer equal work opportunities. For this exhibition, Charlotte McReynolds included a silk cream bias cut evening dress applique leather corsage by Madeleine Vionnet, from 1933. This dress represents a fashion innovation for womenswear with new tailoring and cuts and a stepping stone for women’s rights at work. In the early 1900s, nearly 50% of working French women were employed in the fashion industry and Vionnet provided her seamstresses with access to healthcare, maternity leave and paid holiday.
Special thank you to:
Curator Charlotte McReynolds and the National Museum of Northern Ireland / Ulster Museum
