Fashion in Art
by Delaynna Trim, Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art Curator
I have been thinking about fashion a lot lately since the museum’s upcoming gala has a fashion theme. Fashion in art refers to what anyone is wearing in a piece of art. But, it is fascinating to see how clothes and fashions change. Fashion can refer to clothes, jewelry, and even hairstyles.
Most men were depicted clean shaven during the Roman Empire. Except for Emperor Hadrian’s reign, since he was a big fan of Greek philosophy, he wanted to look like a Greek philosopher by growing out his beard.
Just looking around the Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art gallery, there is a lot of fashion – from the Greek chiton, a form of tunic that is fastened at the shoulders, that can be found on some Greek statues to the utility apron that the boy eating a baguette is wearing.
Often, art depicts the popular fashions of the day. One of the women depicted on the ivory jewelry chest is wearing a steeple headdress or hennin which was popular in the fifteenth century. A veil would often be worn from the cone-shaped hat. The woman’s hair would be tucked into the hennin. During this time, the hairlines were often plucked back so that they had a large forehead as it was very fashionable at the time.
Other times, the clothing and accessories tell us who the person is. The portrait of Doge Antonio Grimani attributed to Titian includes many clues as to who the sitter is. The hat he is wearing is a corno ducale. Only the doge, or leader, of Venice, would wear this style of hat. The cape he is wearing is made out of ermine fur. Ermines are a type of stout or weasel. At times, only royalty was allowed to wear ermine.
Fashion tells us about social status. In the portrait of Charlotte Aglaé d’Orléans, she is wearing a very stylish dress since she was the daughter of the Duke of Orleans, and granddaughter of King Louis XIV. It is difficult to determine the exact style of her dress without seeing the skirt or the back of the dress. What we can see does fit with the fashions of the time – low cut bodice probably with bone stays and big puffy sleeves with lace cuffs. The sleeve is bell or trumpet- shaped but secured at the elbow to show the lace of the chemise. You can tell that she is wearing a gown fit for the royal court as you can see the intricate designs on the white silk.
If you are interested in learning more about fashion in art, come to the Friends of the MGMoA meeting on Monday, November 18 at noon, where I will talk more about the fashions found in the museum’s collections. If you would like tickets to the MGMoA gala, visit www.mgmoa.org/gala.
For a video on how to create a paper hat and other fashion-related art activities, check out www.mgmoa.org/art-projects/
Paper Hat
Supplies: Newspaper or other large pieces of paper, masking tape, paint
Optional: tissue paper, beads or buttons, glue
Paint two pieces of newspaper the color you want your hat to be
Once the paint is dry, cut the edges off the newspaper to create a big circle out of the paper
(This is much easier with a friend!) Place the paper on your head, fold down, and tape around your head to create a large hat with a wide brim
Now you can decorate with the tissue paper (You can glue pieces of tissue paper or make tissue paper flowers to glue on), beads, or buttons. Be creative!
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