100) Dressing the Body

This morning I took the Metro out to Palau Reial to see the Dressing the Body exhibit at El Disseny Hub's (DHUB) Museu Tèxtil i d’Indumentària. It’s a gorgeous, well laid-out exhibition that explores the way that fashion has morphed the body in various ways based on socio-cultural events and historic styles. The gallery space served as a timeline that moved through the different eras of waist cinching, hip padding, chest flattening (or enhancing), arm baring (oh the scandal), etc. In addition, the exhibition made connections between modern re-interpretations of past aesthetic biases. For example, Spanish fashion designer Mariano Fortuny's (1871–1949) influence on modern designer Issey Miyake's signature pleats.

Among other things, it made me stop to consider what I myself was wearing, and whether there were any socio-cultural reasons for my choice of attire. In a world of women's liberation and free choice, are we still influenced by forces outside our own will when we face our closet in the morning? Yes, there is the old argument that society has a certain definition of beauty and that the media fuels this standard - thin, long and slender, big breasts, small waist. But I'd argue that even that is evolving. There's certainly something to be said about the more frequent use of androgynous models, or the shapeless, less form-fitting fashion trends.