Enfilade

Press release from the Philadelphia Museum of Art:

The Peacock Male: Exuberance and Extremes in Masculine Dress
Philadelphia Museum of Art, 22 January — June 2011

Curated by Kristina Haugland

This lively exhibition contradicts the notion of men’s apparel as staid and restrained, especially when compared to women’s fashions. The Peacock Male: Exuberance and Extremes in Masculine Dress, drawn primarily from the Museum’s collection of Western fashion, examines 300 years of men’s sartorial display and includes flamboyant clothing as well as colorful accessories. It will be on view from January 22 through June 2011. “It’s a pleasure to be able to look at men’s clothing from a different perspective, as it is a subject that is often overlooked, even though menswear is now so creative and diverse,” said Kristina Haugland, Associate Curator of Costume and Textiles and Supervising Curator for the Study Room and Academic Relations. “Most people are surprised to find just how eye-catching men sought to be in the past, sporting extravagant floral embroidery, feathers, and flashy patterns. The exhibition is a great chance to show the wild side of masculine wear, from fur-crested helmets to high-tech sneakers.”

The exhibition opens with a look at the rich clothing worn by the eighteenth-century elite, from lavishly embroidered suits to zigzag-patterned silk stockings. During the nineteenth century, menswear tended to be sober by comparison, but could be accented with colorful accessories such as waistcoats, slippers or suspenders. Thematic sections in the exhibition highlight those occasions when even the most reserved man could don eye-catching clothes. A section dedicated to men’s costumes includes a star-spangled “Uncle Sam” outfit from the early twentieth century, a fuchsia silk satin fancy-dress ensemble from the late nineteenth century, and two mummers’ costumes – an English example from 1829 and a “Handsome Costume” made for Philadelphia’s famous parade in the 1990s, which represents a resplendent peacock with a ten-foot-wide tail. (more…)