Fashioning Masculinities at the V&A: Masculine or Genteel?

“The V&A is the girl museum,” I heard someone say recently. Through its exhibit, “Fashioning Masculinities,” is the museum trying to appeal more to men?

Fashioning Masculinities is split into three sections; “Undressed”, which explores the changing world of undergarments and masculine body standards; “Overdressed”, which explores the historic use of fabric, embellishment, silhouette, and colour in elite masculine wear; and “Redressed”, which focuses on modern tailoring, military-inspired wear, and recent subversions of traditional male dress.

Alexandra, wearing a green pleated skirt with a rust coloured top and a multi-coloured scarf, looking off image to the exhibit.

There’s a lot to learn and like in this exhibit.

The layout is straightforward and the signage helpful, with labels often defining textiles or techniques that those less familiar with fashion may struggle to understand otherwise. My main reference for this was my fiancé, who noted how he felt he got a lot out of the exhibit despite starting with a lack of fashion-specific knowledge.

Particular aspects I found interesting included a section on the meaning of different colours across different cultures. I learned that in Imperial China, yellow was reserved only for the emperor. There was also a point made about the changing meaning of pink across the last few centuries as a colour now associated with a feminine dress. The exhibit also paid tribute to Beau Brummell, the British socialite famous for creating the look of simple yet elegant tailoring and the modern-day suit, formal wear in non-Western countries, and a few items of military-inspired wear like the Burberry trench coat.

The dress Harry Styles wore in Vogue displayed on a mannequin. The dress is made with a light blue material with black trimming and visible tulle white underlayers. The dress is topped with a black floor-length blazer.

The iconic dress worn by Harry Styles on the cover of the December 2020 edition of Vogue.

Some areas of masculine dress were left mostly unexplored.

There were a few areas of masculine dress, however, that I found lacking in this exhibit. Many men in the 21st century own suits only for special occasions or work events, their world of fashion instead being dominated by subcultures of streetwear, gym bros, hip-hop, sports, and sneaker junkies. Items like the Adidas Superstar, the baseball cap, and the tracksuit comprise a significant portion of masculine dress in 2022 and have as interesting histories as that of the tailored suit.

Three mannequins pictured, a rocker look, skirt-suit sports look, and a boiler suit, all in pink.

The influence of sport, music, and working attire was regulated mostly to this section.

I would have also loved seeing the V&A tackle competing views of masculinity historically. In addition to focusing on an upper-class masculinity that prized gentility and pride, they could have explored the way the men of the working class, unable to achieve the upper class’s definition, fostered their own masculinity focused on physical labour and a rough demeanour. Items like the denim jeans, leather trousers, and the tank top/vest I would know as a “wife-beater,” each have interesting gendered connections to a different definition of the masculine.

Of course, there’s only so much you can focus on in a single exhibit and choices must always be made. However, with only brief mentions of huge categories of masculine wear like streetwear and sportswear, a more proper title might have been Fashioning Gentlemen rather than Fashioning Masculinity. The exhibit, of course, does not claim to cover all there is in the masculine, but I can’t help but feel that it could have used the opportunity to start a conversation about gender that included a wider net of people who identify as men.

My assessment?

Overall, I would say definitely go! There’s a lot to learn in this exhibit and the V&A always does a great job of teaching in a clear and interesting way. Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear will be at the V&A until 6 November 2022. If you’re not able to go to the exhibit, you can also listen to a podcast by Gucci speaking about the exhibit.

Painting of a man in body armour and an elaborate skirt with a sword.

If you are interested in learning a bit more broadly about men’s fashion, I’ve added a few links below.

Items: Is Fashion Modern: This is a more general book about fashion, but it has been one of my most recommended books in terms of jumping right into a practical understanding of clothes. Originally from a 2016 exhibit at the MoMA, the book goes through the history and significance of 111 common items of clothing including many that I mentioned in this article.

Bruce Lee’s Tracksuit: The tracksuit is a great example of masculine fashion developing through a combination of film icons, sportswear, and then later, hip-hop culture.

History of Basketball Sneakers: Chances are you’ve once owned a pair of Converses, Adidas Superstars, or Nike Air Force 1s. Here’s a helpful look at the development of these fashion statements alongside Basketball uniforms

Fashion History Timeline from FIT: This resource allows you to click on any time period and learn about both men’s and women’s fashion in that period.

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