Exhibitions/ American Woman

American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity

May 5–August 15, 2010

Exhibition Overview

American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity is the first Costume Institute exhibition drawn from the newly established Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at the Met. It explores developing perceptions of the modern American woman from 1890 to 1940 and how they have affected the way American women are seen today. Focusing on archetypes of American femininity through dress, the exhibition reveals how the American woman initiated style revolutions that mirrored her social, political, and sexual emancipation. "Gibson Girls," "Bohemians," and "Screen Sirens," among others, helped lay the foundation for today's American woman.


The exhibition is made possible by Gap.

Additional support is provided by Condé Nast.


Exhibition Objects





House of Lanvin (French, founded 1889). Evening Ensemble, spring/summer 1923. Silk, metal, rhinestones. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Designated Purchase Fund, 1984 (2009.300.1364a–c)