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Keyword

Dress Up

Start Date 13 April 2024
End Date 02 September 2024
Venue Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Location Boston,USA
Curator Theo Tyson, Emily Stoehrer, Rita J. Kaplan, Penny Vinik,and Susan B.
Martin Parr, Dakar (detail), 2001. Chromogenic print, (Lambda print). Gift of Jesse H. Wilkinson—Jesse H. Wilkinson Fund. © Martin Parr / Magnum Photos.
Hattie Carnegie, silk flower brooch, 1960–69. Gilt metal, enamel glass, silk. Gift of Carole Tanenbaum.
Henri Cartier-Bresson, Foley’s Department Store, Houston, Texas, USA, 1957. Gelatin silver print. Gift of Charles T. and Alma Isaacs. © Henri Cartier-Bresson/Magnum Photos.

Our choice of dress can make a political statement, express a mood, or communicate personal identities. Through more than 100 works from the MFA’s collection including 20th- and 21st-century clothing, jewellery, accessories, illustrations, and photographs, this exhibition explores adornment and its role in the creation of a look.

Jewellery and fashion are given equal attention here; there is no delineation between the two to encourage thinking of jewellery as fashion and fashion as jewellery. Objects with beads, sequins, and sparkle blur the lines between each genre and help visitors consider how and where the two can—and do—intersect.

Images courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Photo by © Martin Parr / Magnum Photos. © Henri Cartier-Bresson/Magnum Photos.