His and Hers

His & Hers explored the relationship between gender and fashion over 250 years. Clothing can act as an immediate signifier of gender however, while making distinctions between masculine and feminine styles of clothing may seem natural, gendering is not a biological phenomenon. The exhibition discussed the changing ideas of "appropriate" attire for each gender; it also included examples of so-called unisex and androgynous fashion. More than 100 garments, accessories, and textiles from the Museum's permanent collection were featured chronologically, from a seemingly "feminine" 18th-century man's velvet suit to a woman's "power suit" from the 1980s. Also included were works by innovative designers such as Giorgio Armani, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Gianni Versace, and Vivienne Westwood.