At a particularly creative moment in men’s fashion, Fashioning Masculinities, a new exhibition is now on at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. The show takes us on a journey through the finer elements of men’s fashion from the past 500 years – focusing on how the interpretation of masculinity has evolved through fashion over time.

Beautifully co-curated by Claire Wilcox and Rosalind McKever, we are presented with 100 outfits and 100 artworks, split across three galleries, Undressed, Overdressed and Redressed. Outfits by designers including Gucci, Alexander McQueen, Craig Green, and Jean-Paul Gaultier are shown alongside historical outfits from the V & A’s fashion archives, classic sculptures, contemporary photographs, film, and dance videos, and Renaissance paintings. A full gamut of queer icons are represented including Tom of Finland, Billy Porter, Oscar Wilde, Marlene Dietrich and Tom Ford. Even Bimini Bon-Boulash’s wedding dress from Season 2 of Drag Race UK is given space. The curators describe the show as follows: “Masculine fashion is enjoying a period of unprecedented creativity. It has long been a powerful mechanism for encouraging conformity or expressing individuality. Rather than a linear or definitive history, this is a journey across time and gender. The exhibition brings together historical and contemporary looks with art that reveals how masculinity has been performed. This is a celebration of the masculine wardrobe, and everyone is invited to join in.”

We begin in the Undressed gallery which reviews the history of the idealized male body, and the role of the body and underwear on influencing masculinity. Interestingly, there was very little evolution in what used to be generally considered an ideal male body from classical Graeco-Roman times through to Calvin Klein models advertising underwear in the 1990s. It’s only in the past decade or so that thankfully most people have a broader outlook on what is considered an ideal male body. In his introduction to the exhibition, Alessandro Michele, the Creative Director of Gucci (who sponsors the exhibition) notes, “In a patriarchal society, masculine gender-identity is often moulded by violently toxic stereotypes…It’s time to celebrate a man who is free to practice self-determination, without social constraints, without authoritarian sanctions, without suffocating stereotypes.” A highlight in this section is a film of Matthew Bourne’s Spitfire (1988) performed by New Adventures dancers, which takes place in the world of men’s underwear advertising and mail order catalog photography.

 

 

The second gallery, Overdressed, explores how those men most devoted to fashion have dressed over the past 500 years. This gallery is a feast of fine luxury fabrics, extravagant prints and textures and striking silhouettes. Each century has had periods of over-the-top menswear and it’s interesting to note that the current rather gender fluid, flamboyant style of dressing has been with us before. For example, for centuries all shades of pink were associated with men’s fashion rather than women’s – this only changed in Victorian times.

 

The third gallery, Redressed, examines the role and evolution of the men’s suit – both construction and deconstruction – including interesting sections on leatherwear and also frockcoats. Outfits in this section include those by Rick Owens, Comme des Garcons and Raf Simons, as well as images ranging from Oscar Wilde to The Beatles.

One of the best fashion exhibitions I have seen.

9/10

 

Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear
THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON
EXHIBITION On now until Sunday, 6 November 2022

 

 

Review: Ris Fatah 

Queerguru Contributing Editor Ris Fatah is a successful fashion/luxury business consultant  (when he can be bothered) who divides and wastes his time between London and Ibiza. He is a lover of all things queer, feminist, and human rights in general. @ris.fatah