Event 2 - Reigning Men

Lavish European 3-piece suit

On April 26th I attended the special exhibit Reigning Men at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). The exhibit explores the relationship between high fashion and its relation with femininity from the years 1715-2015. With over 200 looks, the exhibit puts on display an interesting evolution of male clothing and its linked definition of “masculinity.” The LACMA website discusses this evolution in their own exhibit by noting lavish three-piece suits worn by aristocrats in the 18th century that rival the opulence of female dresses. The exhibit then moved into the 19th century where male fashion consisted of a more refined and conservative look to exude an expensive elegance. Then the 20th century simply exploded with modern style and color from, “Carnaby Street, and the 21st century man” (LACMA, 2016).

How is this masculine...?

This all reminds me of CP Snow’s lecture Strangers and Brothers and his book The Two Cultures. The lectures original title wasThe Rich and The Poor. This grabbed my attention because the exhibit is primarily showing the fashion of the rich, which I thought of as an independent culture; however I am seeing many more cultures within one another. I know I am stretching his definition of culture, but it was fascinating to me since I am seeing an evolving culture of male fashion journey through outfits from extravagantly decorated 18th century French suits with ruffles and flowers to zoot suits in the 1940’s and through a punk rock movement in the mid to late 20th century.

Zoot Suit

It is interesting how the exhibit related fashion to masculinity; however it makes complete sense to me as each independent culture had an appropriate way to dress, and no matter how colorful or feminine we may think it is today, it was considered the most desirable and “alpha” way to dress at the time. As a new thought to Professor Vesna’s “Third Culture,” fashion can be thought of as an entirely separate culture with multiple cultures within it that have been influenced by the surrounding environment and time period.

Sources

 "Reigning Men." Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Yoox.com. Web. 09 May 2016. <http://www.lacma.org/ReigningMen>. 

 Adam Tschorn. "It's 'Reigning Men' at LACMA: Here's Your Sneak Peek at the Fashion Exhibition." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 2 Apr. 2016. Web. 09 May 2016. <http://www.latimes.com/fashion/la-ig-reigning-men-20160402-story.html>. 

Snow, Charles Percy The Two Cultures: and A Second Look. Reading. New York: Cambridge UP, 1963. Print

Snow, Charles Percy Strangers and Brothers. New York: Scribner, 1960. Print.

Vesna, Victoria. "Toward a Third Culture: Being in Between." Leonardo 34.2 (2001): 121-25. Web.


Images

http://www.latimes.com/fashion/la-ig-reigning-men-20160402-story.html

http://www.lacma.org/sites/default/files/styles/et_slideshow/public/et_image/12_M2014_87_5a-f.jpg?itok=7ahH8rW4

https://unframed.lacma.org/sites/default/files/attachments/5_%20ZOOT.jpg