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skirt, 2-piece

Object Details

Description
This micro-miniskirt was part of a “futuristic fashion” collection designed by Rudi Gernreich, featured in Life Magazine in 1970 and displayed at Expo ’70, a world’s fair in Osaka, Japan, although never produced and sold commercially. Gernreich, born in Austria in 1922, emigrated to the U.S. with his mother in 1938, fleeing Nazi persecution of Jews and settling in Los Angeles. Along with his then-partner, activist Harry Hay and others, he was a founding member of the Mattachine Society, an early LGBTQ/gay rights organization, around 1950. Gernreich first worked as a dancer and in costume design in Los Angeles, eventually becoming known for avant-garde fashion designs. Many of his clothes were “unisex,” intended for men and women alike, as he sought to detach clothing from gender—designing skirts for men, pants for women—and remove the stigma of nudity. His body conscious and often minimalist designs can be interpreted as celebrations of the body and statements against sexual repression.
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Cultural and Community Life: Costume
Clothing & Accessories
Exhibition
Girlhood
Exhibition Location
National Museum of American History
Date made
1970
ID Number
1986.0013.43
accession number
1986.0013
catalog number
1986.0013.43
Credit Line
Estate of Rudi Gernreich
designer
Gernreich, Rudi
subject
Fashion
Gender
Avant-garde (Aesthetics)
Gay liberation movement
Measurements
overall, flat: 9 in x 22 1/2 in; 22.86 cm x 57.15 cm
overall, mounted: 9 in x 18 1/2 in x 10 in; 22.86 cm x 46.99 cm x 25.4 cm
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Object Name
Skirt, 2-Piece
Record ID
nmah_375161
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b4-321a-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Related Object Groups

  • Girlhood (it’s complicated)

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3d model of skirt, 2-piece
3D Model
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