Bending the Rules: Dress and Power in the Jazz Age
- Lecture
John C. and Sally S. Morley Family Foundation Lecture Hall
Muse with Violin Screen (detail), c. 1930. Rose Iron Works, Inc. (American, Cleveland, est. 1904). Paul Fehér (Hungarian, 1898–1990), designer. Wrought iron, brass; silver and gold plating; 156.2 x 156.2 cm. The Cleveland Museum of Art, On Loan from the Rose Iron Works Collections, LLC, 352.1996. © Rose Iron Works Collections, LLC
About The Event
In the 1920s, a new woman was born. She could vote, smoke, and determine her own destiny, and she took pride in taking risks and bending the rules. Join us for an exploration of the relationship between fashion and female freedom during the Jazz Age. Focusing on the image of the flapper and her fashions, Einav Rabinovitch-Fox, visiting assistant professor of history at Case Western Reserve University, will discuss how women used clothing and appearance as a means for expressing and negotiating their new political, social, and sexual power in the postwar period. The discussion will draw from the current exhibition The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s and beyond to examine the important role that fashion played in shaping women’s experiences of modernity by providing a route for claiming power and independence.
Free; ticket required.