in. femme fashion 1780 - 2004

From 18 October to 14 December 2003, the Museum of Applied Art in Cologne shows the exhibition körpernah - körperfern : Modelling of the female form in Fashion. It focuses on constructing femininity through the changing periods of fashion. Clothing, particularly for women, has served as an expression of the wearer’s own identity for centuries, reflecting with a high degree of symbolic power personal preferences, but also social structures and sexual categories. During the centuries, the sartorial code did not only produce an important effect for the lady in question, but also appears as artistic mean of presenting oneself in the most favourable light. The exhibition wants to establish a clearer definition of the relationship between femininity and body modelling by fashion and to demonstrate it in a fascinating way for the visitors. Representative exhibits, which are primarily taken from the collection of the Museum of Applied Art, are providing an insight into the aesthetic ideals – which are frequently defined by fashion itself – as well as into the shaping of these ideals in the contours of the female form. Selected examples from various periods of fashion such as the rococo, the empire or the belle époque are directing the focus of the visitor on the corresponding fashionable “look” of the European lady. The exhibition understands the costumes first and foremost as signs and witnesses of their own particular era. They call to mind the historic development of the female silhouette and its modelling and shaping under the formative influence of fashion.