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Join us this fall for an exciting line-up of programs, including discussions with MacArthur “Genius” award winners, seminars on new scholarship in fashion history, maker workshops, and a performative runway show. These events expand on institutional research and themes explored in BGC Gallery’s forthcoming exhibition French Fashion, Women, and the First World War.
French Fashion, Women and the First World War, on View September 5, 2019–January 5, 2020, explores the the dynamic relationship between the war, the fashion industry, and gender roles. As women throughout France mobilized in support of the war effort, discussions about women’s fashion bore the symbolic weight of an entire society’s hopes and fears.
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Conversation Series
Fashion, Anxiety, and Society
Curated by Kristen J. Owens
Explore contemporary questions of gender, labor, justice, and subversion as they relate to fashion in this monthly conversation series.
Fashion, Anxiety, and Society: Gender
Thursday, September 19, 2019
6:30–8 pm
Bard Graduate Center Lecture Hall, 38 West 86 Street
Adults $8; Seniors/Students $5; Free for Members
With Margaret H. Darrow and Kate Strasdin, moderated by April Calahan and Cassidy Zachary, creators of Dressed: The History of Fashion podcast.
Fashion, Anxiety, and Society: Labor
Thursday, October 24, 2019
6:30–8 pm
Bard Graduate Center Lecture Hall, 38 West 86 Street
Adults $8; Seniors/Students $5; Free for Members
With Marissa Nuncio and Elizabeth Wissinger; conversation curated and moderated by Sara Ziff.
Fashion, Anxiety, and Society: Justice
Thursday, November 14, 2019
6:30–8 pm
Bard Graduate Center Lecture Hall, 38 West 86 Street
Adults $8; Seniors/Students $5; Free for Members
With Rikki Byrd, Rhea Combs, and Tanisha C. Ford.
Fashion, Anxiety, and Society: Subversion
Thursday, December 12, 2019
6:30–8 pm
Bard Graduate Center Lecture Hall, 38 West 86 Street
Adults $8; Seniors/Students $5; Free for Members
With Lucia Cuba, Fawn Krieger, and Otto von Busch.
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Curator’s Spotlight Tour
Saturday, September 7, 2019
12–1:30 pm
Bard Graduate Center Gallery, 18 West 86 Street
$8 Adults/$5 Students and Seniors/Free for Members
Come to a special tour of the exhibition French Fashion, Women, and the First World War led by curators Maude Bass-Krueger (BGC PhD 2016) and Sophie Kurkdjian. Learn about the fashions that defined this pivotal moment in French history, including never-before-seen garments from the archives of major designers such as Jeanne Lanvin and Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel; mourning wear; and clothing worn by nurses, ambulance drivers, and remplaçantes (women who took on jobs previously done by men who were now away at the Front).
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Ice Cream Social
Saturday, September 21, 2019
12–3 pm
Bard Graduate Center Gallery, 18 West 86 Street
FREE, but supplies are limited!
Celebrate with us as we host an afternoon of festivities to celebrate BGC’s 25th anniversary, including free ice cream treats (including vegan options!). The afternoon will feature making and reading room activities, gallery tours, and more special events for the whole family. Ice cream subject to availability, so please arrive early for best enjoyment.
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Adult Workshop: Make-Your-Own JUMPSUIT
Conducted by the Rational Dress Society
Saturday, September 21, 2019
12–4 pm
Bard Graduate Center Gallery, 18 West 86 Street
$45
What if you never had to pick out an outfit again? What if you had a JUMPSUIT—an ungendered monogarment—for every day of the week? The Rational Dress Society suggests that the rejection of choice (otherwise defined as the yoke of relentless consumption within the capitalist paradigm) might reveal greater possibilities and better ways of living.
In this workshop, you will learn to construct your own JUMPSUIT, following a pattern designed by the Rational Dress Society. During the workshop, instructors from the Rational Dress Society will teach you about the origins of modern counter-fashion and the contemporary garment industry.
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Fashion Show
The Rational Dress Society Presents a History of Counter-Fashion
Co-presented by Bard Graduate Center and the Museum of Arts and Design
Saturday, September 28, 2019
4 pm
The Theater at MAD, 2 Columbus Circle
$10 General Admission; $5 Students, Seniors, and Members
It’s a fashion runway like you have never seen. Rational Dress Society co-founders Abigail Glaum-Lathbury and Maura Brewer invite you to participate in a collective re-imagining of our relationship to dress. The Rational Dress Society Presents a History of Counter-Fashion is a performance lecture and fashion presentation that chronicles a history of revolutionary and counter-fashion from the late 1700s to the present day. Ten models, each wearing an example of historical counter-fashion, will provide a live demonstration of each garment, walking the runway to an original score composed by Michael Webster.
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Conversation Series
MacArthur x BGC: What is Research?
Research may well be the key word in our contemporary knowledge culture, with global investment in research across all industries exceeding an estimated $1 trillion, and its importance acknowledged by governments, industry, and academia around the world. Yet, the idea of research, the practice of research, and the social life of research is not a subject of reflection. Of the 164 million items in the catalogue of the Library of Congress, only 43 fall into the category “Research—History.” To begin the task of understanding research, Bard Graduate Center has gathered a group of artists, scientists, and humanists—all MacArthur “Genius” Award winners—for three evenings of discussion moderated by Dean Peter Miller.

Supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Thursday, October 3, 2019
6–8 pm
Bard Graduate Center Lecture Hall, 38 West 86 Street
FREE with RSVP
With biomedical researcher Elodie Ghedin, designer Mimi Lien, and photographer and filmmaker An-My Lê.
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
6–8 pm
Bard Graduate Center Lecture Hall, 38 West 86 Street
FREE with RSVP
With artist Tom Joyce, physicist Hideo Mabuchi, and neuroscientist Sheila Nirenberg.
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
6–8 pm
Bard Graduate Center Lecture Hall, 38 West 86 Street
FREE with RSVP
With physicist Danielle Bassett and choreographer Elizabeth Streb.
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Non-Credit Course
New Perspectives on French Fashion History
This course highlights new research by emerging fashion scholars. Come to just one session or take all five and learn about the history of fashion display in Parisian department stores and in presentations at World’s Fairs, the transformative impact World War I had on the French fashion industry, cultural shifts brought about by the introduction of ready-made fashion in the 1950s and 60s, and much more.
Take all five sessions and save! $450 Adults; $375 Students and Educators; $350 BGC Members
Fashion on Display, 1900–1937
Monday, October 7, 2019
7–9 pm
Bard Graduate Center, Classroom 538, 38 West 86 Street
$100 Adults; $85 Students and Educators; $75 BGC Members
Taught by Paula Alaszkiewicz.
War Time Fashion
Monday, October 14, 2019
7–9 pm
Bard Graduate Center, Classroom 538, 38 West 86 Street
$100 Adults; $85 Students and Educators; $75 BGC Members
Taught by Maude Bass-Krueger.
Gender and Ready-Made Clothing
Monday, October 21, 2019
7–9 pm
Bard Graduate Center, Classroom 538, 38 West 86 Street
$100 Adults; $85 Students and Educators; $75 BGC Members
Taught by Alexis Romano.
Fashion and Labor in Nineteenth-Century France
Monday, October 28, 2019
7–9 pm
Bard Graduate Center, Classroom 538, 38 West 86 Street
$100 Adults; $85 Students and Educators; $75 BGC Members
Taught by Susan Hiner.
Constructing Femininity
Monday, November 4, 2019
7–9 pm
Bard Graduate Center, Classroom 538, 38 West 86 Street
$100 Adults; $85 Students and Educators; $75 BGC Members
Taught by Francesca Granata.
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BGC Late: Jazz & Conversation in the Gallery
Join us for BGC Late (the series formerly known as First Wednesdays)! Enjoy cool jazz, warm vibes, and a glass of wine; see the exhibition and learn from provocative conversations inspired by the objects on view. Gene Perla and the fantastic musicians he brings together start playing at 6 pm. Conversation begins at 7 pm.
Women Designers: Chanel, Lanvin, and Boué Soeurs
Thursday, October 10
6–8 pm
Bard Graduate Center Gallery, 18 West 86 Street
FREE, but space is limited.
With fashion scholars Waleria Dorogova, Rhonda Garelick, and Mellissa Huber.
Fashion and Female Suffrage
Organized by the Fashion Research Network
Thursday, November 7
6–8 pm
Bard Graduate Center Gallery, 18 West 86 Street
FREE, but space is limited.
With a consortium of early-career fashion scholars from Fashion Research Network.
Fashion, War, Displacement, and Immigration
Thursday, December 5
6–8 pm
Bard Graduate Center Gallery, 18 West 86 Street
FREE, but space is limited
With fashion scholar Nancy Green.
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