Back by popular demand! We invite you to explore an exhibition from BGC’s past, French Fashion, Women and the First World War, and delve into the dynamic relationship between fashion, war, and gender politics in France during World War I. 

Tour Offerings:

Form Follows Function/Function Follows Form: Another Look at Women’s Fashion from World War I
Tuesday, May 4
2 pm
Pay What You Wish*

Explore how fashion can both inform and reflect social roles by tracing the changes in garments by female designers like Jeanne Lanvin (1867-1946), whose work directly responded to women’s changing roles, from the domestic sphere to those traditionally occupied by men. In addition to garments, we will consider caricatures and posters produced as a result of growing tension and anxiety between men and women due to changes in traditionally established gender roles.

Construction of the Female Identity in World War I France: Fashion and Its Repercussions
Wednesday, May 19
2 pm
Pay What You Wish*

In many Western countries, women’s roles shifted dramatically during World War I, and France was no exception. In this tour, you will learn about the changing identities of French women across all social strata through the lens of fashion. Examine how clothing, caricatures, and period photographs were employed to reflect and critique wartime reality.

Tour French Fashion, Women, and the First World War—en français!
Wednesday, June 2
2 pm
Pay What You Wish*
Tour in French 

Join Geoffrey Ripert, native French speaker and PhD student at Bard Graduate Center, for a tour of this exhibition en français! Ripert’s research interests center on eighteenth-century French decorative arts and the history of collecting. Before beginning his studies at BGC, he was the curatorial assistant for decorative arts at the Frick Collection, he worked for an art dealer in Paris, and he interned at Cooper Hewitt and the Louvre. Ripert holds an M.A. from the École du Louvre, an M.A. from the École Pratique des Hautes Études, and a B.A. from the Sorbonne.

*Any donation of $1 or more gratefully accepted!