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The clothes we put on our bodies every day don't just keep us warm or covered or in fashion. They also say something. Clothing conveys meaning—sometimes in direct ways like "I'm mourning" and sometimes in indirect ways like "screw the status quo."
A new exhibit titled "Real Clothes, Real Lives: 200 Years of What Women Wore" at the New-York Historical Society digs into how clothing has played a crucial role in the lives of everyday women. The exhibit, on view through June 22, 2025, explores how women have influenced, adapted and defied societal expectations through clothing. See a wide array of women's clothing, from a Depression-era house dress to a psychedelic micro mini to an Abercrombie & Fitch wool suit from in 1917. Unlike most other women's fashion exhibitions, there's not a ball gown in sight, and that's exactly what makes this show so special.
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"Real Clothes, Real Lives" is organized thematically. One section focuses on items worn at home that "tell stories of women's daily toil" with their worn cuffs and patched elbows. One standout piece is a black housedress and apron dating back to 1953; women would have worn it for suppertime, a slightly fancier look than their day-to-day apparel. Another section showcases women's workwear, including a domestic worker uniform dating to the early 1900s, a bubblegum pink 1950s waitress uniform, and a maternity version of a McDonald's uniform from the 1980s.
"It's a really welcoming show. All of the garments are real people who you could have met on the street or in the hospital hallways or in a restaurant or passing through somebody's house," Anna Danziger Halperin, associate director of the Center for Women’s History at New-York Historical, tells Time Out New York. "It feels very accessible. These are clothes that are extraordinary, but they're also very ordinary."
These are clothes that are extraordinary, but they're also very ordinary.
The exhibition pays homage to overalls, a style that has endured the decades with variations from a durable chambray garment for housework to a chic checked pattern for vacation. You'll also see a spotlight on the 1972 go-go dancer beaded costume worn by Pamela Bostelmann who was motivated by Gloria Steinem's 1963 article about being a Playboy Bunny. She agreed with Steinem's conviction "that women should be free to choose what they want to do with their bodies."
Rule-breakers get the spotlight, too. One part of the exhibit spotlights “Rebelwear,” meaning clothes that represent the countless ways women defy, challenge and surpass the restrictive boundaries set by society. From appropriating menswear to donning a micro-mini to wearing shirts with slogans like “Ratify the ERA,” clothing can make a political statement.
All the pieces in the exhibition are drawn from the Smith College Historic Clothing Collection, an archive of the everyday clothing of American women—a subject often neglected in museum exhibitions. Halperin worked alongside fellow NYHS Curator Keren Ben-Horin and Smith College curators Rebecca Shea and Kiki Smith to create the powerful exhibit.
"Real Clothes, Real Lives" ends with a mirror and text reading, "What do your clothes reveal about your life?" Guests are welcome to add their thoughts to a guestbook or on social media.
We are all historical actors in our own time.
"It helps show how important everybody is. We are all historical actors in our own time," Halperin says. "I hope it helps people feel like they have a place in history, too."