Explore 200 years of women’s fashion at New-York Historical Society this fall

Fancy gowns and celebrity outfits are no strangers to museum collections. But the everyday clothing found in closets across America typically gets overlooked by fashion exhibits.

A new show coming to the New-York Historical Society, titled "Real Clothes, Real Lives: 200 Years of What Women Wore,” changes that. The newly announced exhibit will feature everyday women’s clothing from the past two centuries, including a well-worn Depression-era house dress, a college girl’s psychedelic micro mini, and an Abercrombie & Fitch wool suit bought off-the-rack in NYC in 1917 that was remade into a Relief uniform worn behind enemy lines in France. See the exhibition from September 27, 2024, to June 22, 2025.

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The exhibition showcases a lot more than just contemporary style. It also digs into the fascinating history, economics and real stories behind everyday fashion, revealing how women have worked and dressed over two centuries. "Real Clothes" examines how women have influenced, adapted and defied societal expectations through the clothes they chose to make, purchase and alter.

"Clothing has always played a crucial role in women’s lives, reflecting their evolving roles, identities and social conditions," Louise Mirrer, president and CEO of New-York Historical, said in a press release. "This exhibition celebrates the impressive history and untold narratives embedded in our clothing." 

Clothing has always played a crucial role in women’s lives, reflecting their evolving roles, identities and social conditions.

The garments are drawn from the Smith College Historic Clothing Collection, an archive of the everyday fashion of American women. Costume design professor Kiki Smith guided the archive after its creation in 1979, and today it's home to more than 4,000 garments and accessories. Objects and images from New-York Historical will complement the outfits. 

"Each thread and length of fabric on view in this exhibition provides insightful clues about the women who wore these garments," Anna Danziger Halperin, associate director of the Center for Women’s History at New-York Historical, said in a statement. "By shining a light on the diverse roles women have played and the clothes they wore, we hope to underscore the social and cultural shifts that continue to shape our past."

Here are a few exhibition highlights

Home: All Work, No Pay

This section offers an homage to the practical garments worn to perform daily household tasks. Many of these garments bear signs of repeated use—worn cuffs, stains, patched holes—and tell stories of women’s daily toil: a black-and-white cotton work dress (ca. 1865-1870) in a “mourning print” that indicates it was worn by a widow; a red cotton chambray apron (ca. 1895-1915); and a portable lockstitch sewing machine (ca. 1890), an innovation that was hailed as a technological marvel that would “liberate” women when it became widely available in the 1850s.

Service: Capable and Accomplished

Next, see uniforms, clothing that strips away individuality by fusing the wearer with their profession. Items on view include a housemaid's worn-down pair of boots (ca. 1920), a bubblegum pink waitress uniform (ca. 1955), and a maternity uniform worn by a McDonald’s fast-food worker (ca. 1976).

Public Dress: In Good Taste

Learn how women in the 19th and 20th centuries of all social classes followed written and unwritten rules for public dress that were specific to their class, age, race, religion and locality. See a bustle-style day dress (1875-80) that was patched and remade multiple times, showcasing the resourcefulness and determination of a working woman during that era. An early 1970s pantsuit made by Wrangler, a company known for denim menswear, highlights the era when coordinated pantsuits became a style option for women in the workplace.

Rites of Passage: What She Wore

Discover the important role clothing plays in celebrating significant life events and how gendered traditions and social conventions have changed over time. Mourning earrings and a pin set made from materials like enamel, onyx and human hair highlight the strict dress codes of mourning in the 19th century that many women followed. A contemporary quinceañera dress (2019) reveals how a celebrant marking her 15th birthday with the party common in Latin American cultures broke with the tradition of wearing a ball gown style dress and jeweled tiara by choosing a short dress worn with white Converse sneakers and a floral crown instead.

Pushing the Boundaries: Rebel Wear

The final section embodies defiance against societal norms, depicting moments when women challenged restrictive rules through their clothing choices and actions. Whether protesting or defying traditional gender expectations, these garments symbolize the reshaping of societal standards. Items on view include a traditional men’s gray, two-piece suit (1920-1928), which was custom-made for an individual assigned female at birth. The suit is distinguished from men’s suits of the era by the small waist and deeply curved pleats. Also on view is a yellow micro mini dress from the late 1960s hand-made by a first-year college student, an outfit meant to challenge the restrictive boundaries set by a society being rocked by the civil rights, women’s liberation and anti-war movements.

Special programming 

Expect a variety of programming, including family-friendly events, during the run of the exhibition, including a weekly Cross Stitch Circle and story times with paper doll crafts. Mark your calendar for October 19 and 20 when you can watch as an 18th-century gown is made from start to finish over the course of two days.