Visitors at the Museum of the Fashion Institute of Technology are greeted in a dark, subterranean arena, where a red carpet directs them towards the fashion once worn by Oscar Wilde. Above a plaque reads, “Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.”

This new exhibition, entitled “A Queer History of Fashion: From Closet to the Catwalk” and co-curated by Fred Dennis and Valerie Steele, explores the LGBTQ community’s contribution to style and fashion in London and America from the 18th century to present day.

Aside from being acclaimed as one of the greatest Irish writers and poets, Wilde was notorious for his flamboyant style. He traded the traditional men’s suit for fur coats and velvet blazers. Mannequins, quotes, and facts about Wilde’s life consume the entire exhibition space.

The relationship between the gay community and the world of fashion is evident throughout the exhibit. Fashion seems to have always been a safe environment for members of the LGBTQ community. It is difficult to understand the roles of fashion and style without mentioning gay male designers who have made strong impacts on fashion trends within the past few centuries.

“This is about honoring the gay and lesbian designers of the past and present,” said Fred Dennis. “By acknowledging their contributions to fashion, we want to encourage people to embrace diversity.”

Pieces at the Museum range from a 1790s men’s three-piece suit paired with knee-length green suede shorts to an elegant leather bondage ball gown with cutouts and a cone-bra mini-dress by Jean-Paul Gaultier. Also displayed is a plain white t-shirt with the letters A.I.D.S. splattered across the chest, as well as a Miguel Adrover coat made from a discarded mattress.

“It is simply a fact that there are many more out gay male designers than out lesbian designers,” Valerie Steele responded when asked about potential future criticism on the lack of lesbian designers at the show. “We made a decision early on not to out living designers who chose not to be public about their sexual orientation.”

Though the fashion industry openly embraces the gay community, Wilde’s inclusion in the exhibition draws attention to a time where homosexuality was more guarded. Visitors learn that Yves Saint Laurent kept his homosexuality a secret until much later in his life, and that Christian Dior was terrified to come out to his mother. The exhibition claims to be “the first museum exhibit to explore in depth the significant contributions to fashion made by LGBTQ individuals over the past 300 years.”

“My co-curator Fred Dennis was adamant that we use the word queer in the title,” Steele said. “No one show can be fully representative of all the spectrum of styles, but I hope that our first historic overview will encourage other museums to mount shows that can feature more of contemporary life and thus more current LGBTQ styles.”

The free exhibition will run until January 4, 2014.

Fashion Institute of Technology
Seventh Avenue at 27th Street
New York City 10001

Hours:
Tuesday-Friday: noon-8pm
Saturday: 10am-5pm