New Exhibition Highlights Fashionable Silhouettes, From the Ideal to the Real
by Lauren D. Whitley
Historic Deerfield’s exhibition Body by Design: Fashionable Silhouettes From the Ideal to the Real has generated significant traffic in the newly renovated Textile Gallery since it opened. The show draws on Historic Deerfield’s superb collection of clothing and features 25 ensembles, dating from the 18th century to today, along with the understructures—stays, corsets, hoops skirts, bustles, and even a Spanx “body shaping” garment—that helped create fashionable silhouettes. The show includes several contemporary pieces displayed alongside early clothing to illustrate the enduring human interest in shaping our bodies to particular ideals and allows visitors to connect with material culture in novel ways.
Body By Design follows a loose chronological arrangement beginning with the 18th century and its artificial shapes and ornamented surfaces. The earliest and the most extreme silhouette in the show is a formal dress dated to the mid-1760s (figure 1). Its dramatic wide skirts were achieved with panniers (hooped petticoats), an example of which is on view thanks to a loan from Colonial Williamsburg.
Figure 1. Formal dress (robe à la Française), 1765–70, French or Dutch. Brocaded silk with knotted silk fringe and linen lining. Historic Deerfield, HD F.355.
Early-19th-century clothing, such as a woman’s sheer columnar cotton dress and a man’s tailored navy wool coat and leather breeches, illuminate the Neoclassical period’s entirely different relationship to the body, one distinguished by an interest in a more natural form.
Figure 2. Left to right: Man’s coat, about 1810–15, English, worn in America. Wool broadcloth, cotton lining, wool interfacing. Historic Deerfield, HD 87.834; Breeches, 1780–90, American, Leather. Loan courtesy of Historic Northampton, Northampton, MA, 2023.48.2; Woman’s dress, about 1810, Worn in America (fabric probably made in India). Plain and gauze weave cotton, chain stitch embroidery. Historic Deerfield, HD V.053B; Evening dress, about 1925, American. Silk plain weave crepe with rhinestones. Historic Deerfield, HD 94.800.
Other sections of the show explore fashion cycles emphasizing certain parts of the body. Silk dresses from the 1830s and 1890s showcase enormous sleeves, made possible through mechanisms such as sleeve puffs and internal metal frames (figure 3). Wide hips and small waists were the fashion in the 1850s and 1860s as skirts expanded using new materials such as spring steel and the invention of the cage crinoline. In the 1870s and 1880s, the desire for fullness moved to the rear, with metal bustles creating a dramatic shelf-like extension off the back of gowns.
Figure 3. Left to right: Corset, 1830-35, American or English. Plain weave cotton, cotton cording, brass eyelets. Historic Deerfield, HD V.079n4; Dress, about 1830, American. Silk taffeta. Historic Deerfield, HD 1999.4.1; Sleeve plumper, 1820-30, English. Cotton plain weave, down feathers, linen tape. Historic Deerfield, HD 2015.12.1; Designed by Mme. Grès (1903–93), Evening dress, late 1970s, French. Silk taffeta. Collection of The Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC. Museum Purchase: Auxiliary Costume Fund. 1997.125a-b; Sleeve supporters, about 1895, American. Steel with cotton tapes. Historic Deerfield, HD 1999.4.1ab; Dress, about 1895, possibly French. Silk faille with brocaded silk satin. Historic Deerfield, HD V.005.
By providing essential funds through the Dean F. Failey Fund for the professional preparing and mounting of objects, the Decorative Arts Trust played a pivotal role in Body By Design’s success, allowing us to achieve historically-correct silhouettes and a visual display with tremendous impact. Body by Design is on view until January 4, 2026. It is included with general admission to Historic Deerfield.
Lauren D. Whitley, PhD, is the Curator of Historic Textiles and Clothing at Historic Deerfield.
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Formerly known as the "blog,” the Bulletin features new research and scholarship, travelogues, book reviews, and museum and gallery exhibitions. The Bulletin complements The Magazine of the Decorative Arts Trust, our biannual members publication.
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