Dressing the Goddesses: Wardrobe Departments in the Silent Era

A lecture by Emma Cormack (BGC)

The stunning garments worn on the silent-era silver screen relied on thousands of workers—primarily women—who labored in Hollywood studio wardrobe departments. While some film-worn garments from the silent era survive today, the names of the employees who created them typically went unrecorded. Drawing on archival footage, period press coverage, and photographs from wardrobe departments in New York and Hollywood, Goddesses in the Machine cocurator Emma Cormack will explore the critical role that these women played in the emerging studio system. She will also spotlight a durational project that accompanies the exhibition: BGC doctoral students Sydney Maresca (a costume designer) and Jaya Misra (a textile conservator) are reconstructing two film-worn gowns from 1921 and 1926—both on display in BGC’s Gallery—in order to produce new knowledge about the garments, their designers, and the makers.

$15 General | $12 Seniors | Free for people associated with a college or university, people with museum ID, people with disabilities and caregivers, and BGC members

Image: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Vine Street, Hollywood, wardrobe department, 1925. Marc Wanamaker/Bison Archives.