[Exhibition] M&others at the Modemuseum Hasselt

Hello, something from the vaults today: last year I had the pleasure to see a number of fashion exhibitions in Europe, and much belated, here’s a short report on one focused on maternity fashion, at the wonderful Modemuseum in Hasselt, Belgium.

Motherhood is an event that can temporarily and permanently change a woman’s body, and reflects a range of social and cultural attitudes in dress from warm femininity to shame. Pregnancy and breast-feeding requires clothing to adapt, almost daily – and for much of our history, these clothes were designed to resemble the fashion of the day, making the significant event almost invisible. In more recent times, it’s been more socially acceptable and even celebrated.

In my work with vintage clothing, I’ve prized the rare examples I’ve found of maternity fashion: sometimes they champion their purpose, with loose styles, knit fabrics, panels designed to expand…smocks are easy to identify, but often they can be mistaken for ordinary clothes.

One 1950s mother told me that she just wore the same clothes she always preferred, albeit in increasingly large sizes adjusted by the matching self-covered belt. The dresses she showed me were not dissimilar to regular ’50s styles, just bigger than the rest of her wardrobe – one, a navy and white polka dot silk dress by Flinders Lane label ‘Leroy’ I like so much, it’s found a place in my own wardrobe… you can see me wearing it at the Wintersun festival in 2010 here. I actually have quite a few maternity dresses in my vintage wardrobe because they’re designed for curves.

Here are some snaps from the Modemuseum exhibition. I hope you enjoy. You’ll note that many appear to be just regular fashion of the time: evidence of the success of the couturiers in hiding their special function.

I’m glad that pregnancy is no longer viewed as something that the public needs to be protected from.