Sporting Fashion: Outdoor Girls 1800 to 1960

Sporting Fashion: Outdoor Girls 1800 to 1960 explores women’s ongoing negotiation of the demands of fashion, function, and feminine decorum. It is the first exhibition to consider the evolution of women’s sporting and leisure attire, revealing how clothing was designed to accommodate a variety of activities ranging from horseback riding to golfing to motorcycling. As both athletes and spectators, the innovative and stylish attire women wore helped break down the barriers that had isolated them from the then-male-dominated sporting world.

Clothing for cycling, motoring, and flying—often adapted from men’s athletic gear—reveal how women navigated open roads and skies. Women’s winter sports outfits show how apparel for pastimes such as skiing and skating protected female participants from the elements. Garments for swimming and tanning illustrate how designers and manufacturers responded to the increasing acceptance of exposed skin at beaches and pools.

Sporting Fashion is co-organized by the American Federation of Arts and the FIDM Museum at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, Los Angeles. Drawn from FIDM’s extensive collection, the exhibition features over 60 fully accessorized ensembles.