Un vestiaire à soi. Féminités dissidentes au 19e siècle

The exhibition A Wardrobe of One’s Own: Dissident Femininities in the 19th Century explores a central but often overlooked phenomenon in the history of fashion: the appropriation by 19th‑century women—particularly in France and the Anglo‑Saxon world—of the sartorial codes of men’s fashion of their time.

The exhibition reveals how these increasingly pronounced borrowings from the male wardrobe accompanied a drive to transform women’s place in society, linked to sporting practices, social struggles and expressions of minority identities, through travesty and cross‑dressing.

The route juxtaposes emblematic garments and accessories: riding habits (amazone costumes), trousers, tailored suits, ties, bows and top hats. The exhibition also presents paintings, photographs and fashion posters that deepen the understanding of the cultural and social meanings of contemporary styles, and underscores how the masculinization of women’s dress in the 19th century put gender binaries to the test. The dialogue between these ensembles refreshes our view of the evolution of 19th‑century women’s fashion, showing how dissident practices—from women wearing men’s suits to the dress practices of the Paris‑Lesbos scene around 1900—fed the continual redefinition of the period’s female wardrobe.

Throughout the visit, visitors encounter major historical figures, from Marie‑Antoinette to Natalie Clifford Barney, as well as George Sand and Rosa Bonheur, alongside anonymous individuals revealed by a previously unpublished corpus of amateur photographs. Rich in more than 350 works, the exhibition invites reflection on the role of clothing and fashion in the transformation of social roles and gender identities in the 19th century.