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"I&amp;#x27;ve always believed that fashion is cyclical and everything old becomes new again, but this morning&amp;#x27;s walk through the Met Costume Institute&amp;#x27;s new exhibit, &amp;quot;American Woman: Fashioning A National Identity&amp;quot; was one part history lesson, one part reminder that you should never, ever throw away designer clothes, because as soon as you do, they&amp;#x27;re bound to come back around...The exhibit chronicles &amp;quot;developing perceptions of the modern American woman from 1890 to 1940 and how they have affected the way American women are seen today. Focusing on archetypes of American femininity through dress, the exhibition will reveal how the American woman initiated style revolutions that mirrored her social, political, and sexual emancipation. &amp;#x27;Gibson Girls, &amp;#x27;Bohemians,&amp;#x27; and &amp;#x27;Screen Sirens,&amp;#x27; among others, helped lay the foundation for today&amp;#x27;s American woman.&amp;quot; But as I walked through each gallery, photographing the stunning archival pieces from the Costume Institute&amp;#x27;s extensive collection, all I could think about was how very relevant the clothes still feel today. In fact, in each room I discovered a piece that made a recent appearance on a red carpet, proving that we live in an era of truly referential fashion: The portion of the exhibit dedicated to &amp;quot;The Heiress&amp;quot; was all about the 1890s, and the exceptionally well-pedigreed girls whose new family money allowed them to shop at the House of Worth and lead a lifestyle of luxury. Claire Danes in Valentino isn&amp;#x27;t too far off, huh? In the early 1900s, Charles Dana Gibson&amp;#x27;s sketches helped define &amp;quot;The Gibson Girl,&amp;quot; newly liberated through her participation in sports like golf, cycling, and sailing. That sailor-inspired outfit you&amp;#x27;re looking at on the left is actually a bathing suit (and you thought the modern-day version was torture!), but the nautical influence is still being felt all over the runways, the red carpet, and in our everyday lives. &amp;quot;The Bohemian&amp;quot; was characterized by her patronage of the arts and her casual-elegant wardrobe, including a pair of silk harem pants by Callot Soeurs. The always-fashion forward Diane Kruger wore her own nod to that era not long ago! Sign up for Glamour.com&amp;amp;#8217;s Style Tips of the Week and Beauty Tip of the Day newsletters! &amp;quot;The Flapper&amp;quot; made her appearance in the 1920s and redefined glamour for the American woman--smoking, drinking, gambling, and running around with boys were all part of the fun, but it was the cloche hats, sequined dresses, and fringe-y skirts that really made this decade memorable. Can you believe how closely Kate Bosworth&amp;#x27;s Sonia Rykiel number resembles this 1928 evening dress? Moving into the golden era of moviemaking, &amp;quot;The Screen Siren&amp;quot; was represented by Marlene Dietrich and Jean Harlow, all draped in gorgeous gowns by Jeanne Lanvin, Charles James, and Mrs. Eta Hentz. Gold gowns were a huge trend at this year&amp;#x27;s Oscars--the modern day screen siren has more in common with their old Hollywood counterparts than just talent. Pretty cool to see American fashion through that kind of lens, isn&amp;#x27;t it? If you&amp;#x27;re in New York this spring, you must check out the exhibition--get all of the details here, then tell us...which of these eras is your favorite? When do you think you&amp;#x27;d have fit into the &amp;quot;American Woman&amp;quot; timeline? And are you planning on stopping by the Costume Institute to see this display? Discuss! PLUS! Your vicarious ticket to the Met Gala: Gap&amp;#x27;s limited edition T-shirts More Ways to Get Glamour You could win $50,000 just for registering or logging in to Glamour.com! Add Glamour to your iGoogle homepage Follow Slaves to Fashion on Twitter! Visit Shopglamour.com for cute stuff starting at just $10! Enter the latest Glamour sweepstakes! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/fashion/blogs/dressed/2010/05/your-sneak-peek-inside-america>