Cape c. 1937

Editor: This is Al Curry's "Cape," made around 1937 with watercolor and colored pencils. The garment design feels formal but also a little fantastical. What strikes you when you look at it? Curator: The "Cape" is so evocative. Considering it was made in the late 1930s, I immediately think about the sociopolitical context of that era – a period marked by economic hardship and anxieties leading up to the Second World War. Do you see how the design references historical garments, perhaps from the Victorian era or even earlier? It makes me think of how clothing could serve as both armor and disguise. Editor: Armor and disguise... interesting. I hadn't considered it in that light. It just seemed pretty. So, you are suggesting this decorative piece reflects anxieties beyond pure aesthetics? Curator: Absolutely. The meticulous detail, rendered in such delicate mediums, also speaks to a specific kind of labor – often gendered and undervalued. Who were the people making and wearing such clothes? What did the garment symbolize for them? Remember, fashion is never just about surface appearance; it’s about identity, power, and resistance, and more broadly about human expression and identity throughout time. Editor: So, by examining an object seemingly as straightforward as a cape, we can unpack entire historical narratives related to gender, class, and even global conflict? Curator: Exactly! It pushes us to question what "decorative arts" really mean. What if fashion is an untapped reservoir through which one can observe societal change? Editor: That gives me a lot to think about! I will never look at a fashion drawing the same way again! Curator: That’s the beauty of art – and a culturally relevant contextual framework: it's not about what we see, but what we learn to ask.