Bard Graduate Center is devoted to the study of decorative arts, design history, and material culture through research, advanced degrees, exhibitions, publications, and events.
Description
When films were silent, fashion spoke volumes. Goddesses in the Machine reveals the untold story of costume and style in early Hollywood, from actors wearing their own clothes to the birth of the movie costume designer. The first major exhibition to explore fashion in American silent film, Goddesses in the Machine shows how silent films transformed fashion from personal expression into powerful storytelling, creating the blueprint for modern movie glamour. Bringing together a selection of rare surviving objects from the advent of cinema, the exhibition highlights the behind-the-scenes work of famous designers such as Travis Banton, Henri Bendel, Clare West, and Lucile, Lady Duff-Gordon, as well as lesser-known names including Madame Frances, I. Miller, Natacha Rambova, and Lilian St. Cyr. A vibrant display of ensembles and accessories at the Bard Graduate Center Gallery will be enriched by accompanying film clips and works on paper including photographs, posters, film stills, and costume design sketches.
September 18, 2026 – January 3, 2027
18 West 86th Street
Gallery Hours:
Monday: Closed
Tuesday: 11am-5pm
Wednesday: 11am-6pm
Thursday: 11am-5pm
Friday: 11am-8pm *free admission all day
Saturday-Sunday: 11am-5pm
Save $3 on all tickets purchased online by using promo code BGCFA26
Groups of 10 or more must schedule a private tour by contacting gallery.desk@bgc.bard.edu.
Support for Goddesses in the Machine: Fashion in American Silent Film is generously provided by the Coby Foundation, the Wyeth Foundation for American Art, and other donors to Bard Graduate Center.
Curated by Michelle Finamore, independent fashion and design historian; and Emma Cormack, Associate Curator for Exhibitions and Study Collection Curator at Bard Graduate Center.
Banner images: I. Miller, shoes, mid-1920s. Silk satin and leather. Jimmy Raye Collection. Photograph by Joel Benjamin; Detail of Florence Lawrence (1886–1938) in A Girlish Impulse (Lubin Manufacturing Company, 1911), 1911. Courtesy of the Free Library of Philadelphia, Theatre Collection.
Date & Time
Sep 18, 2026 - Jan 3, 2027
Venue Details
BARD GRADUATE CENTER GALLERY
18 West 86th StreetNew York, New York 10024
