As visitors enter the University of Rhode Island’s Textiles Gallery in Quinn Hall, the first item that catches their eye is a set of lotus shoes—small, delicately embroidered with flowers in red, green, and black. These shoes, worn by women whose feet were bound as children, were once a symbol of beauty in Chinese culture, despite the severe physical limitations they caused.
“Small feet were highly prized, even though they caused great pain and restricted movement,” said Linda Welters, professor of Textiles, Fashion Merchandising, and Design at URI.
The shoes, juxtaposed with a late 19th-century corset from the Royal Worcester Corset Company, invite viewers to reflect on the extreme lengths to which women have historically gone to conform to societal standards. However, this striking imagery is only a starting point for the exhibit, “Fashioning East and West: The Cross-Culture of Materials, Methods, and Meanings,” which explores a broader narrative of cultural exchange between Eastern and Western fashion.
“Using an eye-catching object like the lotus shoes draws people in,” said Susan Jerome, manager of URI’s Historic Textile & Costume Collection. “It prompts visitors to think about how cultures interact through fashion.”
The exhibit features more than 20 garments and accessories from China, Japan, and Korea, selected from URI’s extensive collection of over 25,000 items. Curated by graduate students in URI’s Textiles, Fashion Merchandising, and Design program, the exhibit delves into the social, political, and economic forces that shape fashion across cultures.
“We wanted to emphasize that fashion is not just about the West borrowing from the East,” said Aileen Valerio, a graduate student from Robbinsville, New Jersey, who helped curate the exhibit. “It’s also about the mutual influence between cultures.”
Welters conceived the exhibit to broaden students’ understanding of fashion beyond Western norms. “Fashion has long been associated with the West, but Eastern fashion has a rich history that’s often overlooked,” she said. “We wanted to present both Eastern and Western fashion traditions on equal footing.”
The exhibit highlights the bidirectional nature of cultural exchange. For instance, a Japanese yukata displayed in the exhibit was modified for Western tastes in the mid-1800s with a pleat in the back to accommodate a bustle-style skirt. This adaptation later found its way back to Japan as Western fashion became more influential.
Similarly, a Japanese silk pajama set decorated with tiger lilies reflects the globalization of fashion. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Western women embraced kimonos, and by the 1920s, Japanese manufacturers produced pajamas tailored to Western tastes, including pants.
“Casual clothing allowed women to break free from the formal constraints of traditional dress,” said Rae Koch, a graduate student involved in the exhibit. “It’s fascinating to see how these garments adapted and influenced fashion in both cultures.”
The exhibit also touches on the modern appropriation of Eastern fashion. One example is the mamianqun skirt, a traditional Chinese garment worn by brides. Elements of this skirt have been co-opted into global fashion, such as the “Dior look,” which drew criticism for failing to honor the garment’s cultural origins. The skirt was also worn by Princess Diana during her engagement to Prince Charles, further blurring the lines between cultural appreciation and appropriation.
“By presenting these examples, we encourage visitors to reflect on how fashion can be both an appreciation of another culture and a form of appropriation,” Valerio said.
Another intriguing piece in the exhibit is a vest from a Korean Hanbok ensemble. The vest includes a small pocket, a Western-inspired feature that sparked controversy in Korea, where it was referred to as a “barbarian” pocket.
For students involved in the exhibit, it provided a unique opportunity to work with rare items, some over 150 years old, from URI’s collection. “We took great care in handling these garments and ensuring the exhibit was installed professionally,” said Rebecca Kelly, adjunct professor and co-curator of the exhibit.
The students not only researched and wrote the exhibit labels but also handled installation, ensuring that garments were displayed as they would have been worn traditionally. “The process of curating and telling the story behind each object was incredibly rewarding,” said Valerio.
“Fashioning East and West” is open to the public until March at the Textiles Gallery in Quinn Hall, 55 Lower College Road, Kingston. The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, visitors can view the students’ research on the exhibition page.
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