The Museum at Fashion Institute of Technology: Uniformity
By: Aaron Yam
Uniform is something we see all around us. Whether it be the firemen putting out fires, the policemen preventing crimes, or even the McDonald’s employees at the cash register. Uniform is extremely prevalent in our society. Now the first thing that comes to mind when we think about uniform is being homogeneous. This is not necessarily the case because uniform can create a distinct difference between powers of authority and workers or create a way of standing out from everyone else. At the Museum at FIT, visitors can learn about the history and evolution of uniform, view the physical uniform used at the time, and or get some fashion ideas for your newest clothing line. They wouldn’t call it the FASHION Institute of Technology for nothing.
The Museum at FIT organizes the gallery in a unique way, a way in which the exhibit pokes at your curiosity. The moment you walk into the exhibit of Uniformity, you should be able to see a background information board and also a brief introduction into the exhibit. They quickly debunk any common misconception held about uniform before you walk any further into the exhibit. Additionally, they have two videos on loop adjacent to the introduction to uniform. Both videos include an interview with a fashion designer and cover their views on uniform. One fashion designer talks about his first experiences with making uniform for a company back in the early 1900’s. A company in particular: FedEx, wanted a uniform for their employees that gave them a team look, but also good functionality. Immediately after the video, there is another bulletin that tells you how the exhibit was organized. There are four main categories to the exhibits: military, work, school, and sports. Now the exhibit truly begins!
The first few sections cover military style uniforms. An interesting way that the galleries are put together is that it would show you the original uniform and then immediately to its right, you would see a modern contemporary take on it. For example, there is a US Army service jacket that Marc Jacobs (fashion designer) redesigned to give the wearer a bold, but fashionable look.
There are many examples of this idea of redesigning army apparel. One that surprised me was the US Navy uniform. Originally used by the British Navy, the United States adopted the dark blue color into their uniform and eventually coined it as the term navy blue. Additionally, swords although originally used for combat in World War I, became a fashion statement for those in higher positions in the navy. Many outdated customs like the usage of swords, turned into decorations for modern day fashion. This would explain why I see US militia carrying around outdated guns. It’s more for keeping the uniformity of the squad and also keeping the classy look.
After the military section comes the last three sections: work, school and sports. I found it a little bit bizarre that they clumped the last three sections into one room, but nonetheless all sections were represented in the gallery. One exhibit that caught my eye was the one about maids and masters. They explained that the uniforms were used to create a dichotomy of those in power and those that are not. This created a sort of epiphany in my mind and everything I knew about maids and masters suddenly made sense. The uniforms were made so that each class were easily identified. There was another exhibit that showcased Japanese uniform in the late 19th century. It showed a heavy influence of Western culture as a key part of the uniform was the blazer and tie. I liked this exhibit in particular because it shows the presence of cultural diffusion after the opening of Japan to the US in 1853. The last exhibit I want to talk about is the baseball uniforms. The baseball caps were originally a sign of team spirit/uniformity, and the shading of the eyes from the sun. However, as we can see today, baseball caps are commonly worn for fashion purposes.
The Uniformity exhibit at the Museum at FIT is definitely one worth checking out if you have a desire to learn about uniform or even if you don’t. Learning about the history of uniform and the ways that it has fit itself into our society is extremely interesting and fun. You never know what you’re going to expect; it just might change your perspective on uniform entirely.
