Fashion is not just the clothing shown on runways, featured in magazines, and worn by celebrities. How we dress ourselves every day can follow, or flout, the spoken and unspoken rules of society. Fashion is an important component in understanding how people express freedom and restraint, especially in cases of strict regulations and deliberate rebellions. If we look beyond the styles of mainstream America and towards alternative spiritual communities, both historically notable ones such as the Shakers and the Oneida Community, and more contemporary communities, a richer history of how clothing communicates cultural values emerge.

This virtual program celebrates the opening of our new exhibition, “Redesigning Fashion: Transgression and Identity in Women’s Historic Dress.” To register, please visit www.schenectadyhistorical.org/programs.

Sarah Byrd is a fashion historian, archivist, & educator. She received her BA from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and MA in Fashion and Textile Studies from the Fashion Institute of Technology. Sarah currently teaches at the Fashion Institute of Technology and New York University.