Bicycling ensemble, ca. 1895. Like other physical activities, the bicycling craze of the 1890s required special clothing. While some women donned bloomer costumes, an early type of trousers, many shied away from this controversial style due to its association with the suffrage movement. The heavy leather trim at the skirt of this wool tweed ensemble helped ensure modesty, even on windy days. Worn by Sarah Frances Grant Slaton. Photo by Jonathan Hollada; Atlanta History Center

Expanding on the idea that fashion both reflects and defines the
moment in which it was created, the Atlanta History Center has produced a new exhibition depicting the lifestyle and costume changes of Atlanta women.

Beginning November 1, 2003, through April 18, 2004, the Center will feature Gone with the Girdle: Freedom, Restraint and Power in Women's Dress, a 3,300 square-foot exhibition that examines the silhouettes and experiences of Atlanta women from the city's early days to the present. While the setting may be Atlanta, the clothing follows the timeline of any city's women - reflecting their dreams, challenges and successes - from the confining corsets of the 19th century to today's urban chic.

The exhibition features a range of clothing and accessories from vintage to contemporary, along with historic photographs and stories told in women's own words through letters, diaries and interviews. This mix of object, image and word enables visitors to meet generations of working women and mothers, teachers and volunteers, role models and less traditional women who
together make up the body of Atlanta women's history.

Among special topics highlighted in the exhibition are the evolution of undergarments, rise of athletics, changing mourning rituals and timeless accessories including hats and shoes.

"The History Center's textile collection includes more than 10,000
artifacts. Highlighting a number of these garments and accessories - many of which are rare and extraordinary - is a tremendous opportunity for us to share our scholarship and collections," said Jim Bruns, executive director of the Atlanta History Center. "This exhibition, the result of a two-year research effort at the Atlanta History Center, explores the way women were frequently bound by custom and costume."

Gone with the Girdle illustrates changes in silhouettes and related
undergarments over time, explores Atlanta women's access to fashion and considers the relative freedom of contemporary women to express themselves through clothing. More than sixty ensembles are presented from five eras that redefined women's roles:

• Women on Pedestals represents mid-19th century Atlanta as the city matured from its rough, merchant-town youth to reflect the patriarchy of the plantation system in the American South. An olive green silk brocade day dress highlighted in this section shows that, in 1860, up-to-the-minute fashion made its way to the frontier.
  
  
• Women on Parade picks up around the turn of the century, when Atlanta women became more visible in public life. They initiated reform movements, campaigned for the vote and increasingly worked for wages. By the 1920s, many women embraced modernity with shorter dresses, bobbed hair and daring dances. A brown tweed bicycling suit with leather trim, circa 1895, reflects the freedom associated with the era's bicycling craze.
  
  
• Women in Pants introduces visitors to the eras of the Depression and World War II, when the landscape of women's employment changed. After their wartime contributions, many women continued to work outside the home, but were typically relegated to the bottom rung of the economic ladder-unskilled jobs with low wages. However, not all women's roles were menial, as exhibited in an adventurous female pilot's flight suit and accessories, circa 1935.
  
  
• Women in Politics witnesses the many challenges to earlier concepts of women's roles, rights and sexuality during the third quarter of 20th century. Many important individual and collective "firsts" for women occurred and women's changing status was reflected in clothing, laws, advertising, movies and television. Embroidered denim hip hugger jeans and a matching jacket from the early 1970s help bring this era to life.
  
  
• Women Share Power finds us on the threshold of a new century we consider how far women have come in the quest for equality. The incredible freedom Atlanta women share bears the weight of responsibility. Can women have it all, do it all, and at what cost? And who are Atlanta women today? An emblem of this section is a dark blue United Nations/U.S. Police Monitor uniform worn in Bosnia Herzegovina in 1998-1999.

The Atlanta History Center is open Mon.-Sat., 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and Sun., noon-5:30 p.m. Admission is $12 for adults, $10 for students 13+ and seniors 65+, $7 for youths 4-12 and free for children 3 and under.

For more information, visit www.AtlantaHistoryCenter.com.