"Sportswear for a New American Woman: Clothing of the Gilded Age," a lecture with SUNY New Paltz's Andrea Varga

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SUNY New Paltz Theatre Arts Design Associate Professor Andrea Varga’s lecture will explore the shift in women’s fashion at the onset of the 20th century and how it reflected the changing middle-class. The spunky “Gibson Girl” no longer wanted the docile, proper life of previous generations – she had a new active lifestyle and adopted a wardrobe to match. A new set of fashion styles called “sportswear” showed an increased interest in public and personal health, a growing cultural engagement in sporting activities, and a burgeoning desire in upper and middle class young women for a more active lifestyle. Sportswear began to reflect the dramatic gender and social role shifts in the movement for women’s equality in the 20th century, and would become the standard American dress style of modern life.

Saturday, March 28
4 pm
Deyo Hall
6 Broadhead Avenue

A reception catered by Main Course Catering will follow the lecture at 5 pm in the Craig House (18 Broadhead Avenue).

Members $10 (lecture only) or $20 (with reception).
Seniors and military $12 (lecture only) or $22 (with reception).
General admission $15 (lecture only) or $25 (with reception).
SUNY New Paltz students may attend the lecture for free, or both the lecture and reception for $10.

Varga holds an MFA in Theatre Design from Florida State University, as well as a BFA in Theatre Arts and a BS in History from Utah State University. For several years she worked as a freelance costume designer and assistant in New York City prior to teaching at SUNY New Paltz. At New Paltz, she teaches courses in the Theatre Arts Design program that include History of Western Fashion, History of World Dress, and Costume Design. She advises student designers in the Theatre Arts program and designs costumes for the MainStage productions. She is a member of the Costume Society of America and the United States Institute for Theatre Technology and continues to freelance as a costume designer.