NHS Sisterhood at the
Cincinnati Art Museum

Sunday, December 5, 2010

NHS Sisterhood members car-pooled to the Cincinnati Art Museum on Sunday morning and met in the lobby for a docent-led tour of the special exhibit Wedded Perfection: Two Centuries of Wedding Gowns. Over 50 wedding gowns were beautifully displayed from the late 18th Century to 20th Century contemporary designers like Vera Wang and Yohji Yamamoto. Some of the gowns were worn by Cincinnati area women. The exhibit was organized by Museums's Curator of Costumes and Textiles, Cynthia Amneus.

Three docents led groups of 10 or less through different sections of the exhibit. It was surprising to see how few of the gowns were white or ivory. Some were green, red, even black, and one fanciful gown was made entirely of inverted latex gloves! The gowns reflected women's changing social, economic and political status throughout American history.

After the tour, many Sisterhood members visited other exhibits in the Art Museum, including the spectacular Thomas Gainsborough (1727–1788) and the Modern Women. This exhibition focuses specifically on the notions of modernity and femininity in Georgian England from the perspective of Gainsborough’s groundbreaking portraits of women of questionable reputations.

Photography was not allowed in the exhibit, but the photo below was taken in the Museum's lobby.

Photo by Gayna Bassin