EXHIBITION:
Fashioning Belgium 1830-1920 PART II

Loose Threads: Colonialism, Modernity and Personal Histories in Belgian Fashion was an exhibition that took place from 22-24 May 2025, and was developed by a team of Masters students in Art History at Ghent University. Under the guidance of Professor Maude Bass-Krueger, we explored the material life of garments from 19th and early 20th century Belgium, reading them as intimate witnesses to personal experience and global history.

 

At the heart of our inquiry were three intersecting themes. First, colonialism, traced through textiles and dyes such as cotton, indigo, and the symbolic use of ivory tones, all circulated within imperial networks that shaped both fashion and power, especially during the reign of Leopold II over the Congo Free State and other colonies.

 

Second, modernity, visible in tailoring techniques, silhouette shifts, and stylistic influences such as Japonism and Art Nouveau, which reflected Belgium's urban and cultural transformations.

 

Third, personal histories, expressed in the colors, cuts, and uses of the garments. Black dresses, commonly worn as wedding gowns from the 19th to the 20th century, challenge contemporary associations of bridal wear with whiteness. Ivory bodices or dresses, on the other hand, may be read today as bridal, but were not necessarily worn as such. Other garments, such as dark shawls or bodices, accompanied moments of physical or emotional transition, including pregnancy, suggesting how dress adapted to changing bodies and social expectations.

 

Rather than treating fashion as a series of trends, we examined clothing as evidence: of labor, identity, colonial influence, and the negotiation of social norms. These garments are not static artifacts, but layered documents stitched with care, tension, and meaning.

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