Goddesses in the Machine: Fashion in American Silent Film, the current exhibition on view at Bard Graduate Center Gallery in New York City is the topic of this curator delivered virtual presentation that offers a taste of this exciting first major project to explore the intersection of fashion in American silent film.
When films were silent, fashion spoke volumes. Goddesses in the Machine: Fashion in American Silent Film, reveals the untold story of costume and style in early Hollywood, from actors wearing their own clothes to the birth of the movie costume designer.
Goddesses in the Machine: Fashion in American Silent Film, an exhibition with an extensive publication, shows how silent films transformed fashion from personal expression into powerful storytelling, creating the blueprint for modern movie glamour. Bringing together a selection of rare surviving objects from the advent of cinema, the exhibition highlights the behind-the-scenes work of famous designers such as Travis Banton, Henri Bendel, Clare West, and Lucile, Lady Duff-Gordon, as well as lesser-known names including Madame Frances, I. Miller, Natacha Rambova, and Lilian St. Cyr. A vibrant display of ensembles and accessories at the Bard Graduate Center Gallery is enriched by accompanying film clips and works on paper including photographs, posters, film stills, and costume design sketches.
Featured in ELLE, The New Yorker, and Vogue the exhibition offers a beautiful way to explore the intersection of fashion, film, and the understudied figures of the period—and we’ll have the special opportunity to hear the stories directly from the curators! If you plan to be in New York City over the holidays, stop by to see the exhibition in person through January 3, 2027. To learn more about the exhibition, click here.
Image above and thumbnail photo credit. Installation View, Goddesses in the Machine: Fashion in American Silent Film, 2026. Photographer: Bruce M. White
ABOUT THE PRESENTERS
Michelle Finamore (BGC PhD 2010) is a fashion and design historian, curator, and author. She is cocurator of Goddesses in the Machine: Fashion in American Silent Film (Bard Graduate Center, 2026) and Shoe Stories: Past, Present, Future (Historic New England, 2026). She is also curator of Fashioning America: Grit to Glamour (New Orleans Museum of Art, 2023; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, 2022) as well as Gender Bending Fashion (2019), #techstyle (2016), Hollywood Glamour: Fashion and Jewelry from the Silver Screen (2014–15), and Think Pink (2013–14) at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She is passionate about silent film and her Hollywood Before Glamour: Fashion in American Silent Film (2013) was the first in-depth publication on the subject. She has written numerous books and articles for both the scholarly and popular press on topics as varied as American fashion, menswear, contemporary fashion, sustainability, studio jewelry, and food history and has taught courses on fashion, design, and film history at various colleges in the Northeast.
Emma Cormack (BGC MA 2018) is associate curator at Bard Graduate Center. With a background in decorative arts, design history, and material culture, her research specialties include the history of fashion and textiles with a particular interest in department stores, consumer culture, and print advertising in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century France and the United States. At BGC, she was the cocurator of Threads of Power: Lace from the Textilmuseum St. Gallen (2022–23) and coeditor of the accompanying publication; assistant curator of French Fashion, Women, and the First World War (2019–20); and curatorial and editorial assistant for Eileen Gray (2020). With Michelle Finamore, she is cocurator and coeditor of Goddesses in the Machine: Fashion in American Silent Film (2026).
TICKETS FOR VIRTUAL PRESENTATION BY CURATORS:
ADSLA Members: $15 (plus fees)
General Admission: $20 (plus fees)
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