Cross-Dressing: Fashion and Gender Expression in the Eighteenth Century

Cross-dressing is a plot device in many 18th-century plays and stories, but what did it mean when real people put on the clothing associated with the opposite sex? Join Amelia Rauser, the Charles A. Dana Professor of Art History and Senior Associate Dean of the Faculty at Franklin & Marshall College, for a look at a few historical case studies of 18th-century cross-dressers and note the diverse historical circumstances that influenced their public gender expression. Amelia Rauser's most recent book, The Age of Undress: Art, Fashion, and the Classical Ideal in the 1790s, considered the meaning of the white, high-waisted empire-style dress and how it intersected with women’s artistic and intellectual ambitions in the late 18th-century. Her current projects center on fashion and illness, political fashion, and the colonialist trade in textiles during the 18th century. 18th-Century Style is highly encouraged.

Image Credit: Anon., A Morning Frolic, or the Transmutation of Sexes, 1780. YCBA collection.

• This event occurs in person at the National Arts Club.
• RSVP does not guarantee entry.
• Doors open to the public 15 minutes before the event start time.
• Our coat check is limited. Please do not bring any large bags or backpacks.

Event Venue

The National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South, New York, United States