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Welcome to Dressed, The History of Fashion, a podcast that explores the who-what, when of why we wear. We are fashion historians and your hosts Cassidy Zachary and April

Callahan. Cass, we are back and we are back with part two of our conversation about the gender-bending fashion

exhibition with Michelle Tolini Finamore, and Michelle is the Penny Vinic Curator of Fashion Arts at the Museum of Fine Arts

Boston where her groundbreaking exhibition gender-bending fashion is currently

on view now until August 25th, 2019.

And last week we spoke to her about the long-standing legacy of women and gender-bending

and their fight for comfort and equality. But today today we're going to turn our attention to the gentleman.

Yes, so if you haven't already caught part one, you may wish to do so because we also set up the history of gender bending as far back as ancient Egypt as well as

addressing the matter of some terminology pertaining to gender studies.

Michelle, thank you so much for joining us again on dressed.

Michelle, it goes without saying that the manner in which

menswear-inspired styles have recently, or well not even recently,

historically infiltrated millions of women's closets,

doesn't exactly have an inverse equivalent in mainstream menswear,

because mainstream menswear has really been ruled by the three-piece suit for more than a century.

Do you have any insights as to why perhaps the suit has remained such an enduring silhouette in terms of menswear?

Yes, I get that question quite a bit because I do feel like in terms of, you know, exactly as as you say this idea of the inverse equivalent

don't have men taking on aspects of women's wear as you know in the same to the same degree

so when I think about the history of the

typical business suit for men it has become the symbol par excellence of kind of Western patriarchal society and culture, right?

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