美国国家公共电台 NPR We Are What We Wear: Exhibition Examines Clothing That Changed The World

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

All right. What do a baseball cap, a sari and a little black dress designed by Chanel have in common? They are all on display in a new exhibition at New York's Museum of Modern Art. MOMA calls them garments that change the world. NPR special correspondent Susan Stamberg says the show is less about fashion and more about design, history and why things last.

SUSAN STAMBERG, BYLINE¹: There's a social history woven into the evolution of what we wear every day. The 111 items on view explore that history in objects that range from futuristic to sublime² to completely ordinary.

Are you really a shoe fetishist?

GLENN LOWRY: I love shoes. Everybody has their madness. I love shoes.

STAMBERG: Glenn Lowry, MOMA's dynamic director, has a lot to love in this show - clogs³, Converse⁴ All Stars, Manolo Blahniks, flip-flops aka thongs⁵.

PAOLA ANTONELLI: The thong⁶ is very important. It's a humble⁷ masterpiece. That's why it exists in all cultures. I was just disappointed he didn't want to talk about the hoodie.

STAMBERG: Let's go see the hoodie.

ANTONELLI: (Laughter).

STAMBERG: Curator Paola Antonelli heads across the big space - this show takes up the entire sixth floor of MOMA - to stop at a red hooded⁸ top made by Champion in the 1980s. The hoodie, she says, was functional⁹ first. After training, sweaty athletes put them on to stay warm. But it's become political.

ANTONELLI: When Trayvon Martin was wearing it in Florida a few years ago, he was walking at night and buying candy, George Zimmerman thought that he was suspicious because he was wearing the hoodie. So this disconnect and this misinterpretation transformed the hoodie into a tragic¹⁰ symbol and also a political symbol.

STAMBERG: An ancient religious symbol is the hijab, a head and neck covering that preserves modesty¹¹ for some Muslim women. It's been controversial as well as coveted¹². A Muslim designer in Australia attached a head cover to waterproof¹³ leggings and a long sleeved top to make a burkini so someone could swim.

ANTONELLI: She was an observant Muslim young girl that wanted to be a lifeguard. And so there are these beautiful pictures of this woman beaming with the burkini of the same color as the other lifeguards amongst all the lifeguards on a surfboard.

STAMBERG: She could stay modest and do her surfside surveillance. The museum puts the burkini next to a bikini, the little two-piece nothing that originated in France. It first appeared in 1946 to the delight of some beachgoers. Others were scandalized, and some knew they could never try it.

ANTONELLI: The bikini was so skimpy as to be unwearable by a proper woman.

STAMBERG: So skimpy that at first the designer couldn't get professional models to display it. So he hired a striptease dancer from the Casino de Paris. To cover, to uncover - different cultures have different answers, but curator Antonelli says there is one universal.

ANTONELLI: The female body is always a battleground.

STAMBERG: There's rarely controversy¹⁴ about work clothes, but they also change with the times. A well-worn pair of 501s tells the story that began in 1853 when Levi-Strauss and Company started making blue jeans. MOMA fashion historian Stephanie Kramer says denim¹⁵ fabric¹⁶ had been around for years, but during the Gold Rush, Levi-Strauss stitched it into a workman's necessity.

STEPHANIE KRAMER: They were the ones that put the rivets¹⁷ at the different stress points of the jeans including pockets, crotch, areas like that.

STAMBERG: Made them more durable¹⁸, lasted longer, became a classic. Today that utilitarian¹⁹ item has been turned into a fashion statement. Now designer-made ripped jeans sell for a fortune, as do acid-washed jeans, stone-washed jeans.

What does that tell you?

KRAMER: I think it tells you that jeans are the ultimate modern garment. They're both timeless and temporal.

STAMBERG: For the grand finale the museum picks maybe the most common piece of clothing there is, something you'll find in the bureau drawer of people you know, male or female.

ANTONELLI: The white T-shirt. Yes. It's actually - it makes a lot of sense to end with the white T-shirt.

STAMBERG: First of all, Paola Antonelli says, it's a power piece.

ANTONELLI: Because power is still represented in some people's imagination by the male three-piece suit or two-piece suit. It's still very masculine. But in truth, today, the guy wearing a three-piece suit is probably the bodyguard²⁰. The guy with the real power is wearing a T-shirt.

STAMBERG: But there are other reasons the white T-shirt is this show's final fashion statement. It brings together various points the show is trying to make.

ANTONELLI: The idea of timelessness, the idea of universality. The idea of good design, old-school good design. Form follows function. And ecology, fast fashion, how we dispose of objects. So everything is crystallized by the white T-shirt.

STAMBERG: On a video monitor installed near these iconic threads, a young woman walks toward us in her white T-shirt. She begins to take it off, and underneath²¹ there's another white T-shirt. And under that, another. And another and another. The message is clear. This T-shirt goes on and on. It will never end. It's eternal.

In Manhattan, I'm Susan Stamberg, NPR News.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 sublime   

adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的

参考例句：

• We should take some time to enjoy the sublime beauty of nature.我们应该花些时间去欣赏大自然的壮丽景象。
• Olympic games play as an important arena to exhibit the sublime idea.奥运会，就是展示此崇高理念的重要舞台。

3 clogs   

木屐； 木底鞋，木屐( clog的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Clogs are part of the Netherlands national costume. 木屐是荷兰民族服装的一部分。
• Clogs are part of the Dutch traditional costume. 木屐是荷兰传统装束的一部分。

4 converse   

vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反

参考例句：

• He can converse in three languages.他可以用3种语言谈话。
• I wanted to appear friendly and approachable but I think I gave the converse impression.我想显得友好、平易近人些,却发觉给人的印象恰恰相反。

5 thongs   

的东西

参考例句：

• Things ain't what they used to be. 现在情况不比从前了。
• Things have been going badly . 事情进展得不顺利。

6 thong   

n.皮带；皮鞭；v.装皮带

参考例句：

• He fastened the dog to the post with a thong.他用一根皮带把狗拴到柱子上。
• If I switch with Harry,do I have to wear a thong?如果我和哈里调换，我应该穿皮带吗？

7 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

8 hooded   

adj.戴头巾的；有罩盖的；颈部因肋骨运动而膨胀的

参考例句：

• A hooded figure waited in the doorway. 一个戴兜帽的人在门口等候。
• Black-eyed gipsy girls, hooded in showy handkerchiefs, sallied forth to tell fortunes. 黑眼睛的吉卜赛姑娘，用华丽的手巾包着头，突然地闯了进来替人算命。 来自辞典例句

9 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

10 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

11 modesty   

n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素

参考例句：

• Industry and modesty are the chief factors of his success.勤奋和谦虚是他成功的主要因素。
• As conceit makes one lag behind,so modesty helps one make progress.骄傲使人落后，谦虚使人进步。

12 coveted   

adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图

参考例句：

• He had long coveted the chance to work with a famous musician. 他一直渴望有机会与著名音乐家一起工作。
• Ther other boys coveted his new bat. 其他的男孩都想得到他的新球棒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 waterproof   

n.防水材料；adj.防水的；v.使...能防水

参考例句：

• My mother bought me a waterproof watch.我妈妈给我买了一块防水手表。
• All the electronics are housed in a waterproof box.所有电子设备都储放在一个防水盒中。

14 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

15 denim   

n.斜纹棉布；斜纹棉布裤，牛仔裤

参考例句：

• She wore pale blue denim shorts and a white denim work shirt.她穿着一条淡蓝色的斜纹粗棉布短裤，一件白粗布工作服上衣。
• Dennis was dressed in denim jeans.丹尼斯穿了一条牛仔裤。

16 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

17 rivets   

铆钉( rivet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Straighten the rivets, please. 请把那铆钉铆直。
• Instead of rivets there came an invasion, an infliction, and a visitation. 但是铆钉并没有运来，来的却是骚扰、混乱和视察。

18 durable   

adj.持久的，耐久的

参考例句：

• This raincoat is made of very durable material.这件雨衣是用非常耐用的料子做的。
• They frequently require more major durable purchases.他们经常需要购买耐用消费品。

19 utilitarian   

adj.实用的，功利的

参考例句：

• On the utilitarian side American education has outstridden the rest of the world.在实用方面美国教育已超越世界各国。
• A good cloth coat is more utilitarian than a fur one.一件优质的布外衣要比一件毛皮外衣更有用。

20 bodyguard   

n.护卫，保镖

参考例句：

• She has to have an armed bodyguard wherever she goes.她不管到哪儿都得有带武器的保镖跟从。
• The big guy standing at his side may be his bodyguard.站在他身旁的那个大个子可能是他的保镖。

21 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。