Who Wears the Pants?! Fashion History One Leg at a Time 

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January 24 - April 26, 2026

Barbara and Lee Maimon Teaching Gallery | Level 2

Pants: practical, political, and still controversial in some corners of the world. Who Wears the Pants?! Fashion History One Leg at a Time invites you to explore the surprisingly complex and occasionally rebellious history of who wore pants, who didn’t, and why it matters. 

 

Four thematic sections on gender, labor, mobility, and self-expression tackle questions of who gets to move freely—physically and socially—and how clothing can both limit and liberate. Gender roles have been stitched into the seams of what we wear across time and cultures. While trousers have often been associated with male authority, women’s adoption of pants has been a long and layered story of defiance, empowerment, and sometimes scandal. From medieval women written out of history to the power-wielding pantsuit, this installation threads together the politics of fashion, gender, and cultural identity to unpack how fashion reflects and reshapes cultural norms.  

 

Who Wears the Pants?! was organized by the Palmer Museum of Art in collaboration with Charlene Gross, Associate Professor of Costume Design in the School of Theatre and Director of the Fashion Archive in the College of Arts and Architecture. Fall 2025 students from THEA 464: Fashion History I studied objects to write historical interpretations and create interactive educational content for the in-gallery tablet. Their peers in Michael Ciaramitaro’s THEA 465: Fashion History II step in this spring with a gallery talk, class modules, and creative responses designed to keep the conversation going.