Exhibition The Vulgar: Fashion Redefined in Modemuseum Hasselt

Taste in fashion throughout time

The Vulgar: Fashion Redefined is the first exhibition of its kind that takes a new look at what is (not) good taste in the fashion world, what can be worn, what is fashionable. In the world of fashion, the term vulgar means pretension and ambition for those who had access to good taste. The exhibition is built as a journey of 500 years through which the visitor will discover the “vulgar” in the fashion world from the Renaissance until nowadays.

Originally, the term vulgar was used to refer to a social class and to what was common and popular. Nevertheless, the term grew into an insult through time. Vulgarity began to be combined with pretension and ambition. Those labelled “vulgar” were pretending to be something they were not. The word was mostly used by wealthy people such as the aristocracy and people who had an easy access to good taste. Nowadays, the word has kept a negative connotation. It is commonly associated with provocation, rudeness and excess.

The exhibition the Vulgar — Fashion Redefined is the result of a collaboration between the curator Judith Clark and the psychoanalyst Adam Phillips. They have build the display around 12 fashion themes and definitions of the vulgar. Among those themes the visitor will find for example “Too Popular”, “Extreme Bodies”, “Oes and Spangles”, “The New Baroque”.

Each vulgar theme has its own room within the exhibition. Thanks to the silhouettes that are present throughout the display, the visitor is immersed into each period of time and fashion. Among those silhouettes which embody different aspects of the vulgar, the visitor can come across some haute couture finery and ready-to-wear clothes.

Through the time, the vulgar has also become synonymous of copy. to create their silhouettes, designers and creators have begun to copy ancient periods such as the mythology or the Renaissance and especially what the aristocracy wore during that period. Some of those designers also decided to copy objects of the daily life of the population on their creations (soup cans, pencils, etc).

Most of the elaborate clothes that are shown are unique, come from private collections and were designed by creators such as Mark Jacobs, Luis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Yves Saint Laurent and others. Some creations were even worn by the royalty such as the dress by Yves Saint Laurent inspired by Mondriaan which Princess Claire of Belgium wore.

The exhibition shows how fleeting the “good taste” is. Something that in the past was considered as vulgar nowadays is part of the clothes with safe value in the fashion world.

The Vulgar — Fashion Redefined is an interesting exhibition for people who are really interested in fashion but also for those who want to take a journey back in time in the vulgar fashion world and who want to see incredible and surprising silhouettes of couture creators. The visitor gets immersed in the world of designers and the privileged.

The exhibition has already been shown at the Barbican Art Gallery in London and the Winterpalais Belvedere in Vienna and is now displayed in Hasselt.

Practical informations:

The Modemuseum is located in Gasthuisstraat 11 B-3500 Hasselt.

Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday: 10am–17pm (closed on Monday)

Ticket prices:

Adults: €8

Students and children between 12 and 18 years: €3

Children under 12 years: free

Duration of the visit: 1h30