Our choice of dress can make a political statement, express a mood, or communicate personal identities. Through more than 100 works from the MFA’s collection including 20th- and 21st-century clothing, jewelry, accessories, illustrations, and photographs, this exhibition explores adornment and its role in the creation of a look.

Jewelry and fashion are given equal attention here; there is no delineation between the two to encourage thinking of jewelry as fashion and fashion as jewelry. Objects with beads, sequins, and sparkle blur the lines between each genre and help visitors consider how and where the two can—and do—intersect.