Childrenswear: Identity and Culture Around the Globe -- American ensemble object highlight

We featured this bicentennial ensemble in the exhibition.
Childrenswear: Identity and Culture Around the Globe
Opened starting May 2023
Mary Alice Gallery, 1015 Morrill Hall
ISU Textiles and Clothing Museum
Curated by Ivy Miller and Dorothy Vernon
Louise Rosenfeld Internship
Blue ensemble
Cotton, polyester
ca. 1976, America
ISU TCM, Object ID 2008.21.1 a-b
The United States celebrated its bicentennial in 1976, 200 years after adopting the Declaration of Independence. Americans across the country held celebrations to commemorate the event where children wore garments with motifs referencing the United States’ formation. Costumes mimicking styles popular in 1976 were also popular at the time. The garment on display, which features George Washington embroidered on the back and ‘1776’ on the front, is an example of an outfit worn by an Iowan boy to such events. Of note is that these celebrations of independence ignore the history of Indigenous peoples’ forced and violent displacement from their land.