JACKSONVILLE, FLA.- The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens announced today that Sporting Fashion: Outdoor Girls 1800 to 1960, the first exhibition to explore the evolution of women’s sporting attire in Western fashion, opened on February 28, 2024, and runs through May 19, 2024.

Sporting Fashion: Outdoor Girls 1800 to 1960 highlights the attire that defined women’s participation in the sporting world. The exhibition contains more than 60 ensembles worn for a variety of outdoor activities during the 19th and 20th centuries, including swimming, fencing, tennis, golf, motorcycling, and piloting. The exceptional collection of garments and accessories explores how fashion met the needs of new pursuits for women, while at the same time preserving their socially-approved mobility.

The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens is the final stop of the exhibition’s national tour, which began on July 3, 2021 at The Frick Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.

“This exhibition is an opportunity for sports enthusiasts, fashionistas, and history buffs alike to learn about the evolution of women’s place in both sporting life and society,” said Andrea Barnwell Brownlee, Ph.D., George W. and Kathleen I. Gibbs Director and CEO of the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens. “Jacksonville is a city that celebrates the camaraderie and community of athletics, and we look forward to bringing this dynamic exhibition to the region.”

The exhibition showcases how the innovative designers and manufacturers responded to the shift in societal norms for women’s wear over the course of 160 years of Western fashion.

The attire on view come primarily from Western Europe and North America. The garments often belonged to the affluent, who had greater access to leisure and sport activities. These rare surviving pieces illustrate the active lives of women—some known, others anonymous— who wore ensembles such as these to challenge the status quo, to better themselves, and to serve as examples of achievement for ensuing generations.

“While this exhibition spans 160 years of sporting ensembles, every woman represented, whether it be in 1800 or 1960, was a pioneer of modernity,” said Kevin L. Jones, curator at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising Museum, Los Angeles.

The Cummer Museum in collaboration with a host of community partners has organized a slate of dynamic exhibition-related programs that invite visitors to explore Sporting Fashion in new and exciting ways.

This exhibition is organized by the American Federation of the Arts and FIDM Museum at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, Los Angeles. Support for the national tour is provided by the AFA’s Gold Medal Circle: Elizabeth Belfer, Stephanie Borynack Clark, Ashleigh Fernandez, Lee White Galvis, Stephanie R. LaNasa, Merrill Mahan, Clare E. McKeon, Jennifer New, Angela Timashev, and Victoria Ershova Triplett.

2024 Cummer Museum of Arts & Gardens Exhibition Presenters include: Season Presenters - City of Jacksonville and Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville; Presenting Sponsor - State of Florida; Lead Sponsors - The Robert D. Davis Family Endowment and The Schultz Family Endowment; and Celebrated Sponsors - The Jaguars Foundation, The Van Vleck Family Foundation, A Generous Anonymous Donor and the Director’s Circle Donors at the Cummer Museum.