Monday, January 11, 2010

Before Pink and Blue: Baby Clothes Before Babies had Gender

Prof. Jo Paoletti

The Indiana University Department of Apparel Merchandising and Interior Design will host University of Maryland Professor Jo Paoletti, the department's 2010 Bill Blass Fashion Design Seminar Series speaker, Wednesday, January 13 at IU Bloomington. This free, open-to-the-public lecture, "Before Pink and Blue: Baby Clothes Before Babies had Gender," will be held Wednesday, January 13, 4-5:15 pm in the Whittenberger Auditorium of the Indiana Memorial Union.

Paoletti's lecture is made possible through the Bill Blass Fashion Design Seminar Series established in 2002 with a bequest from fashion designer Bill Blass, a native Hoosier and friend of Indiana University. The Bill Blass Fashion Design Seminar Series is presented and hosted by the department of Apparel Merchandising and Interior Design and the College of Arts and Sciences.

Paoletti is an Associate Professor in American Studies whose training is in apparel design and the history of textile and clothing. She has spent over thirty years researching and writing about children’s clothing in America, particularly the development of gender differences. The University of Utah Press will publish her monograph, Pink and Blue: Telling the Boys from the Girls in America, in 2010. Most recently Paoletti has been focusing on everyday ethical concerns such as conscious, ethical consumption, frugality and voluntary simplicity. You can visit her blog dealing with those issues at http://nicewhitelady.blogspot.com/.

"Before Pink and Blue" is presented in conjunction with Child’s Play: Aesthetics, Gender, and Children’s Clothing, an exhibition of more than 50 ensembles from The Sage Collection exploring the dynamics of aesthetics, gender, and fashion. The Monroe County History Center is located at 202 E. Sixth St., Bloomington. Child’s Play closes February 27.

For more information on Child's Play or Professor Paoletti's lecture, contact Kelly Richardson at ksrichar@indiana.edu or phone 812-855-4627.




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