Lessons From the 12 Fashion & Textile Exhibits I Visited in 2025

A year-end recap from under the gallery lights

Dec 21, 2025

∙ Paid

When I say I love fashion, I mean it in the nerdiest way possible.

I have a subscription to Vogue Runway, but I rarely ever use it to look at new collections. I collect impractical vintage evening bags, but most days I’m actually carrying a nylon Baggu or my MoMA Miffy tote bag. I love following accounts that identify what celebrities are wearing - not to emulate them, but to analyze their stylist’s choices, and to make connections between fashion and culture.

In another life, I skipped the journalism degree and studied fashion history instead. I can’t afford to go back to school (though maybe one day!), so I’ve committed to being a fashion student in all of the other ways I have accessible outside of a classroom. One of my favorite ways to study is by visiting a museum, and I’m lucky enough to live in one of the best cities in the world to do that. In an effort to better utilize my privilege and proximity here in NYC, I set a goal for myself in 2025: I would visit one fashion or textile exhibit every month.

Through a year of museum and gallery visits, I discovered designers I had never heard of, learned about ancient dying techniques, and even ended up moderating a Q&A! While I saw thousands of items and absorbed hundreds of interesting little facts, I walked away from each exhibit with broader lessons that have informed my life and my work beyond just trivia. Below, my year in fashion education.

Lesson #1: People used to mend their tights.

In January, I saw Real Clothes, Real Lives: 200 Years of What Women Wore at the New York Historical.

I didn’t know it at the time, but I was starting my journey with what I would later decide was one of my favorite exhibitions of the year. The show focused on the often overlooked garments of everyday women - a beaded go-go dancer costume from 1972, dozens of tiny hand mends on well-loved bodices, and a 1980’s uniform for a pregnant McDonald’s employee.

I found myself most fascinated by a display dedicated to hosiery repair. An array of vibrantly illustrated packages included miniature mending kits, stocking dye, and a “run mender” with instructions. In so many different ways, that wall felt like the most striking example of how much fashion has changed in the last 100 years. In a world of fast fashion sweatpants, it’s almost hard to imagine stockings as a part of daily wear, made of (now unfathomably) fine fibers like silk, painstakingly repaired and re-worn. Contemporary consumers are loathe to replace buttons on a nice blouse, let alone take the time to repair something as cheap as tights.

The idea of hosiery repair felt equal parts sad and inspiring. It hurts to be reminded of how disconnected we’ve become from our clothing, but seeing such beauty and care once dedicated to the task gave me hope that it’s a place we could get back to.

The New York Historical is on the Upper West Side.

Standard adult admission is $24, and they are closed on Mondays.

Lesson #2: A better world is possible, if rich people decide they want it to be.

Also in January, I visited The Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto. Alongside their impressive permanent collection were multiple temporary exhibits including Dressed to Impress: Footwear and Consumerism in the 1980’s, Art/Wear: Sneakers x Artists, and Exhibit A: Investigating Crime and Footwear.

The museum started out as the personal collection of Sonja Bata, who began acquiring pairs in the 1940’s. She created the Bata Shoe Museum Foundation in 1979, providing an endowment for the collection to be professionally managed and displayed. The permanent facility officially opened to the public in 1995, growing to become the world’s largest collection of footwear with over 13,000 shoes.

For most of history, the ultra wealthy have been proud patrons of the arts. Cathedrals and libraries and museums don’t make up for the crimes against humanity that are required for true wealth and power, but they’re certainly better contributions to society than the dystopian tech our billionaire class prefers investing in today. Imagine if rich people stopped hoarding great art and architecture in their extra mansions, and instead supported public access, preservation, and education? What if all of the money being poured into private equity and surveillance technology was used to fund the arts instead?

I’d love to see less Katy Perry in space and more First Nations beadwork.

Cree boots made in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (1987)

The Bata Shoe Museum is in downtown Toronto, a lovely city that I do not recommend visiting in January unless you love freezing your ass off.

Standard adult admission is $14-$16 (CAD) depending on the day, and free on Sundays. They’re typically open 7 days a week.

Lesson #3: If you love fashion and you’re in NYC, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be visiting The Museum at FIT.

In February, I saw Fashioning Wonder: A Cabinet of Curiosities and All That Glitters at The Museum at FIT.

The Museum at FIT is the only museum that I visited multiple times this year! Their exhibits are consistently excellent - thoughtful, engaging, and very well-designed. It’s also FREE. I’m unsure if the association with a college gives people the impression of less prestige, but I feel like this is one of the most overlooked and underrated museums in the city.

Their exhibitions are typically on display for only a couple months at a time, which means there’s always a reason to check back in. They typically display a larger main exhibit, with a smaller exhibit (often featuring student work) in the lobby.

The Museum at FIT is on the FIT campus in Chelsea.

Admission is always free, and they also offer free lectures and events that are open to the public. They are closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

Lesson #4: Bigger isn’t always better.

In March, I saw Solid Gold at the Brooklyn Museum.

This was the largest exhibit I saw this year, by a long shot. The scope meant that a lot of really incredible pieces were included. But in my opinion, it was actually too many.

The central theme of the exhibit was just “gold,” with no real limitations as to what was included. The exhibit moved from 1980’s couture to custom grillz to 13th century Italian altarpieces, with pretty much every art medium on display. It was definitely impressive, but it felt so sprawling that it was hard to take it all in. The exhibit included so many pieces that I should have been blown away by, but they just didn’t feel as impactful presented in cavernous rooms alongside hundreds of other items.

The Brooklyn Museum is one of my favorite museums in the city. I lived walking distance in my very first NYC apartment almost 15 years ago, and it was my introduction to artists like Judy Chicago and El Anatsui. I still think fondly of their 2013 Jean Paul Gaultier retrospective - it was one of the first fashion exhibits I ever visited, and it opened up my mind to fashion as an art form. Solid Gold just didn’t hit for me, which reminded me that even my favorites miss the mark sometimes.

The Brooklyn Museum sits on the northeast corner of Prospect Park in Brooklyn.

Standard adult admission is a suggested contribution of $20 - the amount is fixed online and at kiosks, but is pay-what-you-can at the museum’s admission desk. They are closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

Lesson #5: Fashion history is immigrant history.

In May, I went on the 100 Years Apart apartment tour at The Tenement Museum.

If I could recommend one museum tour to take in NYC, it would be one of the Lower East Side apartment tours at the Tenement Museum. The museum owns two buildings on Orchard Street that house units preserved and designed to look like the homes and businesses of their past tenants. The tour I took focused on two women, Natalie Gumpertz and Mrs. Wong, that called Orchard Street home in 1880 and 1980 respectively. Their stories were told through a look at their experiences supporting families with work in the New York garment industry.

The Tenement Museum is an immigration museum, sharing the history of New York as seen through the immigrant experience. Violence and hostility against immigrants is one of the most pressing issues America faces today, as we watch government agents enact civil rights violations and state sanctioned kidnappings with alarming regularity. Everything that makes American history beautiful and rich, including fashion, is thanks to the labor, creativity, and culture of immigrants.

Learning our history is an essential part of understanding how rights were won, how they were taken away, and what we can do now to protect vulnerable communities. If you aren’t based in NYC, the Tenement Museum offers digital programming that includes virtual tours, live streams of events, and kid-friendly DIY guides.

Stay vigilant, study history, and fuck ICE.