Man's Suit 1936

Curator: So, here we have Charles Criswell's "Man's Suit" from 1936. It appears to be a fashion design, rendered as a drawing. What’s your first impression? Editor: Elegant! A ghost of romanticism captured with delicacy. But also, melancholy. The headless, limbless suit gives off this… abandoned air. Curator: Abandoned, yes. I see the suit itself as symbolic – what does clothing represent but a public persona? And here it is, uninhabited. A kind of elegant shell. Note the romantic leanings echoed through the collage layering style and nostalgic styling of the piece. Editor: Right. It’s yearning. I’m drawn to how the Asian-style outfit collides with European Romanticism to really play with these ideals of masculinity across cultures, or at least the artistic vision of them. What do we think it symbolizes? Longing, perhaps? Curator: Definitely longing, especially within the context of fashion itself. Clothing design, particularly of this period, was so tied to aspirations, to belonging to a certain class or embodying a specific ideal. This image encapsulates all those complex desires, with just a hint of disappointment that they remain just beyond reach. Editor: Exactly! You know, I find the absence of a figure almost confrontational. Fashion typically dictates how a person wants to be seen, but what happens when that facade is all that remains? Curator: That's the brilliant tension here. Criswell captures a feeling, the echo of aspiration. The details – the ruffles, the cut of the coat – they all point towards a very specific type of man, now missing. A beautiful drawing of an absence. It suggests both an absence and a presence through suggestion. Editor: In closing, I see now that this 'Man's Suit' encapsulates our collective yearnings, the fashion that reflects us but can equally obscure the true person inside. It’s really moving in the simplicity with how that meaning reveals itself. Curator: It’s fashion reduced to pure, yearning symbol, something that will stick with you long after you've seen it, for sure.