Carl Anthony is guest curator of “Why They Wore It: The Politics and Pop Culture of First Ladies’ Fashion,” a special exhibit at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library
This edition of the Nixon Now Podcast features one of the nation’s foremost experts on America’s First Ladies, Carl Sferreza Anthony. He can be followed on Twitter @canthonyonline and at carlanthonyonline.com. He is the guest curator of an exciting new exhibit at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library, entitled, “Why the Wore it: The Politics and Pop Culture of First Ladies’ Fashion.” The colorful exhibit features actual and exact replica dresses designed to appear as if they are walking down a runway, including a dress from Melania Trump, which is presented for the first time outside Washington, D.C. However, the focus of the exhibit is not what they wore, but why they wore it. What political and pop cultural messages, overt or very subliminal, were America’s First Ladies trying to convey?
Mr. Anthony is also author of an 140 page companion book of the same title as the exhibit, featuring more than 100 photographs of every First Lady from Martha Washington to Melania Trump, many never-before-seen.
Photo: First Lady Pat Nixon wore an iconic red coat on President Nixon’s historic trip to China in February 1972. (Richard Nixon Presidential Library)