Undergarments and Armor.

Photographs by Tanya Marcuse. Essay by Valerie Steele.

Nazraeli Press, Tucson, 2005. 112 pp., 53 duotone illustrations, 6½x10½".

From the bizarre steatopygous forms of Victorian bustles to the haunting facial masks on medieval helmets, Tanya Marcuse has illuminated the complex relationship between body and clothes, with all the ambiguities this entails. — from the essay by Valerie Steele

Since time immemorial, humans have sought to cover parts of their bodies, with materials ranging from animal skins to the finest silk. Clothing not only keeps us warm and protected, it allows us to alter our appearance and the way others might regard us. Tanya Marcuse’s fascinating photographs show that although clothing on its own can look strange and inanimate, it also has a story to reveal. The undergarments she presents here are the kind that would most likely have been kept well-hidden from view, for these are the hard foundation garments such as corsets and bustles that – invisible on the outside – could completely change the shape of their wearer. Conversely, the rigid outer shell of armor would blatantly transform the appearance of the person concealed inside. For women, these undergarments enhanced (so they believed) their beauty and status; for men, the armor likewise presented their desired image – strength and bravery – to whoever crossed their path.

Three hardcover volumes in a slipcased set.
Tanya Marcuse, recipient of a 2002 Guggenheim fellowship, gained access to museum collections and archives, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Fashion Institute of Technology, to examine undergarments and armor ranging from the 4th Century BC to 19th century. Though she photographs the specialized and beautiful clothing, her main interest in the investigation is the human body and identity; she documents all the corsets, bolsters, codpieces and breastplates with a sensual eye for how the form might have inhabited the pieces. Presented here in three slim, clothbound volumes and housed in a slipcase, this collection of elegantly toned platinum prints makes a fascinating commentary on how we fashion our social identities and gender roles. At first, underwear and armor may seem to be on opposite ends of the spectrum. The undergarments featured here are meant to be hidden and private, to exaggerate the female form within it without revealing an underlying false structure. Armor, on the other hand, proudly bears itself as it conceals and protects the male body (and identity) within it, presenting a hyper-masculine and impenetrable facade. Yet both under and outwear shape the human bodies and identities they enclose. Interestingly, it is the male armor that is more intricately detailed - featuring steely tendrils on a headpiece, and carved designs on breast plates - while the undergarments are often more rudimentary. Marcuse focuses her examination not on the lacey delicacies that we might associate with ladies underwear, but on the bone, wooden, and metal architectures of corsets and bustles for women of the Victorian period, as well as a stunning chastity belt and breast enhancer. Not only are these objects controversial because they shape the image of women according to the desires of men in a confining manner, but they resemble the male armor, revealing themselves to be a kind of under-armor, meant to attract rather than protect. Both under and outer armor were meant to bolster a specific gender identity directed mainly toward impressing men, whether on the battlefield or in the parlor. In this series, Marcuse challenges how different these objects really are and questions how what we put on our bodies shapes our identity. The intimate scale of the photographs and Marcuse's mastery of the medium make for a delightful and thoughtful reading experience. DENISE WOLFF

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