A new show at Paris's fashion museum asks a simple question with a long history: who gets to wear the trousers? From September 2026, the Palais Galliera will trace the 19th-century women who adopted suits, riding habits, ties and top hats — and in doing so, pushed back against what society decided femininity should look like.
'A Wardrobe of One's Own: Dissident Femininities in the 19th Century' gathers more than 500 works, pairing garments and accessories with paintings, photographs and fashion posters. The scope goes beyond France to cover how women in Anglo-Saxon countries also borrowed from the male wardrobe, whether for the practical demands of riding and sport, as a statement of social resistance, or to express identities that sat outside accepted norms.
The cast of characters is part of the draw. Writer George Sand and painter Rosa Bonheur both appear, alongside the American-born writer and salon host Natalie Clifford Barney and even Marie-Antoinette. A strand of the show is devoted to the Paris-Lesbos scene at the turn of the century, where dress became a way of navigating a world with rigid expectations about gender. Notably, the exhibition also draws on a previously unpublished collection of amateur photographs, pulling ordinary women — not just famous names — into fashion history.
The curators' point is that there was never a single motivation. Convenience, self-expression, sport and rebellion all overlapped. But what links these wardrobe choices is their power to unsettle the accepted relationship between clothing and femininity, making the show as much a social history as a costume display.
Why it matters for travellers: it's a good excuse to visit a museum that often gets overshadowed by the big Parisian names, and it sits in the chic 16th arrondissement within walking distance of the Trocadéro and a short stroll from the Eiffel Tower. Combine it with a Seine-side walk and you have an easy half-day with plenty of substance.
Practicalities are straightforward. The exhibition runs from 26 September 2026 to 14 February 2027 at 10 avenue Pierre-Ier-de-Serbie, with the museum open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 6pm, and late opening to 9pm on Fridays. Tickets are €14 full price, €12 reduced, and booking online in advance is advised — the Galliera's fashion shows tend to draw queues.
If you're in Paris between autumn 2026 and winter 2027 and want something beyond the usual Louvre circuit, this is a smart pick: an exhibition with real narrative pull, in a quieter corner of the city, at a price that leaves room for a good lunch afterwards.
Story via France Today
