New exhibit to feature empowered women’s footwear, clothing

ITHACA, N.Y. – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s shoes were made for walking over all her New York City congressional district.

Now, the campaign footwear worn by the youngest woman ever elected to Congress will be part of an exhibit chronicling how women use fashion for empowerment in endeavours such as politics and civil rights.

The Cornell Costume and Textile Collection at Cornell University is launching an exhibition titled “Women Empowered: Fashions from the Frontline.”

Among the exhibit’s other highlights are collars from Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a 1954 Cornell graduate; a labour union cap from a campaign led by Corretta Scott King in 1969, and a skirt suit worn by Janet Reno, a 1960 Cornell grad and the first woman to serve as U.S. Attorney General.

The exhibit opens Dec. 6 and runs through March 31.