Briana Hicks Classical Allure The designs I created in response to this project gained inspiration from multiple aspects of the Classical Allure exhibit. Primarily they are meant to represent Libertas, Aeternitas, and Virtus, Freedom, Eternity, and Virtue respectively. I was interested in the concept of Virtus as both a warrior and a maiden, whose morality was questioned because of the common depiction of her with an exposed breast. This stood out to me as a fascinating illustration of cultural duality and hypocrisy. Nudity in a woman is often interpreted as a sign of moral depravity. In reality it would be more accurate to say that the way society views naked women in indicative of its own moral flaws. The unclothed body, first seen at birth, is the ultimate representation of strength, fragility and humanity. To be nude is to be fully unprotected and thus requires strength of body and mind. It is our bodies that connect us to our ancestors and that will one day connect our progeny to ourselves. Such a concept cannot be shameful. These clothes are not meant to hide the female body, or to emphasize it as a sexual form. Instead they exist in harmony with the body, neither fearing it nor masking it. I meant to echo this freedom of form in the visual and physical looseness of the garments that do not hinder movement. They reference the fluidity of Greco-Roman antiquity without being defined by historical motif. Similarly they are not implicitly modern. They are timeless, referencing familiar visual motifs while avoiding anachronistic elements. Ultimately my intention was to create a look that encompasses the entirety of womanhood. Physically unrestrictive but aesthetically elegant, maintaining attitude and lacking shame in the body that it does not conceal, but illuminates. They are meant to be effortless so that the body inside can be anything she or it wants to be.