Fashion Redux 2026: Cocktail Hour opened last month at the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park. I enjoyed a look at the exhibition today.
Once again, students from the Mesa College Fashion Program have produced inspired creations for this annual event.
As one display explains: This exhibition explores the rise of the “Modern Woman” through the lens of cocktail dresses, featuring contemporary designs by San Diego Mesa College students inspired by examples from the San Diego History Center’s historic textile collection that span the periods 1890 to 1970.
Women’s fashion has changed greatly over the decades, driven by societal “norms” of the day. History that was studied by the student designers included social movements leading to both Prohibition, its repeal, and women’s suffrage.
The cocktail dress emerged in the 1920s, as women embraced more public and social roles, moving away from restrictive floor-length dresses, into a short, semi-formal garment for early evening events…
A number of displays, including historical photographs and garments, demonstrate this fascinating evolution of fashion.
At the center of the exhibition, however, are the reimagined cocktail dresses. It’s very impressive how college students designed the four unique dresses you see in the next photograph!
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