Unbound: the exhibition, co-curated by Dr Natalie Smith and Victoria Bell, was held in September 2018, to coincide with Suffrage 125.

Every day individuals decide what clothes and accessories they are going to wear and how they will wear them. By combining different garments we are curating our own look – and how it makes us feel. Each outfit, each “look”, is a glimpse into our identities.

Professor Margo Barton contributed a performance event called Citizen Styled to the exhibition. This extended the idea of the wearer as curator to look at how the wearer interacts with the garments, by creating a dressing room to experience how something feels worn on the body.

Attendees at the exhibition opening were invited to dress up in any of the assorted clothes and accessories provided, snap a photograph of themselves, post it online with #citizenstylist, and submit it to the project. “Dressing up” provided participants with the opportunity to try on a different identity or personality, presenting a different self to the world. An array of the resulting photographs was on display as part of the exhibition.

• Come and hear Professor Margo Barton speak about her research at a celebration of her professorial appointment on 20 November. Click here for details and registration.