The FIT Pink exhibit offered great insight on the history of the color. The variety of garments in the exhibition show how versatile the color is and the many ways it has been used from the 15th century until now. The garment I chose to analyze is Gwyneth Paltrow’s 1999 Oscar dress by Ralph Lauren. This rosy pink dress gives a classic princess silhouette a modern, sexy reinvention. The color pink is usually associated with femininity; in fashion this has classically been translated into delicate, ultra feminine silhouettes. I think the object was made in this shade of pink to add an elegant and soft touch to an otherwise sexy silhouette. When designing, I presume Ralph Lauren primarily considered who he was designing for and the event it was to be worn at; I think Ralph Lauren used this shade of pink specifically because Gwyneth Paltrow was to wear the dress. He wanted to accentuate Paltrow’s kind and feminine personality, while also proving she could be powerful and sexy. At the time, a dress with such a low neck and thin straps was very risque, especially for an awards show. In the reading from “The Power of Glamour,” author Virginia Postrel notes that “By figuring out how glamour answers a particular audience’s longings, we can see how it operates,” (Postrel, 38). Ralph Lauren knew who would be watching when he made this dress; he knew that for the red carpet, people expect extreme elegance and glamour. If a design relates enough to glamour ideals of the time, it can go down as an icon of dress. Lauren used this rosy pink taffeta to make a statement about femininity and glamour. He played into hegemonic standards of gender with his use of pink and also the classic feminine silhouette. He knew that Paltrow’s personality would wear his sexy, simplistic design with ultimate grace. Lauren here taps into celebrity culture to bolster the effectiveness of his design. I think Lauren intended for this design to go down in fashion history, and it did. I think the curator’s at FIT’s museum included Lauren’s 1999 dress for this reason. Lauren established a new power in femininity with this dress; he showed the fair, dainty pink he used could be used in a modern, sensual design, rather than the conservativity the color usually is used in. By deeply understanding the event and person he was designing for, Lauren successfully created one of the most iconic Oscar gowns of all time.