Portrait of Miss S.

Ben-Yusuf reveals neither the name of this young woman, nor the character she assumes, although her unusual outfit suggests that she possibly enacts the role of a character from a work of art, literature, or theater. Her provocative costume signals her association with New York’s bohemian set. Wearing a low-cut lace dress and a high-collared cloak, she stands apart for her choice in fashion. During this period there arose a small, yet increasingly visible set that preferred “artistic dress.” Equating restrictive clothing with limits on one’s freedom, these women embraced dress reform as one part of their larger campaign for equality. Self-consciously flamboyant, the outfit that Miss S. wears is in part an outgrowth of the changes in the world of women’s fashion and is symptomatic of the enhanced freedoms – professional, political, and sexual – that many women sought during this period.

Platinum print, c. 1899
National Museum of American History, Behring Center, Smithsonian Institution