Film series: Fit for Duty
Cornell Cinema is pleased to partner with the Cornell Fashion + Textile Collection (CF+TC) to present "Fit for Duty," a five-part film series about the transformative nature of military service.
The series centers military dress as a sartorial site for exploring questions of identity during and beyond active duty. The films trace the varied ways that service members assert their own individuality within the confines of military dress and how issues of race, gender, class, and more intersect with military service. They also each draw attention to how military fashion permeates everyday life — from the presence of WWII military surplus on motorcycle gangs of The Wild One to Maverick’s signature aviator sunglasses in Top Gun.
The series also features films that consider conflicts from World War II through today and that represent various branches of the American military on the occasion of the 250th anniversaries of the U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps.
"Fit for Duty: Form and Function in Military Dress" is an interdisciplinary exhibition on form, function, and service that explores how military uniforms have evolved in aesthetics, silhouette, material, and visual symbolism—shaping ideals of discipline, identity, and design. Presented across two campus sites, the exhibition connects historical military dress to contemporary fashion, student design, and veteran storytelling.
The exhibition is on view Rachel Hope Doran '19 and Terrace Level Vitrines at the Human Ecology Building and Wortham Museum at Barton Hall from November 11, 2025 through March 2026.
Special thanks to Catherine Blumenkamp, Associate Director of the Cornell Fashion + Textile Collection (CF+TC), and David La Rocca.
