May Arts Off 75: Spring Closet Cleaning

There’s a hard truth hiding in every closet. This spring, I found myself standing in front of racks of clothing that told the story of years spent moving between roles, responsibilities and rhythms of life. There were pieces for evenings out, for long brunch conversations with friends and of course, the carefully considered wardrobe of a host stepping onto the set of The Art Show. What began as a simple seasonal cleanout became something far more reflective: a reckoning not just with what I owned, but why I owned it.

For me, clothing has never been merely utilitarian. It has always lived in that fertile space between function and expression. Fabric, silhouette, texture, color – all of it working together as a kind of visual language. While the act of letting go was not without weight, there is a quiet satisfaction in passing pieces along and knowing they will carry into someone else’s story.

It was in the midst of this personal fashion reset that I came across the exhibition “Elizabeth Hawes: Radical American Fashion” at the Cincinnati Art Museum. And suddenly, what I was doing in my own closet felt connected to a much larger conversation.

Elizabeth Hawes asked deep questions about fashion long before the industry was ready to listen. She rejected the relentless churn of trends, questioned the artificial hierarchies between designer and wearer, and advocated for clothing that was durable, practical and deeply personal. In her 1954 book “Fashion Is Spinach,” she cuts through cultural assumptions with clarity and wit:

“There are American women and men — more of the latter — who have held that spending time and thought on personal appearance is idle, stupid and somehow wrong or sinful. This is nonsense.”

Hawes reminds us that beauty is not excess or indulgence, but a necessary dimension of being fully alive. So as I continue refining my wardrobe, this exhibition feels like an invitation to think less about quantity and more about intention. And perhaps, in that quiet act of choosing, we may even reclaim a personal sense of style.

Rodney Veal
CET/Think^TV Producer and Community Arts Liaison

Check out this month’s Arts Off 75 picks below: