Campus & Beyond The Personal Style of Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’54, on Display Stories You May Like Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’54 Honored with Sculpture in NY State Capitol At the Cornell Fashion + Textile Collection, History Is Always in Style Stamp of Approval: Postal Service Honors RBG and Novelist Morrison The Human Ecology Building's ‘Fashioning Justice' exhibit also includes related items from the Cornell Fashion + Textile Collection Editor’s note: This story was adapted from a feature in the Cornell Chronicle. By Tom Fleischman Cornell graduate. Pioneering attorney and U.S. Supreme Court justice. Mother, grandmother, pop culture icon. Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’54—a.k.a. “RBG”—was an influencer before it was even a profession, advocating for women’s equality. Her personal style, and the substance behind it, are on display in an exhibit, “Fashioning Justice: Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’54 and the Power of Presence.” A collection of RBG's COVID masks, and a pair of her lacy gloves. A collaboration between the Brooks School of Public Policy and the College of Human Ecology, it runs through May 1. The exhibit, in display cases in the Human Ecology Building, features accessories, on loan from family members, from Ginsburg’s personal wardrobe—including her signature lacy judicial collars (among them her distinctive “Dissent” collars) along with gloves, COVID masks, handbags, jewelry, and scarves. Cornellian yearbooks and a Class of 1954 Freshman Desk Book, from the University Library, are also on display. rare and manuscript collectionsIn this 1953 shot of Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority sisters, an already fashionable Ruth Bader is in the second row from the back, third from right. Pieces from the Cornell Fashion + Textile Collection expand the narrative, with items influenced by Ginsburg’s legal legacy. “This is a really exciting opportunity to talk about the intersections of fashion, law, freedom of expression, and clothing as symbolic speech,” says collection director and exhibit curator Denise Green ’07. The exhibit features accessories, on loan from family members, from Ginsburg’s personal wardrobe. “Women have used fashion, historically and in the present day, as both voice and strategy to seek justice, navigate inequalities, and challenge some of the assumptions about how authority is defined and regulated through appearance.” Ginsburg, who died at age 87 in 2020, popularized lacy judicial collars alongside Sandra Day O’Connor, the first female Supreme Court justice. A purse with a copy of the U.S. Constitution, and a collar with a message. Over time, Ginsburg’s collars developed more precise meanings and could signal whether she had written a majority opinion or, more famously, when she was dissenting. “The judicial robe is itself a symbolic garment intended to convey authority, impartiality, and uniformity,” says Green, also the Lau Family Associate Professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Human Centered Design. Stories You May Like Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’54 Honored with Sculpture in NY State Capitol At the Cornell Fashion + Textile Collection, History Is Always in Style “But because the judicial robe was designed for a man’s body, it left space at the neckline for a collar and tie, allowing for individual expression to peek through.” Because the judicial robe was designed for a man’s body, it left space at the neckline for a collar and tie, allowing for individual expression to peek through. Prof. Denise Green ’07, director of the Fashion + Textile Collection The court’s only two female justices seized the opportunity. Says Green: “There was something both witty and bold in the way that they exaggerated this already-obvious difference with lace and other materials associated with femininity.” One of the exhibit’s themes is “The Politics of Lace,” exploring its ascension from accessory to a feature that has symbolic meaning. “It has often been dismissed as a delicate, decorative, frilly add-on,” Green observes, “but lace represents labor, skill accumulated over generations, and economies made possible by women’s work.” One of the exhibit’s themes is “The Politics of Lace,” exploring its ascension from accessory to a feature that has symbolic meaning. Each student in “Fashioning Justice: RBG and the Arts”—a Learning Where You Live course taught in Ginsburg Hall—researched and wrote a descriptive label for an item in the exhibit. They also created original artwork, relating to the intersection of fashion and justice and RBG’s legacy, that will be displayed in a nearby gallery as a companion show. One of Ginsburg's iconic judicial collars ... ryan young / cornell university... and a pearl necklace she owned. “Ruth Bader Ginsburg showed up every day to a room full of men who did not always agree with her, and she made her presence known through what she wore,” says Samantha Alberts, MA ’24, a doctoral student in fiber science and apparel design. “Her collars, her gloves, her purses were never just accessories. They were statements.” Top: One of Ginsburg's judicial collars (Ryan Young / Cornell University). All other images courtesy of the Cornell Fashion + Textile Collection, unless otherwise indicated. Published March 16, 2026 Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ Other stories You may like Alumni Meet the Alum Outfitting the Gymnasts of Team USA Alumni Meet the Alum Behind Some of Music’s Biggest Rights Deals Alumni For a Veteran Hollywood Scout, it’s All About ‘Location, Location’