Daily (except Monday)
10 am to 6 pm
Tuesday
10 am to 9 pm
Weltmuseum Wien
Neue Hofburg, Heldenplatz
1010 Vienna, Austria
Who‘s Wearing the Pants?
25 March 2025 to 1 February 2026
Skinny, baggy, formal, PJ-style: they are a deeply familiar global phenomenon that comes in all shapes and sizes. To many of us, they form a part of a personal identity, they trigger gender and generational conflicts, they are a marker of cultural and social belonging. Trousers. From March 25 2025, the Weltmuseum Wien will be taking a journey through 3,000 years of global legwear history, from the oldest types of pants from the Bronze Age to the present day!
Info
About the exhibition
About the exhibition
Trousers are everywhere – yet they hold much more meaning than meets the eye. From ancient riding trousers to modern jeans, Who Wears the Pants? explores cultural norms, social change, and personal identity. Treasures and quite a few oddities from the collections of the Weltmuseum Wien, the Kunsthistorisches Museum, and the Theatermuseum meet loans from Austrian and international institutions. Historical originals, presented alongside selected contemporary artworks, create a multifaceted picture of this symbol-laden garment.
Whether luxurious trousers of the Habsburgs, rebellious fashion statements, or practical workwear – the exhibited pieces illustrate how closely trousers are linked to power, status, and gender roles. From the oldest preserved trousers, over 1,000 years old, the narrative unfolds to rebellious women and their fight for social and political equality.
But the exhibition does not only look to the past. It also addresses the challenges of today’s fashion industry – from fast fashion to the difficult conditions of textile production. What do trousers say about us? How has their meaning evolved over time? And why do they still symbolize power, protest, and transformation today?
Gallery
Accompanying programme
Accompanying programme
Discover our diverse program surrounding our current exhibition. Whether it’s overview tours, curator tours, inspiring lectures, or interactive formats like Object Speed Dating with original trousers, Tactile tours with curator Barbara Pönighaus-Matuella, and a variety of exciting courses in cooperation with the VHS – there’s something for everyone!
Join our overview tours on the first and third Tuesday of each month or take part in the events, talks, and lectures on Dienstagabend im Museum.
Would you like to enjoy a guided tour with your family, friends, or colleagues? Book a customized guided tour through this exhibition.
In the Family Point area in the Column Hall of the Weltmuseum Wien there is an >exchange station< for pants. You are welcome to leave a pair of trousers you have brought with you on our clothes rail - and with a bit of luck you can take another pair with you!
For children, the exhibition offers a diverse program with Workshops for kids as well as the Offenes Atelier für Klein und Groß.
You can find all details and dates in our calendar.
Our events from
Exhibition Catalogue
Exhibition Catalogue
56 pairs of trousers from 26 countries. Sixteen are older than eighty, five younger than twenty. Most are somewhere in between. Not sorted geographically or chronologically. It's all about the inventiveness of the designs, the properties of the materials, and the quality of the craftsmanship.