NEW YORK (AP) — The American woman's claim to fame in the fashion world mirrors what the country's roots are built on: freedom.

From the heiresses in the 1890s to the screen sirens of the 1940s — and, really, into the 21st century — it was American style icons who helped move fashion forward with new standards of beauty, sexuality, power and art, even if many of the best couturiers lived and worked across the Atlantic.

The Metropolitan Museum's Costume Institute celebrates this influence in its new exhibit "American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity."

"Whenever you think of America, you think about emancipation, modernity and progress . and American women because of their clothes are the ultimate symbol of progress and modernity," said curator Andrew Bolton.

But while he could have singled out the most influential tastemakers of their day, that might have minimized the overall impact he thinks Americans had on global trends. "I didn't want to pick out specific women. I wanted to celebrate the archetypes of American femininity," Bolton added.

Visitors enter through a photographic recreation of Manhattan's Washington Square arch, which, coming from the end of the 19th century, notes the complementary explosion of local architecture and apparel at that time. The first gallery represents the high, expensive, elaborate style of the young nation's wealthiest women. They still bought their clothes in Paris,
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Bolton explained, but their look — and the American spin they put on it — was exported back to Europe via the characters in Edith Wharton and Henry James novels.

To best show off the heiress' va-va-voom silhouette, Bolton selected low-cut ballgowns with tiny, nipped waists; provocative low bustlines; and rich fabrics. One of the most stunning came from the French House of Worth. The blue-and-cream gown was decorated with delicate mousseline and butterfly-themed embroidery.

The heiresses' independent streak whet the appetite for the next generation's more carefree style that would only be furthered with the athletic Gibson Girl, a creation of illustrator Charles Dana Gibson, followed by the liberal bohemian, tough suffragist and fun-loving flapper. Then came the Hollywood starlet, who, with her mix of glamour and sophistication, has remained a muse for fashion designers around the world.

Back in 1924, the French designer Jean Patou specifically sought out Americans as models, running an ad in The New York Times looking for women who had to be "smart, slender, with well-shaped feet and ankles and refined of manner."

That solidified the American woman's place in the fashion hierarchy, said Bolton.

"What interested me a lot is the actual history; it's about the American woman going through history and how she projected herself," said Patrick Robinson, Gap's executive president of global design, who served as the co-chair for exhibit's star-studded opening gala that featured such tastemakers as Oprah Winfrey, Sarah Jessica Parker and Jennifer Lopez.

"To me, it's the idea that she can say, 'I can express myself!' It's pretty powerful when you look at it like that," Robinson says. "From the flapper period through the screen-siren period — that's when it changed. From our films, that's when the world saw American fashion, American attitude, and they said, 'I want to be that.' And that's still the way it is today."

The exhibit ends with a video mash-up of familiar faces, past and present, who collectively embody the strong spirit woven into the look of the historical muses. Jackie Kennedy, Lady Gaga, Marilyn Monroe, Queen Latifah, Gloria Steinem and Michelle Obama are among the dozens of women whose faces flash on the walls to the soundtrack of — what else — Lenny Kravitz's "American Woman."

The archetypes and the clothes, mostly from the Met's recent acquisition of the Brooklyn Museum's Costume Collection, that represent them:

—The Heiress

While the grande dames of high society often wore black, the younger heiresses — many newly married, others on the prowl for a husband — favored lighter colors. Examples of her gowns include a black one embroidered with black celluloid pailettes and shamrocks trimmed with gold lame and lace, and an icy blue one brocaded with white and blue stars, silver sequins and chiffon clouds.

—The Gibson Girl

This lanky, sporty style was introduced to the world in Gibson illustration in an 1890 issue of Life magazine. The women inspired by this image took up swimming, tennis, riding horses and bikes, and ice skating, and they wore more practical fabrics such as cotton broadcloth and wool twill. While they kept their corsets on, they adopted some menswear looks, too, including button-down shirts.

ATLANTA — For a team driven to be the last men standing, the Orlando Magic have hung around the least amount of time of any playoff entrant. It’s getting so you can see Dwight Howard more on TV in his movie trailers or in his cell-phone commercial than in a series.

It’s not as if the Magic don’t enjoy their job or don’t play well with others. They just have been that frighteningly efficient and dominant, more so than any of their contending rivals.

On Monday night, the Magic made short work of the Atlanta Hawks with a 98-84 victory at Philips Arena, eliminating them in four games to set up a repeat appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Magic are halfway home to winning the franchise’s first title, looking poised and purposeful to complete the task after beating a 53-win team by 43, 14, 30 and 14 points.

"You never know," coach Stan Van Gundy said. "We’re trying very hard to win one. But so is Cleveland, so is Boston and Phoenix and the Lakers. Our guys are doing everything they can to get that done. A lot of teams are. We can’t get carried away by the margins (of victory)."

It was their second consecutive sweep of the postseason, coming on the heels of a broom-job against the Charlotte Bobcats.

The Magic have played the minimum of eight games, a league requirement, although you could have made a case to evoke the mercy rule against Atlanta. The Magic thumped the Hawks by a combined 101 points — the most in the history of four-game sweeps.

"I don’t think you expect that," Van Gundy said, adding he was surprised "to be able to sweep them the way we did."

Orlando again must await the outcome of another series — the outcome of the Cleveland-Boston match-up — as it did after ousting the Bobcats. It might be another long wait. The next game will be Sunday at the earliest, Tuesday at the latest.

There were seven days between the end of the first round and the start of the second against Atlanta, and the Magic might be facing a similar scenario if the Cavs and Celtics [team stats] go seven.

The Magic remained the only unbeaten team of the postseason (8-0) and pushed their overall winning streak to 14, roaring out to an early lead. They then dismantled the Hawks in the final period with a 15-2 run, fittingly finishing the lopsided series with another blow-out.