Curating the Dressed Body in Fashion History - HOA00102I
- Department: History of Art
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: I
- Academic year of delivery: 2025-26
Module summary
This module explores the curation and display of dress artefacts.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 1 2025-26 |
Module aims
This module investigates the curation of garments in both conceptual and practice-based ways. We will investigate a range of topics, potentially including: methods of mounting sartorial artefacts; concepts underpinning the choice of mannequins; the role of accessories in displaying sartorial artefacts; issues of conservation in the museum environment relating to old and new dress materials, including dyes and textiles; the possibilities of x-raying garments for research and exhibition work; curatorial concepts relating to museum visitors’ sensorial engagement with objects of dress history; approaches to creating interdisciplinary encounters with sartorial, visual and textual source materials in an exhibition space; and the role of ‘recreations’ and ‘making’ historic dress.
Module learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should have acquired:
- Understanding of the challenges and opportunities involved in curating sartorial artefacts.
- Ability to bring into dialogue with each other theoretical and practice-based approaches to fashion history.
- Insights into the role of heritage science for the study of dress.
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Module feedback
You will receive feedback on assessed work within the timeframes set out by the University - please check the Guide to Assessment, Standards, Marking and Feedback for more information.
The purpose of feedback is to help you to improve your future work. If you do not understand your feedback or want to talk about your ideas further, you are warmly encouraged to meet your Tutor and/or Supervisor during their office hours.
Indicative reading
- Brooks, Mary M., and Dinah D. Eastop, eds. Refashioning and Redress: Conserving and Displaying Dress. Los Angeles: Getty Conservation Institute, 2016.
- Crawley, Greer, and Donatella Barbieri. “Dress, Time, and Space: Expanding the Field Through Exhibition Making.” In The Handbook of Fashion Studies, edited by Sandy Black, et al., 44-60. London: Bloomsbury, 2013.
- Flecker, Lara. A Practical Guide to Costume Mounting. London: Victoria & Albert Museum, 2013.
- Petrov, Julia. Fashion, History, Museums: Inventing the Display of Dress. London: Bloomsbury, 2019.
- Sykas, Philip A. “Investigative Methodologies: Understanding the Fabric of Fashion.” In The Handbook of Fashion Studies, edited by Sandy Black, et al., 235-67. London: Bloomsbury, 2013.