Fashion plate of an evening dress, published in Ackermann’s Repository (1815).
I have always wondered things about history.
One of the things I have wondered recently is just how reflective the fashions in museum exhibits are of the common dress of the period.
Historical costumers tend to rely on extant garments, as well as paintings and fashion plates of an era, in order to replicate fashions in a particular time period. There is a fascination and preoccupation in historical costuming circles with sewing garments with historical accuracy. This can include using patterns drafted from extant examples, using materials and fabrics consistent with the era, and even limiting oneself to using particular sewing techniques, such as completely hand-sewing a garment.
Firstly, I must say that I find it awe-inspiring that someone could have so much patience and attention to detail to accomplish some – let alone all – of these sewing feats. It truly amazes me!
However, I do wonder whether all this – sometimes extreme – effort to replicate extant garments is necessary. Are we, as historical costumers, wasting our time if these articles of clothing are not reflective of those actually worn?
Now, on the surface of it, this statement seems silly. Of course museum garments have been worn. They show signs of being worn: sweat stains, dirt stains, and places worn thin with wear. They show signs of being re-used by successive generations, with sizing alterations and some being completely redesigned for use in a later era.
However, my wonderings have led me down a different path. Down today’s path really. The thing that I wonder is: In 100 years which of my clothes will end up in a museum? And will these garments be reflective of me and my time?
Could tracksuit pants ever appear in a museum?
Will my tracksuit pants make the cut? Or my favourite pair of jeans? What about my stained and stretched T-shirt that I can’t bear to throw away. These are the clothes that I wear most often. These are the clothes I feel most comfortable in. These are the clothes that represent who I am. (Hopefully that admission hasn’t altered your opinion about me!)
Or will my wedding dress or my debutant dress be displayed instead? Will it be my formal clothes that I rarely wear (because who really dresses up anymore anyway, except for a wedding here and there)?
Or will it be the clothes in my wardrobe that are in pristine condition that are exhibited? Because pristine clothes are more valuable to a museum, aren’t they? Like my white pair of jeans that are too tight around my waist and too hard to keep clean. Or a shirt I bought on sale that has never fitted right. Will it be clothes that have hardly been worn, usually because I don’t like them and so I don’t wear them?
What about my shoes? Or – God forbid – my underwear! Will it be my favourite sneakers or will it be the high heels that I can’t stand because they make my feet hurt? Will it be my pretty lingerie, the ones that have a matching bra and G-string undies (which I only wear on especially special occasions because they are too darned uncomfortable)? Or will it be those pairs of cotton undies that are $10 for a packet of 5 in Coles Supermarket?
The cover of Vogue magazine, featuring Kate Moss, in September 2011.
How will the people of the future be able to tell what we have worn? Because surely most of the stuff that I wear all the time will have been thrown out, deemed unattractive, undesirable and uninteresting. And that could leave the more unrepresentative fashions in the museums of the future.
How will the people of the future be able to accurately represent our fashions for their own historical costuming festivals? Will they examine the fashions in the magazines of Vogue or Elle (which, quite frankly, are dreadfully expensive and only look good on that 2% of the population that are model-like skinny)? Or will people be using “vintage” patterns published by McCalls and Simplicity in 2013 to construct accurate clothing, despite the fact that a very small percentage of people today sew their everyday clothes? It does seem very unlikely that they would want to draft a pattern from my old, daggy, Kmart-branded tracky-dacks, that are equally unlikely to have made it to the National Museum fashion exhibit!
It is an interesting question. And it is interesting mainly because I wonder if it is the same with us. Do we look back into history and attempt to replicate clothes that are not representative of what was actually worn? Do we presume that the clothes that have made it to the celebrated status of museum exhibits were frequently worn and loved by the people of that time? Do we just accept that pictures of the period are accurate in their portrayal of the fashions of everyday people?
To be fair, in my not-so-extensive online research of extant garments, there is quite a variety of surviving clothing ranging from the upper to the lower classes of people. There is also some surviving literature about dressmaking and tailoring in particular eras of history. And there are a variety of pictures depicting fashion, from upper class portraits to fashion plates to exaggerated caricatures.
But I guess that makes me wonder anew what conclusions those people in the future will draw from the clothing, literature, and pictures that survive from this era. And will they form the wrong conclusions? And could it be possible that we, as studiers of history, form the wrong conclusions about those people gone before us?
A point to ponder… maybe over a cup of tea!
Related Posts
How Heavy is too Heavy for a Dress?
See Costumes for links to more of my costuming posts
Sources and Relevant Links
Historical Accuracy meets my costuming philosophy - by Wanda B. Victorian (So how far should you go for historical accuracy?)
Historical Accuracy in movies – by Hello Tailor (Can fashion depictions in period movies ever be historically accurate?)
Why you can’t be 100% Historically Accurate – by Historical Sewing.com (Is historically accurate fashion just about the clothes? Or is it also about the people?)
I often ponder this as well, I know what my mum wore in the 50s as I have pics of her at all sorts of events from casual to formal and it bears no relation to the clothes sold as 50s retro vintage. These gowns survived because they were special, uncomfortable or too small, they probably don’t represent what was worn around the fire on a winters evening. Thanks for the thoughtful post.
Yes, it is thought provoking, hey! I know the clothes my grandmother made for my mother in the 60′s are not at all the traditional (modern) idea of what the 60′s clothes should look like!
Great post! I think a lot of the allure of the wonderful fashions of hundreds of year ago that we see in museums, and as opposed to the great majority of our own clothing is as you say, the fact that many are works of art—creations executed by hand with mind boggling time and patience…
Mary
http://anhistoricallady.blogspotcom
You are right! Some of them really were major works of art, weren’t they! And they probably would not have been worn except at court.
These very questions cause me to collect cabinet cards. Yes they had photos done for special occasions so most are wearing their very best. But, even the not so wealthy had their photos done and you can see fashion choices not made by wealthy. The raggity old cotton dress that got made into a rag rug was at one time their best church dress.
What era were the cabinet cards in? I am supposing it would be Victorian, not just cos that’s the era you are into
, but because that is about when photography was used, wasn’t it? They are probably give a good idea as to the range of fashions during the time, rather than just the fashion extremes.
All the expensive designer gowns that celebrities wear to awards dinners will end up in museums, for sure. The fashion historians of the future will likely use these to make generalizations about the silhouettes of our time, just as we do with gowns of times gone by.
Yes, that will be great won’t it! At least everyone will think I looked like Kate Moss!
I want to go forward a few hundred years to when they are having “21st Century Faires” instead of Renaissance Faires and see what those look like.
Yes, I wonder what sort of things they will characterise these current generations by. Like we do with top-hatted male Victorians, and big-wigged eighteenth century women. Maybe it will be blue jeans (which have seemed to be a general staple over the last few decades). Or maybe it will be the good old “joggers” or sneakers.
I would love to know too!
It could be something weird like eyelash curlers, or belly button piercings (neither of which I have!).
[...] * Kelly at Tea in a Teacup pondered the question, “Will your clothes end up in a museum?“ [...]
Hello, I have tagged you again at my blog if you are interested!
Thank you very much! Its always good to know more Jane Austen fans!