Fashion and Museums

This timely book explores the recent popularity of fashion in museums and its wider impact on the field. It is organized into three subjects: museums entering into fashion, controversy surrounding the nature of the fashion exhibition where essentially the human body is on display and lastly the practice of fashion in museums. Each chapter is written as a case study by authors with great experience in museum scholarship and curation including: Harold Koda & Jessica Glasscock of the Costume Institute, Julia Petrov of Alberta College of Art and Design and Rosemary Harden of The Fashion Museum in Bath, UK. * Costume Society of America * Effective and will be valuable for those studying the topic. It tackles intriguing themes and issues, offers unexpected perspectives, and mixes theory with concrete examples. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through professionals/practitioners. -- C. E. Berg, Museum of History and Industry * CHOICE * There is enough food for thought for both the academic (university, academies, independent scholars) and the museum communities. -- Bianca M. Du Mortier, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam * Costume * The edited collection of essays, Fashion and Museums: Theory and Practice includes accessible yet provocative discussions of historic, contemporary, and potential intersections between fashion and museums As such, this publication will appeal to those looking to develop collection strengths in the history of fashion, dress, and exhibition design as well as the critical study of fashion and its cultural and economic role in contemporary culture. -- Kathryn Stine, Senior Digital Curator, Visual Resources Center, UC Berkeley History of Art * Art Libraries Society of North America *

Marie Riegels Melchior is Assistant Professor at University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Birgitta Svensson is Professor and holder of the Hallwyl chair in European Ethnology at Nordiska museet and Stockholm University, Sweden.

Introduction Understanding Fashion and Dress Museology, Marie Riegels Melchior, Designmuseum Danmark, Denmark Section I: The Power of Fashion. When Museums Enter New Territory The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art: An Evolving History, Harold Koda & Jesscica Glasscock, The Costume Institute, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Understanding Fashion through the Museum, Jos Teunissen, Arnhem Design School, The Netherlands. Contemporary Fashion History in Museums, Marco Pecorari, Centre for Fashion Studies, University of Stockholm, Sweden Appraised, displayed and concealed: Fashion Photography on the Swedish Museum Stage, Anna Dahlgren, Department of Art History, University of Stockholm, Sweden Section II: Fashion Controversies. When Bodies Become Public Gender considerations in fashion history exhibitions, Julia Petrov, School of Creative and Critical Studies, Alberta College of Art and Design, Canada. Class and Gender in a Museum Collection: Female Skiwear, Marianne Larsson, Nordiska museet, Sweden Exhibiting the Body, Dress and Time in Museums: A Historical Perspective, Anne-Sophie Hjemdahl, University of Oslo, Norway Section III: In Practice From Museum of Costume to Fashion Museum: In the case of the Fashion Museum in Bath, Rosemary Harden, The Fashion Museum in Bath, United Kingdom Collecting Practice: Designmuseum Danmark, Kirsten Toftegaard, Designmuseum Danmark, Denmark Engaging the public in issues of Dress and Identity: A Case Study of Amagermuseet in Denmark, Ingeborg Phillipsen, Museum Amager, Denmark Learning through Fashion: The Norwegian Museum of Science, Technology and Medicine, Tone Rasch & Ingebjrg Eidhammer, The Norwegian Museum of Science, Technology and Medicine, Norway Autobiography as a proposed approach to a fashion exhibition, Jeffrey Horsley, London Collage of Fashion, United Kingdom In Conclusion: Museums dressed in fashion, Birgitta Svensson, Nordiska museet, Sweden Bibliography Index