Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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Advance Pattern Co., 1932-1980: A Company Lost to Time

Taleah Cameron

2025

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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Thesis

Though unknown now, between 1932-1966 Advance Pattern Company was one of the biggest competitors in the sewing pattern industry. They did this by selling themselves as a fashionable brand with easy-to-sew patterns. This reputation, paired with their vast array of sewing patterns meant to appeal to various customers, was what solidified their place in the home sewing market. Despite utilizing all sorts of branding and advertising tactics to build a successful business the company disappeared and fell into obscurity. How did this once strong company disappear without much explanation, while its former competitors, Simplicity, McCall's, Vogue, and Butterick, still manage to maintain relevance in the home dressmaking market today? An analysis of older articles, archival materials, books, and the company's sewing patterns help in understanding what business decisions elevated or ultimately hindered the company, in hindsight.

Fashioning in the Flat: Collage as a Contemporary Approach to Self-Styling

Claire A. Calvert

2024

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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Thesis

Fashion and collage are related in that they have historically been—and remain—intertwined with self-expression and the development of personal style. Like fashion, collage, which is created by collecting, cutting, and combining things, conveys meaning through a system of signs. Historically, collage has been defined rather strictly as a paper medium. However, leaving space for more expansive material parameters lends greater significance to aspects of collage such as the ways in which fragments are combined. Examples of fashion-collage from the seventeenth century through today exemplify that the activity of collage uniquely allows for individuals to explore style expression beyond the physical body and demonstrate material literacy. For fashion media and retailers, collage can be a means of encouraging fashion consumerism and suggesting choice. Examining fashion magazines from their seventeenth-century emergence to their present-day state illuminates the ways in which magazine images evolve. As printing and photography become more accessible and widely used, editorials become more collage-like. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the disposability of magazines, combined with their abundance of enticing illustrations and photography, encouraged readers to use them as materials for fashion-collages–serving as what I term "off-the-body fashion expressions." In the twenty-first century, the now-defunct fashion-collaging website Polyvore took fashion collaging from the physical to the digital, serving as a platform to both create and share digital fashion mood-boards. As the majority of twenty-first-century fashion is ready-to-wear, and consumers have largely lost their material literacy, digital fashion-collage proved to be an excellent medium for building sartorial-sign literacy, and continuing the longstanding relationship of fashion and collage.

Pockets to Purses: Fashion + Function

2018

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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Pockets and purses are often presented as opposites, yet both function as places to carry and store valuables. A close examination of their history reveals a nuanced interconnection rather than clear divisions between masculine and feminine uses and designs.

The Traphagen School: Fostering American Fashion

2019

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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An exploration of the legacy of one of the first institutions dedicated to educating fashion industry professionals in New York City

Adrian: Hollywood and Beyond

2017

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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An exploration of Adrian’s costume and ready-to-wear designs through two categories of technique: construction and textile design

The Women of Harper's Bazaar, 1936-1958

2016

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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An exploration of the collaborative relationship among Carmel Snow, Diana Vreeland, and Louise Dahl-Wolfe during their time working together at Harper’s Bazaar

Lauren Bacall: The Look

2015

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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The first exhibition to exclusively celebrate the film and theater star's unique style

Beyond Rebellion: Fashioning the Biker Jacket

2014

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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Traces the rise of the black leather jacket from utilitarian outerwear to iconic high-fashion garment

Boots: The Height of Fashion

2013

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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An examination of how boots emerged as a modern fashion phenomenon during the 20th century and evolved to become a staple of the fashionable woman's wardrobe

Youthquake! The 1960s Fashion Revolution

2012

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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An exploration of the dramatic impact of youth culture on fashion during the 1960s

Vivienne Westwood, 1980-89

2011

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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Three different views of Westwood’s work during the pivotal decade of the 1980s

Scandal Sandals & Lady Slippers: A History of Delman Shoes

2010

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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A vibrant and detailed selection of the glamorous, innovative, and classic styles that made Delman Shoes a leader in women's footwear

Muriel King: Artist of Fashion

2009

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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An exhibition focusing on on the artistry of King's designs and seeks to define her contribution to the history of American fashion

Sole Desire: The Shoes of Christian Louboutin

2008

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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An exhibition tracing the course of Louboutin's career and placing him in context with other important designers while examining the major influences and themes that have informed his designs

Modern Master: Lucien Lelong, Couturier 1918-1948

2006

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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The first exhibition to trace Lelong's thirty-year career and examine his contribution to the history of fashion

Designing the It Girl: Lucile and Her Style

2005

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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The first exhibition to celebrate Lucile's unique style and entrepreneurial spirit, establishing her place in the history of fashion

Temptation, Joy & Scandal: Fragrance & Fashion 1900-1950

2004

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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An exhibition to celebrate the union of two French luxury industries: fragrance and fashion

Work in Uniform: Dressed for Detail

2001

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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An exploration of working uniform fashions

Violette Marsan, Erik Braagaard, Henri De Chatillon: French Milliners of New York, 1930–1968

Celine Khawam

2023

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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Thesis

Many designers who were significant contributors to Paris fashions in the 1930s have disappeared from the record of fashion history. This long list of forgotten designers includes Violette H. Marsan (1902-1997), Erik Braagaard (1912-2004), and Henri de Châtillon (1906- 1972), three Paris-based French modistes (milliners) who were celebrated for their elegant hats. They gained widespread success in France before fleeing the country in the wake of the Second World War and settling in New York and Mexico City. They were part of the numerous French émigrés (immigrants) who had found refuge in the United States during wartime, many of whom were intellectuals, artists, and designers. Back then, the French fashion community of New York was acclaimed, notably through the design contributions of Madame Nicole and Lilly Daché, two renowned French-American milliners. Despite their success and talent, the creations of Violette Marsan, Erik Braagaard, and Henri de Châtillon are not well represented in museum collections and their names are no longer recalled. My goal with this paper is to recover the course of their respective careers and recount these untold stories. A close look at their work, aspirations, and influence in New York and beyond will provide further insight into their style and relationship to the American fashion industry between 1930 and 1968, at a time of democratization of fashion and greater recognition for American designers.

Unwrapping a Korean Folk Textile: The Historical Analysis and Treatment of a Mid-twentieth Century Jogakbo-Bojagi

Minna Kim

2023

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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Thesis

The purpose of this qualifying paper is to emphasize the historical importance of a post-1950 jogakbo-bojagi, a Korean wrapping cloth featuring patchwork, and to treat it prior to mounting for a private collector.
Chapters one through five cover the history, function, qualities, and variations of bojagi textiles and their cultural importance to society, particularly women. Traditionally, women played a large role in the making of bojagi, which is why this paper will explore the societal expectations of women in Korea during the Joseon dynasty. To fully grasp the cultural context of bojagi textiles, this paper will briefly cover Korea's history from the ancient Three Kingdoms Period to the end of the Japanese occupation period. In this paper, topics covered include trade, cultivation of fibers, synthetic dyes, and global history from the late-nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries. Lastly, chapters six through eight will cover the condition and treatment of the jogakbo-bojagi, as well as final conclusions and dating of the object.

Elizabeth Hawes: Along Her Own Lines

2023

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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The exhibition is organized by the graduate students of the Fashion Institute of Technology's MA program in Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice, in collaboration with The Museum at FIT.

Presenting Sekitori: History, Materiality, and Embodiment in Contemporary Sumo

Giuliana F. Ciampoli

2023

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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Thesis

Sekitori are the men who compete in ōzumō, the highest-level competition of Japanese wrestling known as sumō, which is widely recognized as Japan's national sport. The unique and meaningful dress and textiles used in ōzumō are rich in symbolism and historical significance. This paper aims to explore and interpret the dress of sekitori and its cultural importance, particularly for an unfamiliar, Western audience.The sport holds significance in Japanese culture due to its reliance on ritual and tradition and because it epitomizes certain Japanese values related to masculine identity and cultural legacy. This study demonstrates that the culture of ōzumō and the dress of sekitori exemplifies these values. By adopting Deborah Evanson and Joanne Eicher's comprehensive definition of dress, which this paper interprets as physical presentation, encompassing anything worn or held for the purpose of appearance, including sensory aspects such as sound, smell, body shape, size, musculature, hair, or any modification of the body at a given time.This research delves into the historical and contemporary significance of sumō's material culture with a particular focus on the details, origins, meanings and making of sekitori's dress. It also dispels misconceptions about a sport which until recently has been hidden away from outsiders in what is referred to as kakukai, or the sumō world, a term which reflects its exclusivity. Through this exploration, the paper contributes to a deeper understanding of sumō culture and Japanese craftsmanship, as well as what each reflects about Japanese culture.By examining the dress of sekitori, this study not only reviews the origins and development of sumō, intertwined as it is with Japan's history from myth and legend to the early twentieth century, but also reveals its deep interrelation with contemporary Japanese culture. Presenting a unique study of the dress of sekitori, an aspect of sumō that has received little attention in scholarship, this paper opens up new areas for further exploration in the field of dress and textile studies.

Marketing the Sound: Fashioning the Blues Musician and the Country Music Cowboy

Jules Eckelkamp

2023

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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Thesis

Focusing on the period between the country music’s recognition as a distinct category of music in the 1920s and its evolution into a polished and solidified genre in the 1950s, I will discuss the segregation of Black and white singers into the categories of hillbilly and race music and the resulting changes to the artists’ wardrobe. I will look at the dress of the rural Mississippi Delta and Appalachian regions where both genres emerged from. I will consider the influence of record labels, touring shows, and the artists themselves on the musician’s visual branding. A particular focus will be placed on the leading artists in the country and blues genres during this time and the representations of gender within these artists' wardrobe and the subtext of these style choices. I will then discuss how country musician’s initial dress shifted into a more distinct country costume due to blues and pop sounds encroaching on the country music genre in the 1940s and 1950s and how the blues genre and the typical blues musician has become romanticized due to white scholarship of the genre.

Christian Dior-New York, Inc.

Adnan Ege Kutay

2023

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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Thesis

Christian Dior-New York Inc. (CD-NY) was established in 1948 as a ready-to-wear line designed by Parisian couturier Christian Dior for the American market. Although it was designed by the head designer of the Paris house for the first half its history, by the early 1960s , when New York-based CD-NY designers started to design the line, it became more of a Seventh Avenue brand. This successful line lasted almost twenty-four years, and became an important part of the American fashion industry. Christian Dior-New York inspired other ready-to-wear lines by Paris couturiers in the postwar era, such as Jacques Fath and Pierre Balmain. This qualifying paper tells the history of Christian Dior-New York and the designers who created it, from its start in 1948 until its closure in 1972. In the last chapter, the characteristics of existing CD-NY garments are studied, and compared with garments from other Christian Dior lines.

Kazakh Traditional Dress Through the Nineteenth Century

Dana Callahan

2023

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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Thesis

This study examines and explores traditional Kazakh dress and fashion during the nineteenth century – a period of significant cultural and social change in Central Asia. Drawing on a range of historical sources, including ethnographic travel accounts, photographs, and museum collections, and considering the historically nomadic culture of the Kazakh nation, the paper examines the various elements of Kazakh dress and its social, cultural, and economic significance. Discussions follow with respect to the use of natural materials such as wool, leather, and fur, as well as the role of dress in signaling social status and identity. Additionally, this paper provides an overview of the impact of external influences, such as Russian colonization, including under the Soviet Union, on Kazakh dress traditions. The paper observes that despite the challenges posed by external factors, traditional Kazakh dress persisted as a symbol of cultural identity and continuity in the face of rapid change. This project is focused specifically on Kazakh attire, separate from the broader category of Central Asian clothing, and aims to provide more clarity on what distinguishes Kazakh dress from its regional neighbors.

As this research project primarily relates to the author’s native country of Kazakhstan, its original contribution and perspective adds to the existing scholarship on this topic, most of which is by Soviet anthropologists and ethnographers and in the Russian language. The paper was written using English, Kazakh, and Russian (including Old Russian) language sources, with some produced in Kazakhstan (including Soviet Kazakhstan). The project aims to deepen knowledge about specifically Kazakh garment traditions for an English-language audience by increasing understanding of this nation’s history, culture and people