Fat by the Wayside: Size Exclusion in Exhibitions and Collections of Dress
Kenna Elizabeth Mulroney Libes
Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice
About this Item
- Title
- Fat by the Wayside: Size Exclusion in Exhibitions and Collections of Dress
- Contributor Names
-
Libes, Kenna Elizabeth Mulroney (Author)
-
Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York. Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice (Degree granting institution)
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Byrd, Sarah (Thesis advisor)
- Date
- 2022
- Degree Information
- M.A. Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York 2022.
- Department: Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice.
- Advisors: Byrd, Sarah. Committee members: Font, Lourdes.
- Abstract
- In recent years there has been increased interest in populations historically under-represented in museum collections, including those of diverse color, gender, and class. This paper seeks to add size—specifically fatness—to that list, and advocates for museums to uncover and exhibit their larger pieces of women's dress. It discusses the interconnection of the fashion industry with the museum to understand the forces that maintain an anti-fat bias in acquisitions and exhibition. It emphasizes the need for change in the museum, not just on the catwalk. It asks museum staff and scholars to acknowledge that fat people existed in history and deserve to be represented through their fashionable dress. It seeks out existing collections of larger clothing and asks why and how they were collected, and it searches for solutions to the difficulties of finding and displaying such garments. This paper relies upon news articles, historical sources, theses and dissertations, and lastly, a series of interviews with museum, auctions, and sales staff who work with historic and contemporary collections of dress across the US.
- Subject
- Museums
- Museum studies
- Clothing and dress
- Museum exhibits
- Body image--Social aspects
- Fashion
- Physical-appearance-based bias
- Discrimination against overweight persons
- Rights
- In Copyright
- The copyright for this work is held by its author/creator(s). Usage of this material beyond what is permitted by copyright law must first be cleared with the rights-holder(s). This work has been made available online by the Fashion Institute of Technology Gladys Marcus Library strictly for research and educational purposes. If you are the copyright holder for this work and have any objections to this work being made available online, please notify us immediately at [email protected].
- This item must not be sold to any third party vendors.
- Language
- eng
- Publisher
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Ann Arbor : ProQuest Dissertations & Theses,
Citation
Libes, K. E. M. (2022). Fat by the Wayside: Size Exclusion in Exhibitions and Collections of Dress [Master's thesis, Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York]. FIT Institutional Repository. https://institutionalrepository.fitnyc.edu/item/8299
Libes, Kenna Elizabeth Mulroney. Fat by the Wayside: Size Exclusion in Exhibitions and Collections of Dress. 2022. Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York, Master's thesis. FIT Digital Repository, https://institutionalrepository.fitnyc.edu/item/8299
Libes, Kenna Elizabeth Mulroney. "Fat by the Wayside: Size Exclusion in Exhibitions and Collections of Dress." Master's thesis, Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York, 2022. https://institutionalrepository.fitnyc.edu/item/8299