Symposium Student Bursary Reports:

The symposium’s theme: ‘Pleasure, Leisure, Travel and Fashion’ showcased an ideal selection of papers, particularly for my research. I am currently working on my dissertation for the MA History of Design and Material Culture at the University of Brighton.
I feel so privileged to have been given the opportunity to attend the symposium this year and also to meet so many fantastic and interesting people. There were many attending the symposium whose work I have read, work which was partly responsible for stimulating my interest in dress history.

Another particularly helpful element of the symposium was hearing about others’ research interests and projects, not just of those presenting papers but of those attending also. I found Philip Warren’s paper especially useful for my research into knitted jerseys used for sport and leisure wear in the late 19th century. Also, Dr Geraldine Biddle-Perry’s research into the Norfolk jacket and cycling clubs revealed an important point regarding the naming of cycling costumes that I hope to discuss in my study of women’s ready to wear dress in the 19th century. Veronica Isaac’s Two hundred years of Dressing for ‘The Season’ was another brilliant paper and the addition of two tennis skirts, dating from circa 1901-1910 that we were able to examine, was wonderful.

I was thrilled to see the finalists’ entries for the Patterns of Fashion Award, but was glad I didn’t have anything to do with the judging process as they were all of such a high standard!

Above all, I spent the entire day learning new things. The symposium encouraged me to look at my ideas and research differently, drawing inspiration from the subjects and speakers presented. All of the papers presented on the Sunday were fascinating and thought provoking and the experience further underlined for me the enjoyment to be gained from studying dress history.

Katherine Buckland MA History of Design and Material Culture, Univ. of Brighton

As a recent graduate from the University of Brighton’s Fashion and Dress History course, I have been spending a great deal of time researching and referencing my final year dissertation. So it was wonderful to actually put some faces to the names of some of the people that I have quoted in my work. Not only did I get the chance to meet so many interesting people who share my enthusiasm for dress history, but also I was able to listen to some very interesting papers on topics that I would not have normally focussed on. I am very grateful to the society for giving me the opportunity to attend the symposium and I hope to attend many more once I have found a job in my much sought-after profession. Katherine Cutlan

As a student on the MA Fashion Curation course at London College of Fashion who had just begun final project research being able to attend the Costume Society’s Symposium 2011 was both enlivening and encouraging. I am extremely grateful to the society and their publishers, Maney, who make the student bursaries available.

The variety of papers and the depth of the research presented in them meant that beyond information that was directly relevant to my own research their was a wealth of different methodological approaches and ways of approaching research questions which are invaluable to any student muddling through their own research process. For those studying curation or working with historical dress the symposium is also a fantastic opportunity to get a sneaky peek at archives or collections that you may not know much about or have not had an opportunity to visit- although after attending the Symposium there will almost certainly be a few more places to add to the ‘must see’ list!

My own research seeks to establish a link between Beat travel narratives and clothing worn and inspired by Beats and beatniks. So a Symposium address links between fashion, travel and leisure was an ideal opportunity for me to engage with the latest academic debates in this particular field. Phillip Warren’s keynote speech was particularly interesting in that he challenged delegates to interpret the multiple ways sportswear has impacted on the clothes that we wear now. For me, this same influence on what we now consider ‘everyday’ dress is present in the jeans, t-shirts, work-wear and sportswear worn by the Beats.

I was lucky enough to be introduced to a number of delegates who were encouraging about my field of research and only too happy to offer advice which I have been able to follow up. I would like to extend my gratitude for the encouragement and genuine interest that the Costume Society offered me and, of course, for the invaluable opportunity to attend the Symposium this year.

Niamh Tuft July 2011

I am greatly indebted to the Costume Society Symposium Bursary for the opportunity to attend a weekend of talks and trips that proved to be an inspiring academic and social experience.
The broad range of topics covered, and approaches to those topics, was a timely and useful reminder to me of the diversity possible within a single field, encouraging me to expand the limits of what I consider to be my current ‘area’ of research. To this end, I found the insights into industry practice given by Sylvia Ayton and Vanessa Anderson particularly enlightening, broadening my understanding of the circumstances surrounding garment production, and provoking lively debate as to the current state of the British Fashion Industry.
The talks across the weekend also encouraged me to fully consider the broad range of implications contained within the theme, measuring the environmental and economic costs of fashion alongside the more individual and emotional, but equally powerful costs. For me, this culminated in John Styles deeply moving insight into the role textiles played in the world of the eighteenth century Foundling Hospital, a talk which proved to be both historically enlightening, and also an insightful study into the careful composition of a museum exhibition.

Outside of the wonderful programme, I enjoyed meeting such a broad range of enthusiasts, gaining useful insights from both speakers and my fellow guests. As an MA student of The History and Culture of Fashion, I am currently researching for my final project; a study of the effects of the emotional strains of the Second World War on women’s attitudes towards dress. Listening to Lou Taylor speak about women’s dress in the interwar period provided compelling contextualisation for my studies, and provoked some very interesting dinner table discussions.
The range of speakers and the trip to the Leeds Discovery Centre provided a well balanced combination of historical studies with a focus on material culture, encouraging me to think about how the object, the image and the written word can work together to reconstruct the fashionable past. The relaxed atmosphere of the weekend allowed me to meet several Costume Society members who were happy to help me with my studies, and provided extremely useful answers to my questions about their memories of 1940’s fashions. The symposium also provided a valuable opportunity for me to talk with many eminent speakers, who were very generous with their time and advise. Most importantly, as a student too often cursing over footnotes in the library at some ungodly hour, it was refreshing to be reminded how varied the field of dress history is, and also just how enjoyable the study of it can be.

The Costume Society Bursary provided me with an exhausting but wonderful weekend of academic discipline and great company, and I feel hugely privileged to have attended, and also to have been so warmly welcomed by so many Costume Society members.

I am a part-time PhD student at the University of Brighton and have just come to the end of my first year. My thesis focuses on the design, manufacture, retailing and consumption of fashion for and by young working-class women in Britain in the 1930’s, so when news arrived that I had been generously been offered a student bursary to the ‘The Price of Fashion’ Symposium I couldn’t believe my good fortune. This was just what I needed after a year of solitary study and it was with much excitement that I arrived in Leeds on the Friday, to hear papers from and spend time with eminent historians, not only from Dress History backgrounds but also economic, social and environmental, has propelled my research forward.
The Symposium was key in my investigation into identifying the themes which intersect the business-fashion history boundary. The work of Keynote speaker Lou Taylor is pivotal to my research and attending the full weekend in Leeds offered an understanding of the historical-economic transformation in dress. Amongst the enthralling and fascinating papers which cleverly interpreted the Symposium theme, speaker Julie Goodliffe, ‘Budgeting for Dress-The Office Girl 1920-1930’ gave a thought provoking case study on what young women who worked for British Telecom in the 1930s would wear for work and their struggles with determining their social class. Vanessa Anderson’s, ‘Imports: The True Cost of Throw Away Fashion’ revealed captivating photographs of young women working in the cutting rooms of fashion manufacturer Burberry. These images of young women in the factory has lead to me to consider not only regional differences in the clothing of young working class women, but also if where she worked influenced her fashion, that is, was she to aspire to the couture fashions of France or the Queen or would she look to the women she worked alongside everyday for her sartorial inspiration?

On Saturday we visited the Leeds Discovery Centre, and were kindly shown around by Curator Natalie Raw. As we wandered the high-tec climate controlled stores, the diversity of their collection was extraordinary. Stuffed zebras and chimpanzees sat comfortably amongst 1970’s Fisher Price plastic toys, Victorian wooden rocking horses and extravagant nineteenth century gowns. I hope to revisit the collection at the beginning of next year to look further amongst the 1930s garments, periodicals and trade catalogues. Throughout the weekend all of the conference delegates were warm and open to sharing their knowledge and experiences and were genuinely interested in each other’s work.

The Symposium was a comfortable and receptive space for questions and exploration. I cannot thank enough the Costume Society and Maney Publishers who generously provided the student bursary enabling me to attend an informative, inspirational weekend and I look forward to attending the Costume Society’s study day, ‘Fashion and Shopping at the Turn of the Century’ in London in October.

As a student studying BA(Hons) Theatre Design at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama I am extremely grateful to The Costume Society for being awarded the student bursary to attend the 2009 symposium ‘Virtue & Vice: Morality In Fashion’.

In my final year I plan to specialise in costume design and construction and the symposium has opened up a wealth of knowledge and experience to me which has given me great focus for the year ahead, and indeed, my interests beyond university. Having planned to base my dissertation around the visual representation of female icons through history, focussing particularly on extremes in fashion and the roles of women I felt the topic of ‘Virtue & Vice’ would give me a good starting point for my research and I was not disappointed.
Lectures by Aileen Ribeiro and Penelope Alfrey stood out as being directly related to female representation within art and as Ribeiro pointed out, the majority of artists through history have been male and therefore, paintings generally depict society’s idealistic view of women rather than realistic, which was extremely useful to my research.

However, being able to attend the full weekend of presentations allowed me to draw inspiration from a range of different and unexpected topics. In particular the lectures on the elite fashions of Venetian nuns and the Sisters of Charity and Emma Tarlo’s lecture on Islamic fashions in the west have fuelled my interest in religious dress and iconic fashions adopted by other cultures.
Aside from the lectures I found meeting and talking to other members of the Society an invaluable opportunity. Meeting a wide range of people who all share a similar passion for historical costume was exciting and has made me aware of how many outlets of work there are involving the handling or knowledge of period fashion, which has encouraged me to pursue this interest through my final year. I am also grateful to have been able to speak to people who work in the areas of design as this has given me a great insight into the professional life of a costume designer, as well as learning of ways to access historical costumes for future research purposes. I am now confident that if I ever needed to research a particular period I could find a collection to view and this is down to all those attending the symposium who were so generous with their knowledge, for which I am very thankful.

Finally the visits to Hereford Museum and Hartlebury Castle again highlighted to me the wealth of costume and fashion knowledge that can be gathered from museum collections. I was impressed not only by Hereford’s costume store which I enjoyed viewing, but also by it’s extensive collection of 19th Century fashion plates which are extremely useful from a design perspective.

The whole weekend was a thoroughly worthwhile experience for me; one that I believe I will continually be able to draw inspiration from and I look forward to keeping in contact with the Society.  

I was delighted to win the bursary to attend the Costume Society Symposium 2009, It was, however, with some trepidation that I found myself driving towards Great Malvern. I needn’t have had any reservations. The weekend was a marvelous experience. The topic to be explored was entitled ‘Virtue and Vice: Morality in Fashion’.
Saturday’s session began with keynote speaker, Dr Emma Tarlo delivering a paper on the rise of Islamic Fashion Designers in the West. This is a significant emerging area in fashion that, as a Londoner, I have been very much aware of. To be given a detailed analysis on how these designers consider ‘fashion’ within the confines of Islamic ‘modesty’ was enlightening and very timely.
Currently, I am researching for my Master’s dissertation. I am examining, from an historical perspective, the cultural and economic values of recycled clothing. Mary M Brooks from the Textile Conservation Centre, Southampton University focused on the German and allied research into regenerated protein and cellulose fibres during World War II, contextualizing it with adverts from American Vogue, Italian magazines and quotes. Since hearing her speak, I have spent afternoons in the British Library following up her suggested reading. This has given me insight and depth into an area of recycling of which I was not previously aware.
Penelope Alfrey’s interpretation of Emma Hamilton’s work and her insight into Hamilton’s use of the Indian shawl has enriched my understanding of a garment, which I am currently researching in the Worthing Museum. It is a fitted coat entirely constructed from Paisley shawls, the opposite to the unstructured piece of clothing that Mrs. Hamilton introduced in her performances of the ‘Attitudes’.
The weekend was a continuation of thought-provoking and accomplished speakers, interspersed with two wonderful trips. One to Hartlebury Museum and the other to see the fantastic stored collection of 18th and 19th century clothing in Hereford. Although, densely packed with lectures, awards and a fashion show there was still time to socialize with the speakers and delegates.

The Costume Society Committee introduced me to many people working in both costume and dress history. To meet designer, Jenny Tiramani was a great honour. Her methodology has been very influential in my practical work, which I use to complement my academic study. For any aspiring costume designer or fashion historian I can only say that I had a wonderfully informative weekend and left with lots of cards, emails addresses and many new friends. The pleasure of listening to some this country’s most eminent fashion historians and scholars was a an inspiring privilege.

As a Costume Designer, and final year MA student, the symposium this year was of particular interest to me in my ongoing studies.

What fascinated me from the varied programme of enlightening papers, were the many ways that Dress can be seen as Costume, both on and off the stage. Rosemary Harden's paper on Margot Fonteyn was of particular interest to me in this respect, having worked predominantly as Designer for Ballet since 2003.

In many ways the range of speakers topped and tailed my personal experience of designing as it was watching the wonderful work of John Bright that, as a teenager, powered my drive to do what I do today. He gave a real insight into the industry and Lindsay Evans Robertson's brilliant interview covered everything I ever wanted to ask!

Reflecting on the weekend, and thinking about what was at its core, I have found a new approach to designing. More than one speaker described a 'hands on' with the actor. Starting with real clothes and fitting sessions, they can then get a clear sense of shape, proportion, colour and tone. These sessions work as inspiration and I was surprised by the general consensus that the drawings could be considered of lesser importance in the development work using this method.

As a result, I have found a new way into my thesis work, which I also see now builds on the approach I developed during the Yarwood project. For this alone, my attendance at the Symposium was invaluable and I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the Society for making it possible and for welcoming me so warmly.

‘Dress and Performance' was the perfect forum to present my research on Norman Hartnell’s dress designs for the stage, a hitherto under-examined aspect of the couturier’s work. Being awarded the Student Bursary meant that I could attend the full range of papers over the course of the weekend.

I was impressed with the combination of extreme professionalism, the organisation of the event and the quality of the speakers. The atmosphere of friendliness, support, and the genuine interest delegates had both in each other’s work and in the work of the talented students was inspiring. As the weekend progressed and we shared meals and coffee breaks, conversations revealed a depth of knowledge and experience in so many of the delegate’s lives, which was quite extraordinary.

As the papers progressed on Saturday links between them developed, creating layers of context for my own paper. Sarah Woodcock discussed the complex factors that ‘govern dance costumes’ such as the effects of harsh lighting, sweat, and extreme movement on the garments and the need to omit beaded decoration at the waist on women’s costumes due to the practical problems of partnering. Did Hartnell consider these issues when he designed costumes for the West End revue in the 1940s? Sarah also showed us examples of sketches, making observations that could equally be applied to Hartnell’s sketched designs, addressing issues such as why designers rarely draw the back of the costume and how Oliver Messel reproduced his designs on similar figures posed in the same positions ‘endlessly’, producing his sketches as ‘blueprints for the designer’, not as works of art.

Rosemary Harden discussed the mutually beneficial relationship between Margot Fonteyn and Christian Dior, which could be usefully compared to similar relationships that Hartnell had with the famous actresses of his day, including Gertrude Lawrence. And Peter Farrer’s paper on the early history of the ADC and the undertaking of women’s roles by the young male students at Cambridge presented me with some historical context for Hartnell’s own female impersonation at Cambridge in the 1920s. The discovery that COSPROP holds some Hartnell gowns for Queen Mary in their collection as ‘important documents’ was also an exciting revelation.

Attending this conference enhanced my knowledge of all aspects of costume design for performance from the perspective of the maker, the academic and the curator. These links made between other speaker’s research and my own and the contacts made with so many knowledgeable and encouraging delegates only served to underline how important attending this symposium was for me. I would like to thank every member who contributes funds to the Society for my Student Bursary, and also to thank Linda Richards as Symposium Co-ordinator and Liz Booty as Student Bursary Co-ordinator. Thanks also to the kind person who covered my travel expenses. Final thanks go to Valerie Cumming, whose recently received personal letter thanking me for my contribution to this year’s symposium underlines for me what a particular special and unique organisation the Costume Society is.

Being awarded a bursary for the symposium meant quite simply that I was able to attend. Writing this short report is such a small thing to give back considering the wonderful weekend I was treated to in Newcastle so I hope I am able to adequately express what I have taken away from the experience and how valuable it is too me.
The symposium was a weekend of highlights from meeting and chatting to those who have worked with the most wonderful of museum collections, written the books and articles that have shaped dress history and inspired me; to visiting the North Country for the first time and seeing the work of the talented young designers and of course enjoying the series of lectures.

Whether using purely archival or object-based approaches or a combination of methodologies the lectures made clear that studying the dress of town and country is a rewarding and effective way of exploring changing cultural and social landscapes and of understanding changing perspectives.
The interaction between town and country lives came across in all the lectures with the only fundamental difference between town and country dress appearing to be the importance of practicality in country clothing.
I applied for the bursary to attend the symposium because this year’s theme of town and country struck a cord with the research for my MA dissertation.
I am looking at a collection of late C20th clothing and accessories that belonged to a married couple Hubert and Winifred Tobitt who after 55 years of marriage died within a month of each other in 1987. They farmed in the heart of the Surrey countryside and had a great love of and involvement with horse racing.
Alongside this country life has been an ongoing interaction with London which is best characterised by the fact that they met through Hubert’s sister who worked with Winifred and her mother at Harrods. Winifred retained her Harrods discount and this connection to Harrods is found in the clothing and accessories that remain in the possession of the family.
There were many parallels to be found between the Tobitt material and the research being presented in the lectures. In particular the study of Frances Farquarson through her wardrobe presented by Christine Rew, this collection is contemporary to the items in the possession of the Tobitt family. Although the social background is very different many of the circumstances surrounding and issues related to its survival resonate within my research.
The connections to my dissertation are not all that I have taken away with me. I felt incredibly welcomed by everyone and discovered that it really is a very small world! Talking to as many people as possible while daunting was incredibly worthwhile and I feel as though I made connections which will continue to help me in my study of dress.

As a PhD student researching nineteenth-century dress at the University of Brighton, I was delighted to receive a student bursary to attend this year’s Costume Society Symposium, ‘Town and Country Style,’ held in Newcastle and County Durham.

I decided to attend the add-on day at Bowes Museum, held the day before the official start of the conference. Although we departed from Newcastle for Bowes in truly miserable weather, by the afternoon the sun had appeared and we enjoyed breathtaking views of the countryside surrounding the museum.
At the museum, we were luckily able to see part of ‘Fine and Fashionable: Lace from the Blackborne Collection,’ the recent exhibition which showcased one of the world’s most important collections of lace. We visited the conservation laboratory and were asked our opinions about treatment and display of objects in the future dress galleries. We also saw several objects from the museum’s excellent collection, including a bright green ‘croquet’ dress from the 1860s which featured an ingenious skirt-lifting mechanism. This piece was of special interest to me, as my research focuses on the development of new textile dyes in the mid-nineteenth-century.

The papers presented on Saturday and Sunday ranged widely across time, but all addressed issues of locality in dress, from Kay Staniland’s discussion of the advertisements and engravings presented to the eighteenth-century Newcastle readership of the Ladies’ Own Memorandum Book to Christine Rew’s presentation of bright (and warm!) mohair ensembles, variety of tartans, and tweed suits in the wardrobe of Frances Farquharson of Invercauld.
The fashion design awards presentation on Saturday afternoon featured a fashion show of work by students at University of Northumbria’s School of Design. Using textiles provided by Barbour and inspired by ‘Tyne and Country’, the students presented innovative ensembles to an enthusiastic audience.
Leaving the town for the country once again on Sunday, we travelled to Beamish Open Air Museum.
We visited the reconstructed 1913 town of Beamish and the nearby colliery village, as well as viewing objects from the museum’s collection. We saw fascinating early twentieth-century trade catalogues and mid- to late-nineteenth century dresses and workwear.
Of particular interest to me were a black and bright purple striped dress trimmed with purple lace and a bright blue faille dress—the museum’s records indicate that the last was a dairymaid’s wedding dress, on which she spent five shillings.

All the conference delegates were very friendly and encouraging, eager to share their knowledge and stories over meals and on coach journeys. Learning of the riches of the Beamish and Bowes collections in mid-nineteenth-century dress was happy news to me and I hope to make a return journey north soon!