On Mar 11, 2011, at 8:06 PM, Michael Deibert wrote:
[On a side note, history of costume would be of little help to a fashion design major - unless it covers the history of modern fashion or period fashion is become a mainstream revival without my knowledge.]
When I was studying fashion design, there were two "history of costume" courses, covering before and after about 1840. Merchandising majors only were required to take the later course, and fashion required both. I would think the classes were useful to the Theater department, too.
First of all, aren't the designers the ones who create various revivals? Often there is a movie that has an impact or inspiration to fashion, like Shakespeare in Love, or Out of Africa. Mad Men seems to be having an effect currently.
One of the big benefits of the History of Costume class is that it teaches or reinforces research skills. For example, say a designer or custom seamstress or costumer wants to use cartridge pleats. What eras used them? Can I find pictures or artwork of people in them? Can I find extant examples, in a museum or in a vintage clothing store? How can I get the look using less fabric, did any era do that? How is it that a particular ensemble looks when all put together?
There is more to a costume history class than chitons and hoop skirts. We had projects that involved research and we presented them to the class. The class taught us where to look for information, and that we had the capability to do that.
-Carol _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
