About our Project
Welcome to a collaborative research project making the first trans-European and trans-Atlantic comparative study of the development and consumption of bespoke, made-to-measure and mass manufactured tailored feminine garments made/sold in couture salons, department stores and by wholesale ready-to-wear companies in the 1750 -1930 period, as a reflection of developments in sartorial modernity, travel by women, feminine tailoring as fashion rather than as reform dress, on changing manufacturing methods, and on the new feminised social functions of tailored garments.
This project is part of the ‘Appearances, Bodies, and Societies’ Research Interest Group (RIG-Acorso), an international research group of around 30 universities and museums across Europe focusing on the history and anthropology of dress, fashion and appearances in Western societies, from the Renaissance to the present day. Hosted at the University of Rennes 2 (France), one of ACORSO’s fundamental objectives is ‘to foster close collaboration between academic research centres and museums (both public and private)
Our project is supported by the Centre for Design History at the University of Brighton.