BA Fashion and Dress History student Charlotta Ruotanen visits an exhibition about a popular – but contested – children’s toy

Fig.1: National History Museum of Finland. 23.07.2018. Personal photograph by author.

Love it or hate it, Barbie is one of the best known toys of the last sixty years and perhaps it’s for that reason that the exhibition Barbie – The Icon has been a hit. The exhibition, which was curated by Professor Massimiliano Capella and developed with toy manufacturer Mattel, originated in Milan and travelled to Rome, Bologna and Madrid before coming to Helsinki, where I saw it (Fig 1). It explores the history of Barbie from the late fifties to today.

Inside the Museum there were opportunities to pose with images of Barbie before entering the first room, which was dedicated to how the image of Barbie has changed over the years. There was a separate case for the original Teen-age Fashion Model Barbie Doll. This, the first ever Barbie, was introduced at the 1959 Toy Fair in New York. It looked sophisticated and was wearing a black and white bathing suit (Fig 2).

Fig.2: Teen-age Fashion Model Barbie Doll. Press Photograph for Barbie – the Icon exhibition. Web. 23.8.2018. Mattel.

Looking at how Barbie had changed over seven decades prompted me to think about how the world and fashion have changed since the late 1950s. Even Barbie’s body and face have changed to comply with fashionable beauty standards. The original Barbie had strong cat-eye makeup with blue eyeshadow, hoop earrings and a tiny waist. This look stayed the same during most of the 1960s and Barbie had multiple different hair colours too. In the seventies Barbie’s hair changed to that long, blond, iconic hair that she still has. Also Barbie’s skin colour changed to become more tan as was fashionable and her face had a complete makeover. In recent years Barbie has been given even more makeovers and now there are even Barbies with different body-types to fit with campaigns about body positivity.

Fig.3: Career Barbies. Press Photograph for Barbie – the Icon exhibition. Web. 23.8.2018. Mattel.

One exhibition room was dedicated to all the different careers Barbie has had. The first Barbie was a fashion model but since the 1960s Barbie has been an astronaut, doctor, veterinarian, air hostess, athlete and a lot more (Fig 3). The next room was about Barbie’s house and her family and friends, the next few rooms were about collectable Barbies. For example “Silkstone Barbies” were made to be glamorous and to have the face of the first Barbie despite being made in the twenty-first century. In the same room there were Barbies that had clothes inspired by famous artworks and, of course, there were also celebrity look-a-like Barbies. Some of these were characters from movies and some wore iconic outfits from celebrities like Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe and Cher (Fig 4).

Fig.4: Marilyn Monroe Barbies. Barbie – The Icon exhibition. 23.7.2018. Personal photograph by author.

The exhibition ended with a room full of Barbies that represented different countries and cultures. This was clearly the curator’s attempt to end the exhibition with a sense of unity, but was problematic as most of the dolls were heavily stereotyped and their costumes depended on cultural appropriation. This was a disappointing end to what was otherwise an excellent exhibition.

MA History of Design and Material Culture graduate Harriet Parry reflects on contributing to the recent inaugural Fashion, Costume & Visual Cultures (FCVC) conference in Zagreb

Fig. 1: Jenna Allsopp (L) Harriet Parry (R) at The Museum of the ’80s, Zagreb. Photograph: Harriet Parry

When I first embarked on an MA in History of Design and Material Culture at University of Brighton in September 2016, I could never have envisaged that two years later I would be sitting with my colleague Jenna Allsopp, listening to the opening introduction of FCVC 2018 in Zagreb. The excitement of visiting a new city, and the curiosity of being at the University of Zagreb within the Faculty of Textile Technology, which could have been any lecture theatre in any city in the UK, was quickly drawn into focus by the opening welcome made the University of Zagreb’s Dean, Prof. dr. sc Sandra Bischof. Her speech was heartfelt and emotional, and it soon dawned on me that this conference being held at their institution meant a considerable amount not only to the University, but to the arts community of the city as a whole. I quickly felt the privileged position that we hold as scholars within a British institution such as the University of Brighton, and my perspective was immediately shifted by a sense of how, as academics, we might relate to one another on an international platform.

Dr. Sarah Gilligan, and her colleagues Dr Simoncic and Petra Krpan, the organising committee of FCVC 2018, had worked incredibly hard to create an interdisciplinary conference with an intention of creating a ‘collegial’ and ‘collaborative’ platform not only for established academics, but also for early career and emerging academics such as myself. This they achieved admirably, and although I was on a panel with three well-established academics, at no point was I made to feel the lesser of the four. Our panel ‘The League of Extraordinary Makers: Crafting the “Real” in Fantasy and Superhero Costuming’ had come together through the impetus of Professor Clare Wilkinson from the Department of Anthropology at Washington State University. I had recently had an article on costume breakdown published in the Intellect journal Film, Fashion and Consumption,[1]through which I had been introduced to a piece written by Professor Wilkinson with Vancouver’s doyenne of costume breakdown Anthea Mallinson. Under Clare’s direction, we presented papers that, I believe, truly synthesised the voice of the craftsperson with that of the academic. Alongside our three papers we had the added privilege of presenting with Dr Cathleen Lewis, Curator of International Space Programs and Spacesuits at the Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum. As Dr Gilligan remarked, “quite possibly the coolest job title in history”.

Fig. 2: FCVC 2018 programme description. Photograph: Harriet Parry

There is not space here to describe the variety of voices that were offered a platform at the conference. The diverse subjects and nationalities represented offered opportunities to shift perspectives on how we might interpret and communicate visual cultures. Delegates attended from as far afield as Australia, Canada, Turkey, Iran, Belgium, North America, Russia, France, Scotland, Finland and Israel. As is ever the case, I went away wishing there had been more time to talk to other delegates, and was disappointed to have missed some of the panels. But realistically I couldn’t have absorbed any more.

Fig. 3: ‘The League of Extraordinary Makers’ From L to R Harriet Parry, Anthea Mallinson,
Prof. Clare M. Wilkinson, Dr. Cathleen S Lewis. Photograph: Dr. Lara Kipp.

The principal value that came from this experience was that after having spent two years with my head firmly planted in a small microcosm of academia, it is vital to remember that there is a whole world out there of voices and perspectives that cannot always be felt through the pages of a book. I was privileged to have the opportunity to take part in this conference, a tall order financially even on a shoe-string, but we can still be reminded that London isn’t the cultural centre of the world, and will I’m sure become less so as political events unfold. It is not just about acknowledging that there are other cultures to be explored, but that people may see the world in very different ways, and our work will, as always, be richer for trying to understand other’s perspectives.

Fig 4: Image from Anna Kleiman ‘Dress to Oppress. Israeli Culture Minister Wears Jerusalem.’ Photo: Harriet Parry

From October 2018 Harriet Parry will be an AHRC Design Star PhD candidate at University of Brighton.

[1]Harriet Parry. ‘Moon: A sensuous scholarship of the art of costume breakdown in film’. Film, Fashion and Consumption Volume 6, Number 2, 1 December 2017. 89-103

Fig 5. University of Brighton delegates (from left to right): Jenna Allsopp, Harriet Parry, Liz Tregenza, Dr. Marie McLoughlin. Photograph: Jenna Allsopp

First year Fashion and Dress History BA student Milly Westbrook explores a dangerous top hat currently showing at the V&A’s exhibition Fashioned from Nature

Fig. 1. Fashioned From Nature at the V&A. Grey top hat sealed within a hazmat bag. Photo by Author

The items on display at the V&A’s Fashioned from Nature exhibition are consistent with what one would expect from the theme of the exhibition. Items inspired by nature, examples of natural fibres compared to synthetic, and how these fabrics affect our everyday lives and morals. However, one object particularly catches the eye and intrigues the mind: a grey top hat concealed within a plastic hazmat bag, with three warning symbols stuck on top. The first question that comes to mind when seeing this object is of course: why on earth is this hat so dangerous?

The story behind this hat is common amongst eighteenth century top hats: it cannot be touched, as mercuric nitrate has been used in the felting process. Hatters, when working with some furs such as beaver, which does not bond as easily as wool, would use chemical intervention to make the bonding process easier. Mercuric nitrate was often used for this. Although it was effective in bonding the fibres, it was also highly poisonous and made the hat makers distinctively ill. The symptoms of mercury poisoning called ‘erethism mercurialis’ included: shaking, anxiety and visions. This led to the phrase ‘as mad as a hatter’. This item opens our eyes to the devastating effects fashion has had. Just as today there is often pain and suffering behind the clothes we buy.

Fig. 2. Fashioned From Nature at the V&A. Information card. Photo by Author

Overall, this particularly stand-out, thought-provoking item sums up the takeaway messages of the exhibition: the impact of fashion on nature, and the impact of nature on fashion. It also provides a very novel take on Alice in Wonderland!

To read more on the subject, the Royal Society of Chemistry provides a concise article on ‘Hatters Disease’.

Visual Culture graduate (2013) Anne Nielsen writes about developing her career in local museums

Fig.1 Delivering a guided tour at Tunbridge Wells Museum & Art Gallery.

I chose Visual Culture as my BA at Brighton because I liked the wide scope of the course. Throughout my degree I kept choosing options and essays that were related to museum studies – this surprised me because I hadn’t thought of a career in museums. The option ‘Behind the Scenes’ enabled me to do a placement in the Fine Art Department at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, which introduced me to the practical side of museums. I stayed on as a volunteer and had the opportunity to assist with exhibitions and write interpretation labels. The experience led me to pursue a career in museums and helped me secure other opportunities in the sector.

Fig. 2 Treasures from the waistcoat collection. Costume display at Tunbridge Wells Museum & Art Gallery. Author’s photograph.

After my BA, I took a year out for travelling and working. Although I worked in retail, I kept my museum connection alive by volunteering as a gallery steward at The Holburne in Bath. This was my first introduction to visitor services, which I really enjoyed as I got to engage with a variety of visitors.

I then went on to complete a MSc in Visual, Material and Museum Anthropology at University of Oxford. I chose the course as it offered critical engagement with the origin of museums and their collections, their purpose and relationships with source communities. It also introduced me to a new discipline: anthropology, which gave me a fresh perspective on material culture and museum studies. The course was based at the Pitt Rivers Museum and some of my tutors were curators there, which offered an interesting insight into working with ethnographic collections. During my MSc I completed a paid internship in the Photographs & Manuscripts collection at the Pitt Rivers. I catalogued and digitised a collection of early 20th century photographs taken by a German geologist during expeditions in Asia. The internship developed my skills in documentation which are essential for collections management. It was also very satisfying as the digitisation and cataloguing made the collection visible and accessible.

Fig.3 Original receipt for wedding waistcoat, 1742/3. Author’s photograph.

After graduation, I got a job as Visitor Services Assistant at Tunbridge Wells Museum & Art Gallery – I was only meant to be there for three months but I’ve ended up staying for more than two years! I’ve had three jobs since I started here, and currently I’m part-time Documentation Assistant and part-time Visitor Services & Admin Officer. There is still a strong disconnect between Front of House staff and ‘Behind the Scenes’ staff in museums so my two positions allow me to bridge the gap. Working in a small museum can be incredibly rewarding as the workload can be very varied, which is perfect for developing skills in new areas. Since I started working here, I’ve been involved in exhibition installations and collections work even before I started my collections job. I’ve had the opportunity to give guided tours of the collections which has boosted my confidence in public speaking (Fig.1). Another aspect I’ve enjoyed is supervising volunteers and work experience students, as you get to pass on your passion for museums and support others in developing new skills.

Fig. 4 Stages of mounting the wedding waistcoat. Author’s photograph.

One of my highlights this year has been the costume display I curated and mounted. Costume is a new subject area for me so it has been exciting to expand my knowledge and learn how to mount costume. The museum has an excellent costume collection – I chose men’s waistcoats to highlight men’s fashion and to showcase some of the treasures in the collection (Fig.2). The selected Georgian and Regency waistcoats are all highly decorative but they also illustrate changing shapes and styles. The star of the display is the silk wedding waistcoat (1743) complete with original receipt (Fig.3). The latter not only tells us who commissioned it (the bride) but also who made it (Mary Bampton) and how much she was paid (the equivalent of a month’s wages). It is extremely rare for women makers to be documented which is why it is so incredible that this receipt has survived. The wearer had very narrow shoulders which made it a challenge to mount the waistcoat. All our male mannequins were too broad so we had to be creative and use a female mannequin instead. We created a flat chest with wadding and then filled the sides and padded the upper back with wadding to mould it into a male shape (Fig.4).

The museum is about to start a big project as we have received HLF and Arts Council funding to expand and redevelop the building and galleries and integrate services. We are now gearing up towards decanting the collections to off site storage which will be my priority for the next 6 months. My future plans? I want to keep developing my expertise in collections and curation and a PhD is also on the list!

MA Design History Material Culture Victoria Haddock reports on receiving the Costume Society’s 2018 Yarwood Award

Figure 1: Easy Lessons in Dressmaking article from Fashion Service: Woman’s Institute Magazine (January 1931) from the collections of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum. Photograph taken by the author.

I am currently writing my History of Design and Material Culture MA dissertation on the topic of dress patterns, and the influence that Hollywood film costumes of the 1930s had on the pattern industry. I am particularly interested in film costumes worn by the actress Katharine Hepburn, and am focusing my research on two of her films from the 1930s, Christopher Strong(1933) and Alice Adams (1935). Both of these films featured costumes that were produced and sold as dress patterns by the Hollywood Pattern Company and Butterick Starred Patterns. By analyzing these dress patterns, and recreating the jacket from a copy of the Butterick Starred Pattern that I have been able to purchase, I hope to discover more about the dressmaking skills of women of the period and how easy these patterns were to construct. I aim to find out how much of an influence Hollywood stars such as Hepburn, were on women and whether the designs had any impact on the fashion trends of the decade.

Figure 2: Can the Stars Choose Clothes? by Pat Wallace, The Picturegoer (February 1930) from the collections of the Bill Douglas Cinema Archive, Exeter University. Photograph taken by the author.

My research so far has taken me to varied museums and collections across the country, and even to one in America that I’ve been able to access from the comfort of my own home! I have been to look at 1930s film magazines in the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum Archive at Exeter University, read through first hand accounts of 1930s fashion and dressmaking trends in the Mass Observation Archive at The Keep and researched the impact of celebrity dress in the V&A’s Vivien Leigh Archive at Blythe House. I have also investigated examples of 1930s Hollywood ‘tie-ins’ in the V&A’s costume collection, looked at patterns and sewing magazines at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter and viewed examples of 1930s dress in the costume collection at the National Trust’s Killerton House in order to find evidence of Hollywood’s permeation of 1930s fashions. The online Commercial Pattern Archive from The University of Rhode Island has proved to be an extremely useful database for searching patterns and looking at the different styles of garments that were produced for home sewers. I was introduced to the archive through Joy Spanabel Emery’s book A History of the Paper Pattern Industry: The Home Dressmaking Fashion Revolution.

Figure 3: The Glass of Fashion article, Picturegoer Weekly (May 14 1932) from the collections of the Bill Douglas Cinema Archive, Exeter University. Photograph taken by the author.

I am very fortunate recently to have received The Costume Society’s Yarwood Award, 2018, which commemorates the work of costume historian Doreen Yarwood, by helping an MA student with expenditure relating to their dissertation. Through getting this award, I can now finance more research visits to collections that I have since discovered have links with my dissertation topic and I am planning to visit Worthing Museum and the Museum of London very soon. I would like to find more examples of dress that I can match to patterns produced in the 1930s and I am also on the lookout for any rare examples of clothes copied from film costume designs that were manufactured and sold through tie-ins with the big Hollywood studios. I would appreciate any advice if anyone knows of an archive or collection that would be particularly useful to my research.

V.Haddock1@uni.brighton.ac.uk

Figure 4: Vogue Pattern No. 6648 from the collections of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum. Photograph taken by the author.

BA Fashion and Dress History student Caroleen Molenaar on a visit to the Fashion History Museum in Cambridge, Ontario

Figure 1: Exterior of the Fashion History Museum, Cambridge, Ontario. Photograph taken by the author. June 29th 2018.

Since beginning my Fashion and Dress History BA, I have made it my goal to visit the Fashion History Museum in Cambridge, Ontario every time I go home to Canada for the summer. The Museum was initially founded in 2004 by curator Jonathan Walford, formally an assistant curator at the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, and his partner Kenn Norman. Initially, the Museum had no permanent space to display objects from their collection of over 10,000 garments but in 2015 the Museum found its permanent home in Cambridge at the site of a former post office (Fig 1). Since its inception at the former post office, the Museum has successfully displayed different temporary exhibitions each year such as 2016’s To Meet the Queen: What to Wear in the Presence of Royalty, and A Canadian Fashion Story: Pat McDonagh 1967–2014; and 2017’s Fashioning Canada from 1867 and Dior: 1947-1962.

This year Walford put together an exhibition entitled 101 Tales of Fashion, which displays a very eclectic selection of objects from the collection. These range from an early eighteenth century French court male waistcoat, to a pair of 1984 Chinese beaded shoes. Despite the eclectic object and garment choices, as the exhibition title suggests, all of these objects are united not by their appearance but by the “interesting stories, tales, myths, & gossip” they tell to audiences.

Figure 2: Christian Dior for Holt Renfrew. Afternoon Dress. 1954. Silk and taffeta. Montreal, Canada. Photograph taken by the author. June 29th 2018.

There were several objects that stood out to me throughout the exhibition and, coincidentally, they were all Canadian-made or designed. The first is the historical story of an afternoon dress designed by Christian Dior, but made in Montréal for the Canadian fashion retailer store Holt Renfrew in 1954 (Fig 2). Within Canada, Holt Renfrew is widely known as a high-end, expensive fashion retail store which originated in Montreal, but currently has nine stores across Canada. In 1951, four years after Dior launched his New Look, Alvin J. Walker, president of Holt Renfrew, established a deal with Dior exclusively to represent and sell both Dior’s Paris and New York fashion lines in Canada.[i] This deal also led to Dior designs, such as this dress, being made locally in Canada. A Dior work room was set up in Montreal, which allowed rich Canadian customers a cheaper alternative to buy Dior, as they did not have to travel overseas or pay import duties.[ii]

Figure 3: Alnaluaq Totalik. Parka. Felt and wool, trimmed with racoon. c.1980. Taloyoak, Canada. Photograph taken by the author. June 29th 2018.

The second object is a parka made in 1980 by Canadian designer Alnaluaq Totalik in Taloyoak, Nunavut, Canada — though at the time of its making it was known as Spence Bay, Northwest Territories (Fig 3). Due to the lack of sunlight and extreme cold throughout parts of the year in northern Canada, the parka has become an essential part of the First Nations’ wardrobe. It identifies the wearer, through use of colour and design, and protects them from the cold with the extended torso length, fur-edged hood and front closure. There are very limited secondary sources for the history of Taloyoak’s designs, but this could prove to be an interesting area for future research.

The final object is a pair of silver leather platform boots made by John Master in 1974 in Toronto, Ontario (Fig 4). These boots tell the story of how Master became “Canada’s disco diva answer to English rock ‘n’ roll cobbler Terry de Havilland.”[iii] After immigrating to Canada from Greece in 1970, Master opened a shoe shop in downtown Toronto and quickly caught on to the hype around platform shoes and boots. This fashion trend was permeating through the youth, led by bands such as AC/DC and Black Sabbath. At the height of the platform footwear craze, it is reported that Master sold over 300 pairs of footwear per week. When the craze died down in the late 1970s, Master changed his shoe output to focus on cowboy boots creating a very contrasting clientele; he died in 1996.

Figure 4: John Masters. Platform boots. 1974. Silver and leather. Toronto, Canada. Photograph taken by the author

From these three examples, one can see the eclectic range of objects in this exhibition, but also the interesting stories that all of these objects tell. Despite the Fashion History Museum’s small size, it provides a promising location in southern Ontario to educate and display fashion and its history.

Curator Jonathan Walford also has a blog that is updated weekly with interesting stories and objects about fashion.

[i]Alexandra Palmer, Couture and Commerce: The Transatlantic Fashion Trade in the 1950s(University of British Columbia: Vancouver, 2001) 117.

[ii]Palmer, Couture and Commerce, 119-120.

[iii]Nathalie Atkinson, “Stardust Memories,”Globe and Mail.17 June 2017. Web. 19 July 2018, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/fashion-and-beauty/fashion/the-history-of-the-master-john-platformheel/article35284918/.

MA History of Design and Material Culture student Sarah-Mary Geissler reports on working with BA Fashion and Dress History student Caroleen Molenaar at Preston Manor.

Fig. 1. Sarah-Mary Geissler preparing a mannequin, 28th April 2018, photo by author

Since last summer, Caroleen Molenaar and I have worked towards co-curating an ambitious exhibition of dress at historic Brighton house, Preston Manor: Dressing the Decades. The Manor first opened 85 years ago and has seen a colourful array of people pass through its doors: from WWII operatives to modern day ghost hunters, there is a wealth of social history bursting out of the centuries-old walls. Most visitors will come to admire the exquisite furnishings and fascinating servant’s quarters, though there are several surprising tales about the individuals who had come and gone from Preston Manor. For the 85th anniversary it only seemed fitting for us to celebrate this history of the house.

Fig. 2. Co-curators Sarah-Mary Geissler and Caroleen Molenaar with line-up of all dressed mannequins, 28th April 2018, photo by author

As volunteer dress historians, we started out by cataloguing the costume collection. Over many months we collected correspondence within the Manor’s archives, alongside oral testimonies and photographic sources to discover nine decades worth of fashion stories. Here, we could apply the unique skills learnt from our respective courses to a professional setting. Once we had unearthed anecdotes and cultural moments from the archives, Caroleen and I had the challenge of sourcing which period garments would best communicate these stories. Following this, we had to figure out where to place each outfit to create a cohesive trail for visitors to follow. Instead of setting aside a large room to display every outfit, we decided to approach the display as an intervention in the house. The exhibition consists of ten mannequins in nine rooms representing dress from 1933 to today, set out in a trail which begins, appropriately, in the Entrance Hall.

Fig. 3. Caroleen Molenaar and Jade Bailey-Dowling taking mannequins from the costume room to install in the manor, 28th April 2018, photo by author

We were trained to mount mannequins, a surprisingly arduous and intricate task, and were responsible for the placement of each mannequin in rooms, to articulate particular stories. Both of us were fortunate enough to work closely with Preston Manor throughout, from the process of submitting the exhibition proposal through to leading tours of the trail. Preston Manor has never before held a display quite like this, and as a volunteer-led project we were able to put all our energy, fashion history knowledge and love for dress into each mounted garment in the exhibition.

Fig. 4. Caroleen Molenaar putting final touches on a 1980s Laura Ashley dress in Lady Standford’s bedroom, 28th April 2018, photo by author

Dressing the Decades runs from 1st May to 20th September 2018, and Preston Manor is holding several events relating to the exhibition throughout the summer. Still to come are a kids dress-up day on 25th August and an archive talk on 22nd September.

Fig. 5. 1970s Laura Ashley dress belonging to a former volunteer posed for promotional purposes, dress can be found elsewhere in the exhibition, 9th February 2018, photo by author

Becky Kearney (MA Design History and Material Culture graduate, 2013) on her PhD research

In 2011 I started the Design History and Material Culture Masters course at University of Brighton, drawn by its strength in the field of dress history. Now I am in the first year of a collaborative PhD at the University of Kent and the Science Museum, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) researching false teeth from 1848–1948. Many people, not least myself, are surprised by this seemingly large leap from dress to dentures. In this blog post I discuss my experience of moving from design history to medical history and the benefits of a collaborative doctoral partnership (CDP).

Fig 1. Claudius Ash and Sons Manufactory, Kentish Town. Etching. Image printed in A Catalogue of Artificial Teeth and Dental Materials Manufactured and Sold by Claudius Ash & Sons’, (London: Claudius Ash & Sons, 1865). Wellcome Collection.

During the Masters course at Brighton my interest in clothing worn on the body shifted to items incorporated into the body, such as hair extensions or prosthetics. When I read on a park billboard that Kentish Town, London was allegedly the world’s largest supplier of artificial teeth in the nineteenth century, it piqued my interest (Fig.1). I found grotesque photos of early eighteenth-century teeth made from gold, ivory, porcelain and human teeth and it convinced me these objects were worthy of further research (Fig.2).

Fig 2. Partial upper and lower denture, with springs, lower of ivory, repaired, upper of swaged metal, by Gabriel, with platinum tube anteriors and ivory posteriors, 1856-1880. Full view, white background.

Predominantly, dental historians have written the histories of artificial teeth from a technical and innovation-centred perspective. However, key themes within the objects’ history such as craft practices, commodification and body modification are common to the disciplines of design history and material culture. Denture-makers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries often came from professions such as jewellery or watchmaking. Early porcelain teeth-innovators purchased the pastes for the porcelain from the famous decorative ceramics company Wedgwood and, by the late nineteenth century, employed mass manufacturing techniques akin to Wedgwood to produce them, making dentures widely accessible across Britain.[i] Early twentieth century advertising material issued by dentists or quacks, promoting artificial teeth and their associated transformative qualities, also had parallels with a burgeoning cosmetics industry. A design history of the denture was possible.

Three years after completing my Masters, my former MA supervisor, Annebella Pollen, made me aware that a funded PhD on false teeth had come up; it was too good an opportunity to miss. The AHRC funds many collaborative doctorates each year, bringing universities and museums or other institutions from across the UK together, in my case: the University of Kent and the Science Museum, London.[ii] CDP students are given access to the museum or institution’s collection for object research, they receive training, supervision from a curator and may have the potential to get work experience within the museum. The AHRC itself also offers training, funding, and a community of other PhD students to collaborate and socialise with. The Design History and Material Culture masters at Brighton encouraged my interest in object-based research through its own teaching collection and in engaging with museum archives so this type of PhD has felt like an ideal progression.

Fig 3. Goodall’s Institute dentist card from Swanson Collection of dental advertising material EPH646, Wellcome Collection. Archive. Personal photograph.

At Kent University I have encountered the entirely new field of the history of medicine, with very different subject areas, proponents, archives and conferences to design history. There is, however, much more in common than at odds between the two departments I have studied within. Material culture is increasingly being applied to the history of medicine and will be the core methodological approach in my thesis about the Science Museum collection. Fields such as the history of emotions have previously been interrogated by medical historians but have only very recently been brought together within material culture.[iii] Both departments promote a highly interdisciplinary approach as well as drawing from a multitude of sources from archival to oral history. Most notably both the Brighton and Kent faculties consist of an energetic community of lecturers and researchers pursuing diverse research interests that, however seemingly disparate to my own research, frequently offer inspiration, context or relevant conceptual frameworks.

The niche field of oral health has led me into contact with sociologists, literary, medical and dental historians, curators of medicine, as well as practicing dentists. The increasingly interdisciplinary nature of academic research may result in entering unfamiliar fields, leading to what one lecturer at Kent has described as a feeling of ‘imposter syndrome’. However, the consensus amongst my Kent History department colleagues is that pushing the boundaries of one’s immediate field and engaging with interdisciplinary research, although sometimes intimidating, when executed well can be highly rewarding and has the potential to reach many more people.

[i]R.A Cohen, ‘Messrs Wedgwood and porcelain dentures correspondence 1800-1815. I. De Chemant, Thomas Byerley and others, 1800-1812,’ British Dental Journal139(1975): 27 – 31. R .A Cohen, ‘Messrs Wedgwood and porcelain dentures correspondence 1800-1815. I. De Chemant, Thomas Byerley and others, 1800-1815 II. Joseph Fox, Thomas Byerley and Robert Blake, 1810 – 1815,’ British Dental Journal 139 (1975): 69 – 71.

[ii]AHRC collaborative doctoral partnerships 2018. http://www.ahrc-cdp.org/phd-studentships-list-of-ahrc-collaborative-doctoral-partnership-phd-oct-2018-start/

[iii]Example of the history of emotions and material culture see: Stephanie Downes, Sally Holloway and Sarah Randles (ed.). Feeling Things. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2018.

Naomi Tcherna, Bridget Bunduck and Elizabeth Gumbaduck silkscreen printing Cecelia Kurungaiyi’s design Waterholes at Palngun Wurnangat Aboriginal Corporation, Wadeye, 28th August 2017. Photograph by Joanne Pilcher.

Joanne Pilcher is currently undertaking a Design Star-funded PhD at University of Brighton on ‘Aboriginal Australian Textile Design in the Northern Territory’. Joanne recently went on a British Library PhD Research Placement. Her project explored contemporary publishing in Australia and links to her project blog posts are at the following links:

http://blogs.bl.uk/americas/2018/05/indigenous-australian-comic-characters-in-the-british-library.html

http://blogs.bl.uk/americas/2018/01/resources-for-engaging-māori-contemporary-culture-and-politics-1.html

http://blogs.bl.uk/americas/2017/09/resources-for-engaging-with-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-contemporary-culture-and-politics.html

http://blogs.bl.uk/americas/2017/07/australasia-in-the-americas-blog.html

BA (Hons) History of Art and Design graduate (2018) Wendy Fraser reviews the V&A’s current Frida Kahlo show

Figure 1 Frida Kahlo with Olmec figurine, 1939. Photograph Nickolas Muray. © Nickolas Muray Photo Archives. Photographed by her lover, Kahlo wears a traditional Tehuantepec-style cotton huipil with her hair in her signature style plaited with fabric and adorned with real flowers.

Frida Kahlo’s image has become ubiquitous in popular culture; famous for her monobrow and flowers in her hair, Kahlo is the subject of many other artists’ work and her face adorns stationery, cushions, jewellery and there is even a Frida Barbie. It is fitting that while Kahlo can be regarded as more famous for her look than for her body of artwork that the V&A’s new exhibition Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up focuses on her carefully constructed appearance. (Figure 1)

The exhibition has been created around artefacts discovered in 2003 in Kahlo’s childhood home, the Casa Azul (now the Museo Frida Kahlo) in the Coyoacán area of Mexico City. Over 6000 photographs, 22,000 documents and 300 other items including clothing, jewellery, accessories, medicines, make up, and orthopaedic devices were found in the hoard.[i]These personal items had been sealed up in a bathroom, fifty years earlier, by Kahlo’s husband the artist Diego Riviera (1886-1957) who was part of the Mexican muralist movement. While the articles have been displayed in Mexico, it is the first time they have been shown outside the country.

Figure 2 Cotton huipil with machine-embroidered chain stitch; printed cotton skirt with embroidery and holán (ruffle). Photograph: Museo Frida Kahlo.

Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) was born Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderon to a German father, a photographer and a Mexican/Spanish mother. Kahlo’s painting career began when she was recovering from terrible injuries she suffered in 1925 when a bus she was travelling on collided with a tram and she was impaled on a handrail. She became her own favourite subject – of the 143 paintings she left, 55 are self-portraits.[ii]Kahlo’s interest in indigenous Mexican culture is expressed in the symbolism of her artwork and she began to wear traditional dress, particularly the clothing of the women of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. ‘The matriarchal society of the Tehuanas held a particular appeal for Kahlo, who was building her own image as an outsider: independent, but faithful to tradition, while at the same time embracing a modern, liberated lifestyle’.[iii]The clothing served a practical purpose too; long skirts hid her leg that had been wasted by childhood polio and the loose huipil blouses (square-cut tunics with no darts or shaping in patterned or embroidered cotton) accommodated the plaster casts and leather corsets that she was forced to wear following her accident and both were worn with a rebozos, a rectangular fringed shawl. (Figure 2) Kahlo ensured that all eyes were averted from her injured limb to her upper body with decorative blouses, flamboyant jewellery and her elaborate hairstyle of braids interlaced with yarn or ribbons and decorated with real flowers.

The first room of the exhibition shows photographs of the family of six daughters, mostly taken by Kahlo’s father; in one formal portrait Kahlo has slicked her hair back and wears a man’s three-piece suit, in others she wears European-style clothes.  The first pieces of clothing encountered are displayed on two mannequins, one wearing a French black velvet cape and brocade skirt and the other in a Tehuana outfit with a full red skirt and blouse which sit together holding hands echoing Kahlo’s 1939 oil painting The Two Fridas and emphasising her dual heritage. Photographs of Zapotec women at market wearing indigenous dress by the Italian photographer Tina Modotti demonstrate that in Mexico Kahlo’s costumes were the custom while photographs of Kahlo against the New York skyline by her lover Nickolas Murray highlight what a curiosity she must have seemed on her frequent visits to the US.

Figure 3 Frida Kahlo’s prosthetic leg with red leather lace up boot with embroidered appliqued panel with Chinese motifs. Photograph Javier Hinojosa. Museo Frida Kahlo. ©Diego Riviera and Frida Kahlo Archives.

Innovative display techniques have been used throughout the exhibition: the heads of the many mannequins have Kahlo’s face and hairstyle with moulded braids and flowers. Display cabinets have been made to represent Kahlo’s four poster bed in which she was often confined while recuperating from her many surgeries using a mirror rigged up over the bed to continue to paint herself. A mannequin bust has been wrapped in plaster-dipped bandages to mimic Kahlo’s body casts and used to display some of Kahlo’s vast jewellery collection. The most poignant exhibit is a pair of black suede heeled tie-up shoes. The toe area on the right shoe has been cut out to accommodate and prevent pressure on Kahlo’s gangrenous toes. Next to them is her prosthetic leg with a red leather wedge boot which laces up to mid-calf with a Chinese dragon embroidered on a silk panel decoration on the foot (Figure 3) which she wore in 1953 after the amputation of her leg.

The most personal items on display are Kahlo’s cosmetics, empty perfume bottles, medication (including Demerol, an additive opioid) and her orthopaedic corsets. Her perfumes included Chanel No5 and Shalimar and she favoured lipsticks in red and a dark pink called Everything’s Rosy by Revlon.

Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up reveals how Kahlo’s constructed appearance was as much a part of her artwork as her paintings. Her adoption of indigenous dress was a powerful political statement about her Mexican identity that aligned her with a matriarchal society and additionally helped to disguise her disabilities. Kahlo’s suffering was unimaginable and the real strength of the exhibition is that by juxtaposing her clothing and personal effects with her self-portraits and photographic portraits, Kahlo emerges as a three-dimensional woman and transcends her commodified image of popular culture.

Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up is at the V&A from 16 June – 4 November 2018

[i]Hilda Trujillo Soto, “Treasure in the Blue House”, Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up, eds., Claire Wilcox and Circe Henestrosa (London, V&A Publishing, 2018) 21.

[ii]“Biography of Frida Kahlo,” Frida Kahlo Foundation website. [n.d.]

[iii]Circe Henestrosa, “Appearances can be Deceiving- Frida Kahlo’s Construction of Identity: Disability, Ethnicity and Dress,” Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up, eds., Claire Wilcox and Circe Henestrosa (London, V&A Publishing, 2018) 70.