Engaging Students with Objects: Preliminary Experiments in Reviving a Dormant Fashion Research Collection

Study collections of dress offer students, faculty and visiting researchers the opportunity to engage with actual garments and accessories, offering physical specimens for design inspiration and material culture studies. Students can feel the weight of the fabric in hand, examine the details of cut, construction and embellishment, consider the relationship of the garment to the body or search for evidence of how the garment was worn, used or altered over time