At this point in the term we switch gear – you might think we’d be winding down for the holidays, but no, we like to keep the momentum going. So having spent the first eight weeks of the course looking at themes in dress and fashion history, we now focus in on our core period, 1920-60, and apply everything we’ve been talking about and thinking about thus far to this era.

But before we move on, I thought it would be good to reflect on what we’ve been up to these past months…

 

7          Themes discussed: definitions of dress, modernity, history & memory, dress as autobiography, vision and touch, empire & colonialism, portraiture

 

4          Storerooms & Archives visited: Fortnum & Mason, National Portrait Gallery, Museum of London, Courtauld Prints & Drawings

22        Seminar readings read

 

1          Presentation given – in front of a painting at Tate Britain, on the theme of empire

 

1          Film review written – on a clip chosen from the BFI’s archives

 

1          Formal essay written on one of the 7 themes discussed

 

8          Objects and images discussed that evoke personal connections to dress during the history

& memory class

 

10        Fashion magazines and rare books, spanning 16th – 20th century from the History of Dress collections studied during our very first class

1          Hand-painted Victorian family photo album examined during our discussion of sight & touch

3          Tutorials each – to talk through ideas and approaches to assignments

 

1          Addressing Images event attended

 

14        Blog posts written

 

224      Images posted on Instagram (follow us here!)

 

I’m sure I’ve forgotten something … But I think this gives you an idea of what we’ve been up to…