Fashion and Museums

Marie Riegels Melchior is Assistant Professor at University of Copenhagen, Denmark.Birgitta Svensson is Professor and holder of the Hallwyl chair in European Ethnology at Nordiska museet and Stockholm University, Sweden.

• IntroductionUnderstanding Fashion and Dress Museology, Marie Riegels Melchior, Designmuseum Danmark, DenmarkSection I: The Power of Fashion. When Museums Enter New TerritoryThe Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art: An Evolving History, Harold Koda & Jesscica Glasscock, The Costume Institute, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkUnderstanding Fashion through the Museum, José Teunissen, Arnhem Design School, The Netherlands.Contemporary Fashion History in Museums, Marco Pecorari, Centre for Fashion Studies, University of Stockholm, SwedenAppraised, displayed and concealed: Fashion Photography on the Swedish Museum Stage, Anna Dahlgren, Department of Art History, University of Stockholm, SwedenSection II: Fashion Controversies. When Bodies Become PublicGender considerations in fashion history exhibitions, Julia Petrov, School of Creative and Critical Studies, Alberta College of Art and Design, Canada.Class and Gender in a Museum Collection: Female Skiwear, Marianne Larsson, Nordiska museet, SwedenExhibiting the Body, Dress and Time in Museums: A Historical Perspective, Anne-Sophie Hjemdahl, University of Oslo, NorwaySection III: In PracticeFrom Museum of Costume to Fashion Museum: In the case of the Fashion Museum in Bath, Rosemary Harden, The Fashion Museum in Bath, United KingdomCollecting Practice: Designmuseum Danmark, Kirsten Toftegaard, Designmuseum Danmark, DenmarkEngaging the public in issues of Dress and Identity: A Case Study of Amagermuseet in Denmark, Ingeborg Phillipsen, Museum Amager, DenmarkLearning through Fashion: The Norwegian Museum of Science, Technology and Medicine, Tone Rasch & Ingebjørg Eidhammer, The Norwegian Museum of Science, Technology and Medicine, NorwayAutobiography as a proposed approach to a fashion exhibition, Jeffrey Horsley, London Collage of Fashion, United KingdomIn Conclusion: Museums dressed in fashion, Birgitta Svensson, Nordiska museet, SwedenBibliographyIndex

This timely book explores the recent popularity of fashion in museums and its wider impact on the field. It is organized into three subjects: museums entering into fashion, controversy surrounding the nature of the fashion exhibition where essentially the human body is on display and lastly the practice of fashion in museums. Each chapter is written as a case study by authors with great experience in museum scholarship and curation including: Harold Koda & Jessica Glasscock of the Costume Institute, Julia Petrov of Alberta College of Art and Design and Rosemary Harden of The Fashion Museum in Bath, UK.