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Avenir Museum of Design and Merchandising

Avenir Museum of Design and Merchandising Snapshots: Six Curatorial Concepts

What is the role of the museum in the digital age? How can museums engage their publics while being a forum for scholarly research? How do curators create and convey relationships between objects and ideas when developing exhibitions? These are some of the questions considered by students in the graduate seminar “Care and Exhibit of Museum Collections” (DM 563) during the Spring 2023 semester.

Over the course of the semester, each student was tasked with developing a concept for an exhibition. In addition to a clear curatorial idea, these concepts included a selection of objects, a description of objectives and visitor takeaways, and a plan for programming activities and events. The students were also asked to consider the practical challenges and conceptual limitations of their projects.

In Snapshots: Six Curatorial Concepts, six distinct ideas are represented in two objects drawn from the Avenir Museum collection. These glimpses—or “snapshots” of an exhibition—illustrate the diverse interests and disciplinary backgrounds of the students. One object, a dress from the early 1800s, was selected by two students. Including the same dress in two curatorial concepts demonstrates how one object can invite multiple interpretations.

– Paula Alaszkiewicz, Ph.D. | Avenir Museum Curator | Assistant Professor of Design and Merchandising | Instructor of DM 563

To Dye For: The Global Movement of Ikat | Addie Brian | M.A., History ('23)

Ikat refers to textiles with a specific dyeing process in which either the warp (vertical), weft (horizontal), or both threads are resist-dyed before weaving. This creates the “feathery” edges characteristic of ikat. This exhibition seeks to move visitors through the textile’s routes, stopping to showcase Uzbek and Syrian ikat, Euro-American imitation ikat of the 19th and 20th centuries, and contemporary ikat art. While imitation ikat removes the textile from the skilled hands that work on these textiles, the imitations illustrate the flexibility and impact of this global handicraft, as it continues to inspire today.

1. Uzbek Robe, Second Half of the 19th Century | 2010.402

Ikat moved in many directions. From Indonesia it travelled along the Silk Roads into other regions including India, Japan, Africa, and Uzbekistan. This a woman’s robe from Uzbekistan, most likely worn in the city of Bukhara in the mid-nineteenth century. The robe features an ikat exterior with a waxy coating, perhaps to protect the garment. This robe features a warp ikat, in which the vertical warp threads were bound and dyed before the weaving began. Bukhara robes during this time were often lined with cotton cloth, either plain or a bright-printed cloth originating from Persia, Russia, or England. The interior of this robe features a typical English fabric, which demonstrates the multiple directions of the global textile trade in the 19th century. Bukhara robes were highly symbolic and often delineated the social status, rather than personal taste, of the wearer.

2. Women’s Jacket in Velvet with Patterned Silk Lining, c. 1907 | 73-3-5

In Europe, traditional ikat textiles were prized as rare luxury objects. As the demand for these textiles increased, European industrialists used new technologies to create textiles that imitated the look of ikat while being faster and less expensive to produce. Often, European manufacturers would use roller printing or jacquard to mimic ikat. This is a European jacket, made in 1907. The jacket features a black velvet exterior, fitted set-in sleeves, and a silk imitation-ikat interior. The interior silk has shredded over time, exposing numerous threads that are visible at the edge of the interior lining. It is unclear which printing technique was used to create the feathery floral design, but it is clear that the maker capitalized on the popularity of ikat in the twentieth century. Study the pattern closely. Which technique do you think was used to create the floral design?

The Jazz Renaissance: Style and Sonata | Victoria McKeller-Peoples | M.A. student, History

The Jazz Renaissance: Style and Sonata examines the connection between the resurgence of jazz in the 1970s and its impact on fashion. The title “Jazz Renaissance” emphasizes the rebirth of jazz, a genre thought to have died, having no binding effect on popular culture by the 1970s. “Style” and “sonata” refer to the scope of fashion, emphasizing not the jazz musician but the everyday person.

3. Men’s Nightshirt from Harrods-Gurcharan, 1960s | 2015.15.15

The first object depicts an outline of a big band in various shades of brown. This garment and the neighboring blue shirt (object 4) demonstrate how jazz was confined in the 1960s. Big bands became a prominent way of jazz expression as they became more formalized and accepted by white audiences. Big bands often abandoned the typical improvisations for formal arrangements. This popularization allowed Black entertainers, often barred from hotels and other all-white establishments, to play there. Black entertainers’ presence was unwelcome after they performed. However, their performances brought jazz to a wider audience. Many famous jazz musicians from the 1920s and 30s were big band conductors. This shirt represents jazz at its peak to white audiences and harkens to the evolution of jazz to become more palatable for white audiences.

4. Shirt, 1975-1976 | 89.11.2

This light blue Disco-style shirt displays jazz stereotypes; it constrains jazz to the 1920s and caricatures. This shirt heavily uses caricatures; the band members’ skin is pale blue like the shirt, however, they are depicted with exaggerated lips, dark curly hair, colored cheeks, and prominent noses compared to the patrons, who have delicate features. This imagery displays a stark difference between the patrons and the band and furthers racist connotations. It places Black people simply as entertainers; they can produce enjoyment for white patrons but not for themselves. This garment showcases the stereotypical view of Jazz. Its 1920s imagery with the setting likened to a club, alcohol, cigarettes, women in flapper-like dresses and hats, and men in suits. The style is comparable to Art Deco, a style popularized in the 1920s. The layered shapes, straight lines, geometry, and hints of gold align with Art Deco. This garment furthers the idea of Jazz being stuck in a particular era, who performs it, and who gets to enjoy it.

Please note, these two garments were produced as menswear items. They are currently being exhibited on a form suggestive of a woman’s body due to the incompatible proportions of the male mannequins available at the Avenir Museum. Display and conservation are both considered when mounting garments for exhibition.

From Mending to Meaning: Sustainable Fashion Practices in Preindustrial Garments | Rebecca Evans | M.S. student, Design and Merchandising

This exhibition presents evidence of the stewardship of fashion objects and textiles in preindustrial Western Europe and North America and explores how those practices might inform a more sustainable modern fashion economy. This exhibition also aims to inspire a new relationship with the individual and their respective wardrobe by provoking visitors to consider clothing as an extension of themselves rather than a disposable commodity.

5. Wedding Dress in Silk Taffeta, United States, 1842 | 2015.20.1a

This green silk taffeta dress began as a textile in Scotland. The fabric crossed the Atlantic, as so many textiles did, connecting Europe and America in a trade network of valuable goods. The

gown was sewn by Neil Carmichael for his sister, Isabella, as a wedding ensemble. The dress is skillfully sewn, with many of the stitches done by hand. Even in this gown, which likely has remained in its original state for its life, we can see efforts of fabric conservation underneath the front ruffles of the bodice, where the green fabric ends abruptly beside the cotton lining. The fabric piece that makes up the gathered and smocked front is cut along the bias weave (45° angle), and joined across the center front, probably, again, to conserve fabrics, as this taffeta was precious to its owner.

6. Wedding Dress in Shot Silk Taffeta, Germany, Early 1800s | 971.505

This wedding dress, originally belonging to Magdelena Struck, is made of a blue and orange shot silk taffeta. “Shot” generally means that the warp and weft threads of the textile are two different colors, creating a color-shifting effect. The fabric was obviously special, likely sourced from France, where the jacquard loom (which facilitated weaving patterned textiles such as this one) had only just been patented. The object provenance indicates it was worn as a wedding dress in the early 1800s. Stitching lines across the back bodice and skirt of the garment suggest that both have been lengthened, likely to adjust to the lower waistlines of the 1830s, which was probably about the time Magdelena’s own daughter might have needed such a dress. There is no written record of a remake; the story lies in the stitches. The sleeves of this gown have been lengthened by approximately 8”, and the center front has received a large addition to accommodate a larger figure or a different silhouette. Even the tuck created at center front is an indication that this gown has been remade from its original, as such a placket would have required a seam up the center front.

TB Beautiful | Dayton McGrail | B.S. student, Biomedical Sciences (Certificate in Museum and Cultural Heritage Studies)

The Euro-American tuberculosis epidemic in the early 1800s had profound effects on the fashion system. This influence stretched so far that women would go to extreme lengths to achieve the tubercular look—including glassy eyes, pale complexion, thinness, and swooped shoulders—even if it caused harm to their bodies. This exhibition explores how fashion can be a nexus for infectious disease, bodily harm, and idealized beauty.

6. Wedding Dress in Shot Silk Taffeta, Germany, Early 1800s | 971.505

Bodily thinness is one of the primary presentations of tuberculosis infection. Mycobacterium tuberculosis causes severe damage to the inside of the body. The disease causes the person to lose tremendous amounts of weight because of the body’s response to infection. This thinning of the body would take place in all areas, but few were quite as prominent as the collar bones. Collarbones are in an area that usually has much less weight than the rest of the body, which means that they became very prominent when one was sick. Dresses began to have necklines that were cut in such a way that would allow an onlooker to better see the collarbones of the wearer. Having visible collarbones was associated with being sick, so young women would wear dresses that emphasized them. The look of tuberculosis was heavily associated with the body, which means that garments, such as this dress, had to make room for the fashionable features of a sick body.

7. Dress in Silk with Gigot Sleeves, 1834 | 2005-456b

With its balloon-like sleeves and narrow waist, this dress exemplifies the fashionable silhouette of the early 1830s. Notably, the neckline reaches far out to almost the edge of the shoulders. This type of cut would play a trick on a person’s eyes. This neckline causes the appearance of a hunch on the wearer. A shoulder hunch was associated with tuberculosis because the disease causes an alarmingly high amount of damage to the lungs. When breathing becomes labored and the lungs become damaged, a natural hunch begins to form as the body tries to compensate for this new complication. Using this type of cut would allow non-infected women to emulate the tuberculosis-afflicted woman because her fragility aligned with idealized beauty of the time.

The Straight and Narrow: Disassembling the Masculine Architecture | Justin Burry | M.A. student, Arts Leadership and Cultural Management

The Straight and Narrow: Disassembling the Masculine Architecture explores the nuances of men’s dress from the early 19th century through the First World War. Focusing on seemingly “drab” daily garments, this exhibition seeks to uncover the evolving nature of masculinity through the societal pressures that demanded conformity.

8. Frock Coat in Wool, 1870s | 2005.17

While the accession record of this waistcoat provides little provenance, the faded lapel, torn buttonholes, and fraying along many of the primary seams are evidence that it was well worn. Its condition could suggest that the garment was an important part of someone’s daily life. We might also infer that the individual who wore it was not overly concerned with keeping the jacket in pristine condition. Utilitarian in nature, it operated more as a tool than as a piece of fashion. However, we can still draw comparisons between its drab and angular shape to that of a newly industrialized metropolitan landscape. The waistcoat almost mimics the towering, smokey buildings that would have dominated the industrialized city in which the wearer might have dwelled. The fading lapel suggests that the garment was worn outdoors often and supports the idea that it was utilized out of necessity rather than operating as a fashion statement.

9. Three Piece Suit in Wool, 1914 | 73-3-222 (A, B, C)

Together, the Oxford wool cutaway jacket, vest, and trousers create a sturdy outfit that would have brought warmth to the wearer during the colder months of the year. Minimal fading, abrasion, and overall deterioration suggest this ensemble was well cared for by the owner and might have been primarily utilized indoors. We might even conclude that the outfit was used for religious services as the accession record indicates it was donated by a church. The thick, bland material (almost completely void of color, excess, and embellishment) illustrates one of the ways in which masculinity was projected in the early 20th century. Men were expected to work hard, keep their head down, and avoid drawing attention to themselves. While the trousers were fitted at the waistline, all three pieces were likely produced through mass-manufacturing efforts. The overwhelmingly drab gray appearance might even reflect the factory or workhouse where this industrially-produced garment originated.

Real or No Real | Kay Hall | M.A., History ('23)

This exhibition examines the difference between memory, learning, and play of the past and the present by highlighting this shift and raising questions for parents and researchers about how meaning and memory are developed through immersion in a digital world, rather than a physical one.

10. Girl Scout Sash, 1960s | 2005.503.A

The Girl Scouts mission is to “be unapologetically themselves as they discover their strengths and rise to meet new challenges—whether they want to climb to the top of a tree or the top of their class, lace up their boots for a hike or advocate for climate justice, or make their first best friends.” Girl Scouts earn badges every time they finish an activity or module, which they can then display on their sashes. This Girl Scout sash has 23 badges on it. The owner must have done a lot of activities to earn all those badges. Having them on her sash would help her remember and celebrate all the work she did. Can you figure out what the badges are for? Which of these activities have you done? Which ones do you want to try?

11. Test Pilot Flight Suit, 1960s | 2023.1.2

This test pilot flight suit was worn by a United States Air Force pilot with special training to fly new and experimental aircraft. Pilots already have to go through a lot of training to be able to fly solo. This starts in flight simulators, which give pilots the opportunity to get used to the controls, the movement of the airplane, and the various scenarios that might happen. But pilots need 40 to 75 hours of real flight time before they can get a private license, and 1500 hours before they can fly commercially. Test pilots, in particular, need real flight time because simulators cannot accurately create flight conditions for new and experimental aircraft, so anything could happen and pilots need to be prepared. The suits are orange instead of the usual khaki so that pilots can be easily found in case of a crash.