Reading

Over the past few months I have read an enormous amount about costume related subjects. From fashion research theories, costume histories and pattern cutting to social history and consumer culture, the project has taken me through a diverse range of topics. In fact that has been one of the really interesting things for me; that one object can be read from so many different angles and can open out so many subjects. This is a way of working that really appeals to me as a researcher, starting with something very specific and by 'unpicking' it understanding all the different ways of 'reading' it.

I have been writing up a bibliography on the side bar if you are interested to see the range of texts I have been using. I have also been accessing some interesting libraries, including the National Art Library at the V&A, Manchester Metropolitan University and of course our wonderful library at Bradford College. I have also tracked down a couple of items through inter-library loans from the British Library and bought a couple of back issues of journals from Abe Books. I love the process of tracking things down, and have been grateful for the time I spent working as a librarian gaining the necessary skills.

You can find my ever growing bibliography on the right bar of this blog.

Bradford Textile Archive

Yesterday I had a really interesting meeting with Helen Farrar, curator of Bradford Textile Archive. As the archive is situated within Bradford College this is a really handy resource, and one which I hope to use as a base for some of my research project.

Although the scope of the collection does not have many direct relationships with my project (being mainly later examples and fancy designs) Helen has kindly offered to allow me to use the archive space as a study space for analysing the shirt. Helen has also been able to recommend some further areas of research and identify books in the collection that may be helpful. I am also hoping that further down the line there may be opportunities to share my findings through the archive.

Although I have had a frustratingly slow start it seems as though some things are falling into place. I am so excited about really starting this project in earnest.

Elegance & Decadence: The Age of Regency

Although this goes completely against my methodology, and I have got ahead of myself in process, I have already come across possible ideas for the era of the 'Princes Shirt'. As a result my research antennae is tuned in to all things of the English regency period and thereabouts. This series called Elegance and Decadence: The Age of the Regency is fantastic. The first episode was on BBC 4 yesterday with Dr Lucy Worsley, Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces. You can watch the first episode on BBC iplayer here.