FASHION-DETECTIVE

Introduction
Danielle Whitfield
You see, but you do not observe.
The distinction is clear.
Sherlock Holmes, The Scandal in Bohemia (1892)
ny gallery archive contains a large number of works that
remain unattributed – ‘makers unknown’. Anonymous
and often inscrutable, these objects have the capacity
to excite our curiosity at a time when the world is
besieged by brands and logos. Within fashion especially,
the contrast between today’s superstar couturiers and the nameless
dressmakers and tailors of earlier centuries could not be greater.
Fashion Detective takes a selection of miscellaneous nineteenth-century
garments and accessories from the National Gallery of Victoria’s
collection as the starting point for a series of investigations. Using
material evidence, forensics and newly commissioned fictions as
alternate interpretative strategies, the exhibition is an encounter with
the art of detection.
Taking its cue from tropes of Victorian crime fiction, Fashion Detective
is divided into a series of ‘cases’ that present the visitor with
different investigative paths and narrative opportunities. From fakes
and forgeries to poisonous dyes, concealed clues and mysterious
marks to missing persons, the exhibition places objects under close
examination. Each case follows a specific course of analysis that
encourages thinking differently about what we see and what
we know.
Fashion Detective is not intended as a comprehensive study of
nineteenth-century dress. Rather, it is an exhibition about modes of
investigation; about leads, encounters, discoveries, stories, science
and speculation. It is about the detective work that curators and
conservators undertake, and what this can reveal. Ultimately it is
about questions – many of which will never be answered.
Reading fashion
Never trust to general impressions, my boy, but
concentrate yourself upon details.
Sherlock Holmes, A Case of Identity (1892)
Learning how to ‘read’ a dress has been an important concern for
fashion studies scholars in recent years. Drawing on the work of art
historian Jules Prown, Valerie Steele, Director and Chief Curator
of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York,
describes the process as involving three stages: description, deduction
and speculation. 1
The description stage records the physical characteristics and features
of a garment, including its measurements, medium, construction
details, style, colour, texture, use and wear. It establishes whether
or not an object is complete, whether it has been altered or repaired
and flags questions about authenticity. The deduction stage involves
reflection on the sensory interaction between ‘object and the
perceiver’. 2 It considers the garment in terms of how it would have
been worn, what it might feel like to wear, what it reveals about the
wearer’s taste or social status and how it compares to other examples.
The speculation stage involves ‘framing [a] hypothesis and questions’
for testing against external evidence. These questions in turn drive
specific paths of research. 3
Fashion and forgery
I’d be more worried if my product
wasn’t being copied.
Miuccia Prada 4
Unknown (France), Bodice, c.1885 (label detail)
The central question in ‘The case of the fake Worth’ is about
attribution: is the labelled Bodice, c.1885, a fake couture garment?
Is the label a forgery? While the answer is more complex than a
simple yes or no, detailed object-based analysis was essential to the
conclusion. Clues gleaned from the garment’s construction (stitching,
pattern pieces, boning, finishing techniques, alterations, labelling and
fabric choice), stylistic analysis (knowledge of the designer’s oeuvre)
and historical research all formed part of the material evidence.
Mary Richardson, Sampler, 1783
3