Spring 2012 - Dress and Textile Specialists

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industry, and his presence alone ensures press coverage at openings and exhibitions. Burberry’s links with Yorkshire are established; the famous Burberry Trench Coat has been produced in Castleford, Yorkshire since the 1960’s. There is also a textile conservator, a respected business director and a research professor. Figure 1 First YFA postcard c. 2000 The acquisition methodology of this collection involves critically appraising clothing and accessories bought, made or worn in Yorkshire in the 20th century. The personal narratives of the garment’s owners are investigated and preserved through clothing, accessories, photographs, film and audio recordings, and anecdote. The 20 th century was a period of enormous change in both clothing production and consumption, the archive provides opportunities for scholars to investigate research questions related to cultural and socio-economic characteristics of this significant era, including changing social attitudes and influences, economic prosperity, global trends and the regional technical excellence in textiles and clothing. The repository’s aim is to provide a historical and cultural record of Yorkshire life in the 20th Century that will engage with business, schools, higher education and the local and wider communities to maximize its impact and ensure long-term sustainability. The YFA is a collection of vintage clothing and accessories spanning every decade of the 20th century, from debutante gowns to mill workers overalls, and draws upon material from the local community and is a national resource that will continue to develop with historically significant donated pieces being secured from internationally known UK designers, manufacturers, retailers and the general public. Unlike many other fashion archives, which seek to include examples of all types of fashion and clothing with the emphasis on the artefact themselves, the research materials at the YFA allows scholars to approach local history from a new perspective, which allows a method of interaction with a local narrator and the experience of a more intimate personal history. ‘Fashion and dress are socially salient media that are simultaneously intimate and public and, once worn or displayed, can be infused with the wearer’s life story and the memories of those close to them.’ (de la Haye: 2011). The archive has the support of the School of Design in the University of Leeds, but it was a grant from the Clothworkers Company, which enabled the archive to become publically accessible in 2010. The archive was able to move into new accommodation, invest in much needed archiving materials, develop a brand identity (Fig.2), create a website and launch the first public exhibition at Salts Mill in April 2011. The patron, Christopher Bailey brings support and interest from the business sector. On an ongoing basis, industrial partners from the fashion industry sponsor student projects using 26
Figure 2 YFA Branding applications the YFA as a resource. The Exhibition Salts Mill, located in Saltaire, Bradford, West Yorkshire, is an art gallery, shopping and restaurant complex. Originally a former mill built by Sir Titus Salt, a Victorian philanthropist and woollen fabric manufacturer, it is now a World Heritage Site containing an important collection of David Hockney paintings and a venue for regional performing arts and community projects. It was decided that this would be a suitable venue for the exhibition because of its industrial past and strong Yorkshire heritage. The management team at Salts provided space for this first exhibition free of charge, supplying not only the venue but also hosting the Press launch ‘party’ and generously providing all subsistence for YFA staff at the exhibition. The management team at the mill felt that the exhibition was of great consequence as it featured the ‘ordinary’ folk of Yorkshire and linked to the textile heritage, which is so important to the mill itself. Key to the success and continued development of the YFA is the concept of ‘community ownership’. The local community is reflected in the documentation and the ‘stories’ revealed relate directly to a broad and diverse regional audience. This was clearly evidenced at this first public exhibition ‘Dress Rehearsal’ (Fig.3). The visitors’ experience of the exhibition of clothes in combination with the narratives and photographs, underpinned by a Yorkshire provenance seemed to form highly personal associations and re-awakened memories and reminiscences. The exhibition explored how clothing has a direct intimacy and relationship with the wearer and/or donor and demonstrated how entrusting treasured garments to strangers can bring back long buried memories and feelings. Garments can also become inextricably entwined with lives experienced or can evoke lives lost: It is not unusual to cherish as an aide memoir a garment worn for a rite of passage or special occasion. (de la Haye: 2011) Case Study of Mrs H Figure 3 ‘Dress Rehearsal’ Exhibition at Salts 2011 The case study of Mrs H of South Cave, East Yorkshire demonstrates how long forgotten memories can be reawakened by garments and personal possessions. Mrs H donated a range of outfits belonging to her deceased mother-in-law (also named Mrs H), one of which was a black coat with white faux fur collar by Dellbury, circa 1967 (Fig.4). Such was Mrs H’s dislike and perceived snobbery of her mother-in-law she insisted the donations were given in the name of her husband. 27
Page 1 and 2: DATS Dress and Textile Specialists
Page 3 and 4: DATS Committee 2012 Chair Christine
Page 5 and 6: Effective Collections - making the
Page 7 and 8: This assessment method could be app
Page 9 and 10: Mad Hatter Knitting ‘The Big Weav
Page 11 and 12: An exhibition from the Embroiderer'
Page 13 and 14: This special exhibition will examin
Page 15 and 16: This ‘storage backdrop’ is some
Page 17 and 18: Increasingly too, access to the col
Page 19 and 20: aimed to enhance the collection’s
Page 21 and 22: Figure 1. Linking understanding of
Page 23 and 24: Josie Sheppard, previously Curator,
Page 25: department/officer, 3. if you can,
Page 29 and 30: Without the YFA Mrs H would not hav
Page 31 and 32: Access and the new Fashion & Textil
Page 33 and 34: A review of temporary exhibitions,
Page 35 and 36: Photo 1: Bowes 1 Photo 2: Bowes 2 L
Page 37 and 38: I am currently working on The Black
Page 39 and 40: NEWS and EVENTS LIFE IN THE OLD CLO
Page 41 and 42: vistas reopened, reinstating the dr
Page 43 and 44: The Costume Project studio is based
Page 45 and 46: powerful images! The three below ar
Page 47 and 48: Dovecot Studios, Dovecot, 10 Infirm

Spring 2012 - Dress and Textile Specialists

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