Did They Really Wear That? Authenticity and the Construction of Historical Dress-ups

Abstract

An experimental archeology framework was used to examine the construction of historical dress-ups at a selection of historic house museums in the southwest of England. Of the twenty properties within the study area, thirteen were found to have dress-up installations with volunteers most commonly constructing the garments. Forty-eight dress-ups from six properties were then selected for further investigation. All of these garments were found to have made only limited reference to archeological and historical evidence in their construction. This then distorted their ability to authentically represent clothing from the past. Using these results, the challenges surrounding historical dress-ups will be explored and a new set of practical guidelines for their construction will be proposed.