Abstract
This article is an intellectual biography documenting the contributions of Betty Kirke to the field of dress history. It is the story of an author, her methods, her journey, and the ethical and legal ramifications of artifact-based, scholarly research on one designer, Madeleine Vionnet, a beacon for twentieth-century fashion. This article aims to reinsert the concrete to the abstract to convey a balanced perspective permissible through experiential learning. It charts a path for researchers who have nonconventional perspectives exploring dress not only as historians, but as conservators, fashion designers, pattern-makers, and other creative endeavors where one learns through direct engagement as well as later in life following a variety of careers and experiences. This paper shares what has been learned over more than twenty years of personal mentorship and through formal interviews with Kirke. It addresses problems one may encounter through the study of artifacts and the production of non-textual scholarship. By studying the mind of a singular scholar, this author hopes to inspire researchers to follow in Kirke's footsteps and explore materiality further in order to push the boundaries of knowledge in the field of dress history.
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