Items Of Dress Research Articles

Fabricating modernity: female dress production, typology, and use in rural Cyprus (late 19th-early 20th century)

In modern Cyprological studies, the British Period (1878-1960) is widely acknowledged as crucially important for the advent of modernity. During this period, the radical transformation of Cypriot society was strongly expressed via the emergence and widespread adoption of novel cultural expressions and identities, largely adherent to Western/European lifestyle ideals. Processes of sociocultural change were initially and principally manifested in urban settings and among the middle and upper social classes. Nonetheless, by the dawn of the 20th century rural populations were set on their own path towards modernisation. Unfortunately, the introduction of new lifestyle elements among the wider social strata, the mechanisms involved, and the significance of changing behaviour patterns at the level of self-identification are yet to be fully examined, documented, and interpreted by scholarly research. The present analysis focuses on Greek-Cypriot female rural populations as an understudied segment of Cypriot society and aims to explore the potential of a dress study approach in the examination of British period modernisation processes. Dress comprises one of the strongest, non-verbal self-communicative mechanisms, and as such it is considered as a critical domain for the visual and tangible manifestation, but also the symbolic production and definition of sociocultural change. Drawing on evidence from the examination of extant dress items, oral testimonies, written accounts and visual materials, the current research endeavours to document the evolving female visual identity in late 19th‑early 20th century rural Cyprus; to trace new versus past and enduring elements in rural dress production, typology, and consumption/social use; and to discuss how basic modifications in the image of the clothed and adorned female body reflect identity transformations in rural society.

Variation in pre-nasal raising of TRAP in Australian English

Phonetically raised and fronted realizations of pre-nasal TRAP are increasingly common in Australian English with previous research suggesting that greater raising may be associated with speakers from monolingual English-speaking backgrounds. Here, we present the results of an acoustic examination of pre-nasal TRAP raising (which we refer to as HAND) in a corpus of speech recordings from 183 adolescent speakers (aged 15–18) from five areas of Sydney that differ according to levels of linguistic diversity and the major heritage languages spoken (English-only, Arabic, Chinese, Indian, and Vietnamese). We extracted 1971 items containing the HAND vowel, along with 1807 items of pre-obstruent TRAP and 540 items of pre-obstruent DRESS. We calculated the degree of raising in HAND relative to pre-obstruent TRAP and DRESS through Euclidean Distance. The results show increased HAND raising in female speakers, although less raising is seen in the area with the highest proportion of Vietnamese language background speakers. Among male speakers the greatest incidence of raising is seen in the area with the lowest level of linguistic diversity (i.e., highest level of English-speaking background). These results suggest that HAND raising is associated with English-speaking backgrounds, but also that this is a change led by females.

“When sorted and cleaned may prove of great interest”

Te Papa holds a collection of 17 textile fragments acquired in 1914 from the Egypt Exploration Fund. These fragments were excavated from the site of Antinoopolis in Egypt during the 1913–1914 season of fieldwork, carried out under the direction of John de Monins Johnson. They derive from items of dress and soft furnishings dating from the first millennium CE (the Roman Period and Early Arabic Period in Egypt). The objectives of this study were to identify the original textiles that the fragments derive from and their dates of manufacture and use, all within the context of the story of Antinoopolis. As part of the study, the textile fragments were examined according to standard modern practice. The study was carried out as an extension of recent work undertaken by institutions in the United Kingdom in particular the Whitworth Art Gallery, on the textiles recovered from Johnson’s excavation, most of which are held in collections in the United Kingdom. The Te Papa study is significant in that it adds to this body of work. In addition, the collection is a valuable resource for education and research.

The Queer Activism of Simon Nkoli’s Clothed and Styled Body

Simon Nkoli’s life history shows the many issues he championed, including tenants’ rights, anti-apartheid, HIV/Aids activism, and gay and lesbian rights. The Simon Nkoli archival collection housed at the Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action (GALA) includes records of this important historical figure shown during public moments of queer activism and in some private settings. In the observed public moments, Nkoli is seen wearing clothes marked by clear messaging of queer visibility. The private moments show Nkoli using clothes to break socially constructed gender categories laid upon items of dress. This article marries style narratives, gender and queer theories to argue that Nkoli’s clothed and styled body is his visual methodology to support his queer visibility project, expressed through other modes, namely social movements, writings, speeches, and interviews. Through the gender- and queer-infused style narratives in my analysis, I find that Nkoli’s use of t-shirts and sleeveless t-shirts align with the global queer sloganeering of the 1980s. His use of what I call friskoto (pinafore in Sesotho) functions as a visual mode to disrupt gender binaries. Nkoli’s use of clothing and styling shows how he evolves the style narrative concept by infusing queerness as an additional element to the autobiography of the self. However, beyond his inscription of queerness through clothing and styling, Nkoli also demonstrates the potential of the clothed and styled body as a form of queer activism.

The Mutability of Uniform

The Mutability of Uniform

Preliminary considerations and notes on the Sarmatian burial vestiges of Timișoara – „Hladik 1” (Timiș county)

The 2019-2020 archaeological research resulted in the discovery, near Timișoara, at site Hladik 1, of a Sarmatae cemetery of which 139 burials have been investigated, some encircled by a ditch. The grave goods in the Timișoara – „Hladik 1” burials, rather varied and rich, are represented by handmade or wheel-thrown pots, domestic and household objects, toiletries, silver coins, adornment and dress items, weapons, etc. The preliminary analysis of the grave goods dates grosso modo the graves’ group to the chronological frame between late 2nd century and last decades of the 3rd century AD.

Representations of the Passion of Christ in Brazil: Devotional Sculpture as Open Artwork

Sculpted representations of the Passion of Christ became widely used for popular religious devotion in Portuguese America. They comprise a variety of forms, since the Passion had so many episodes, and thus necessitated various bodily positions for Christ. In investigating the manufacture and trade of Latin American Baroque sculpture, it is possible to identify a market of whole-body carvings, items of dress, and loose body parts, such as heads, hands, feet, etc. This parts-based approach to sculpture, in effect, transformed them from “finished” works into “open” ones. The idea of an open artwork applies to objects that are not usually classified as art. This openness can be found in lifelike images that encourage the viewer to connect with them emotionally. In the case of images that show suffering, viewers respond with empathetic horror before the realistically proportioned and colored representations. The present study analyzes the idea of an open artwork by focusing on sculptural series of the Passion, especially scenes of the Agony in the Garden, that belong to Carmelite lay brotherhoods in São Paulo, Mogi das Cruzes, Itu, and Santos, cities in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Images of the Passion existed in a constant process of transformation and, thus, openness, from their manner of construction to their uses in Holy Week rituals. By allowing viewers to interact with them on their own terms, we argue that devotional sculptures had far-reaching potential.

Статусные предметы из склепа III–II вв. до н. э. «Каменная могила» (южные окрестности г. Железноводска)

Introduction. The article is devoted to the analysis of objects discovered during the excavation of the “Kamennaya mogila” (Stone Grave) kurgan on Medovaya mountain (southern outskirts of Zheleznovodsk). Methods and materials. The comparative typological method was used as a worker. It is based on classification by material, processing method, shape, ornamentation, as well as on the study of types of gold jewelry, glass and black-glazed dishes, bronze horse plate foreheads and cheek pads, etc. Analysis. The typological and chronological analysis was carried out on gold jewelry (plaques, rings, pendants), antique ceramic and glassware, items of horse dress and weapons. Analogies to imported items from the crypt, found in the monuments of ancient culture and in the burials of the barbarian nobility, allow them to be dated to the 4th – 2nd centuries BC. Items of equestrian dress and weapons date back to the 3rd – 2nd centuries BC. Results. The author, regarding the social structure of the local population, ranked the monument as stratum No. 2 (nobility of the first level). A complex burial structure of the tomb with a significant number of ritual offerings is recorded. Burial items have numerous analogies in the status burials of the Bosporan, Meotian and Scythian nobility of the Northern Black Sea region and the North Caucasus of the 4 th – 2nd centuries BC. The sophisticated frame structure of the horse harness made of iron parts from the crypt of the Stone Grave is unique. Only a member of the nobility with a very high status could afford such a special bridle as a ritual offering.

The Sartorial Choices of Sobekneferu: Louvre Statue E 27135

This paper explores the items of dress worn by King Sobekneferu on statue E 27135 in the Musée du Louvre. This statue is unique in comparison to her other known statues because it is the only one where she wears both feminine and masculine dress items. Sobekneferu’s combination of dress items coalesces in an ensemble that shapes, performs and displays her gender, divinity, communality, profession and class simultaneously. Through an analysis of her sartorial choices, we can better understand how Sobekneferu satisfied both her individual identity and her group identity in interacting with her subjects. This paper demonstrates how her dress had the power to communicate and inform the public through its materiality. Sobekneferu’s sartorial choices enabled her to craft visibly an authoritative image of herself as king. This image responded to the gendered expectation of kingship which was invoked through the masculinity her statue produced.

Burial of a mounted warrior with Ringknaufschwert-type sword from the necropolis in Ostrów, Przemyśl District

During the excavation of the Przeworsk culture necropolis at Site 21 in Ostrów, Przemyśl District, a richly furnished burial of a mounted warrior was found. The burial, which can be dated to the developed stage of the Early Roman period based on the grave goods, stood out through the lavishness of its grave inventory. Among other objects, the grave goods included a sword with a ring-like pommel, known as a Ringknaufschwert, two spearhead, one of them with punched decoration, and elements of horse tack. There also were ornaments and dress items, particularly noteworthy among them a gold pelta-shaped pendant decorated with granulation.

How far did they come from? Archaeological and archeometric provenance studies on glass beads recovered from the Malbork-Wielbark cemetery

Abstract The cemetery at Malbork-Wielbark, Pomeranian voivodship, northern Poland, was in use from phase A1 of the Late Pre-Roman Iron Age (end of the 3rd/beginning of the 2nd century AD) to the early Migration Period (phase D1 – beginning of the 5th century AD). To date over 2,000 cremation and inhumation burials have been excavated at this site, yielding at least 3,500 glass beads. They appear mainly in inhumation graves from the early and late Roman Period and the early phase of the Migration Period (phases C1b–C3–D1), and at that time they were deposited in about 40 % of the graves in this cemetery. They are rarely found in cremation graves, and when they do appear it is usually in assemblages of later date. The number of beads in cremation graves throughout the lifespan of the necropolis was usually limited to just one or no more than a few. There is no clear correlation between the presence of glass beads in graves (cremation and inhumation) and the ‘quality’ of the grave goods, and therefore the status of the deceased. Beads (in varying numbers) appear sometimes in poor burials of various date, where they constitute the only (or almost only) grave goods. In theory, graves with more burial goods should contain a correspondingly greater number of beads, but there are many exceptions to this rule. Extensive, multi-element necklaces were one of the characteristic features of dress during the so-called “Wielbark Baroque” (phase B2/C1–C1a). In Malbork-Wielbark, such prestigious necklaces, with numerous glass beads, appear mainly in richly furnished burials from phase C of the Roman Period. In some really rich graves, however, the presence of beads seems to be reduced to a symbolic minimum. Anthropological analyses could be performed for 25 bead-bearing burials of the 41 excavated during 2008–2018. The results seem to suggest no relationship between the age of the individual, the type of burial rite and the variation in the number of beads in the grave. However, it is interesting that a relatively large proportion of the graves with a greater range of glass ornaments and items of dress were burials representing the infans I and infans II age groups. The selected beads were subjected to various laboratory analyses, examining both the morphology of the materials, based on surface observation with a scanning electron microscope (SEM), and their chemical composition. The chemical composition of all beads submitted for analysis was determined using the Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) technique. This analysis was performed for each colour in the case of multicoloured beads. A total of 43 glasses were analysed, including 18 single-colour beads and 25 analyses of variously coloured glasses taken from eight multicoloured beads. Additionally, some samples were analysed using an energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) microanalysis system fitted with SEM, and for some the chemical composition was determined by wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WD-XRF). The obtained results showed that all analysed samples represent soda-lime-silica glass (SLS glass), the majority of these samples having been made using a natural soda (natron). Due to the low content of Mg and K, they are referred to as LMLK glass. This means that, taking into account the results of the analysis, the majority of the analysed beads are consistent with glass beads produced in the Roman tradition. Only five of the 43 glass samples represent types of soda-lime-silica glass using plant ash as the flux. Due to the high content of Mg and K they are referred to as HMHK glasses. The individual glasses used in each bead came not from one but from various glass-melting factories. There is virtually no correlation between the type/ variety of glass and the dating of the graves in which the beads were deposited.

Women’s Dress and the Demise of the Tailoring Monopoly: Farthingale-Makers, Body-Makers and the Changing Textile Marketplace of Seventeenth-Century London

By 1700 tailors no longer dominated England’s garment marketplace, as stay-makers, mantua-makers and seamstresses now produced key items of female dress. The demise of the tailoring monopoly was a complex process involving many factors. This article examines an aspect of this transition that has been previously overlooked in histories of garment production: farthingale-makers and body-makers. These trades emerged at the start of the seventeenth century to make foundation garments that shaped the fashionable silhouettes of England’s women. This article presents a case study of the number, location, reputation and eventual demise of farthingale-makers and body-makers in the Drapers’ and Clothworkers’ Companies of London from 1600 to 1700. The story of these trades shows a growing diversification within garment-making during the seventeenth century, where both demand and opportunity allowed entrepreneurial tradesmen to break away from traditional systems of production, ultimately paving the way for the diverse textile marketplace of the eighteenth century.

Challenges in Displaying Archaeological and Historic Vestments from the Collections of the National Museum of Transylvanian History

"The focus of this paper is represented by the display of female and male clothing pieces as well as luxurious ornaments, from the premodern and modern collections of The National History Museum of Transylvania, as exhibited in the temporary exhibition Cornucopia. Luxury in Transylvanian noble world.1 The aim is to underline the challenges the conservators had in mounting the items of dress, while considering the conservation restrictions (the mounting would not damage the object) as well as display requirements (an appropriate arranging of historic clothing). In order to properly display the dresses’ relationship with the human silhouette and due to the fact that some of the objects required prior restoration, the mounting itself proved to be extremely challenging. Since the exhibition’s curators had to work with a tight budget, that also meant that the costumes had to be mounted on standard sized, commercially available dress stands, as opposed to acquiring ‘museum mannequins,’ specifically designed to dress every individual object. Therefore, modern dress stands were adapted to fit the historical and archaeological garments: they were carved, cut‑down, padded, while under‑structures were created using horizontal and vertical tubes of cotton filled with puffed wadding sewn onto the inside of an underskirt‑like structure; as a result, the mounted mannequins, captured the body‑dress relationship the curators wanted, while, at the same time, considering the conservation and display requirements."

Mormintele sarmatice de la Prăjeni (județul Botoșani) / The Sarmatian graves from Prăjeni (Botoșani County)

Between 1985 and 1988, 14 Sarmatian graves were excavated at Prăjeni (Botoșani County), in the locations known as Alimândra, Nelipești, Țarnă and Lutărie 2. These graves have not been systematically published but information about them may be found in the literature published so far. The authors intend, by this contribution, to publish the data concerning the Sarmatian finds of Prăjeni. Out of the 14 graves uncovered there, which could be considered as belonging to the Sarmatians, 13 are secondary burials in tumuli – five in Tumulus III from Prăjeni – Alimândra, two in Tumulus IV of the same location, one in the mound of Nelipești and five in the tumulus from Prăjeni – Țarnă. Considering the five Sarmatian graves from Prăjeni – Țarnă as secondary burials in older tumuli might, at first sight, arise some doubts. The authors consider that the main criterium was the intention of those who buried the dead to choose a higher ground, as they were not aware that, during the late first century AD, what it looked like a higher ground, was, in fact, soil that had slid from the southern slope of a Bronze Age tumulus. Most of the 13 graves in discussion are oriented along the N– S axis, with variations, with only two exceptions (WSW– ENE and S– N). Dorsal decubitus, with arms and legs stretched was recorded for six deceased. Reinhumation seems to be attested in Grave 4 of Tumulus III from Alimândra, where the long bones and the ribs have been arranged somehow radially around the skull and the pelvis. Grave goods were deposited in all the 13 Sarmatian secondary graves in older tumuli from Prăjeni. Except for Grave 3 in Tumulus IV from Alimândra, and possibly Grave 4 in Tumulus III of the same location (where only a pottery fragment was found), all the other 11 graves contained pottery vessels, either one (nine cases), or two (two cases). These vessels are, mainly, hand-made. The wheel-made pottery is less frequently found (five cases). Besides pottery, other categories of grave goods, such as adornments (beads, earrings, pendants, bracelet, and bells), dress items (brooches), toilet implements (mirrors), household tools (spindle whorls), and weapons were deposited in the Sarmatian graves of Prăjeni, too. The great number of items that the Sarmatians living in the area took over from the Dacians (the hand-made mug from Prăjeni – Țarnă Grave 2, the small mug from Grave 7 at the same location, the profiled brooches from Prăjeni – Alimândra Tumulus IV Grave 3 and Țarnă Grave 2, the pendants made of profiled bars from Alimândra Tumulus III Grave 3 and Țarnă Grave 9, maybe also the bucket-shaped pendants found in this last grave) should also be mentioned. The items of Dacian origin found in the graves of Prăjeni indicate the fact that some of the burials took place after the Sarmatians established relationships with the Dacians in the area, indicating a certain time span, difficult to estimate, elapsed between the precise moment of their arrival in this territory and the burials. Generally speaking, the secondary graves of the tumuli from Prăjeni can be dated between the second half of the first century AD and the first half of the next century. The five graves in the tumuli from Prăjeni – Țarnă may be of a later date than the graves in the tumuli from Alimândra and Nelipești, if we take into account the presence in three burials of the grave goods of Dacian origin. The grave from Prăjeni – Lutărie 2 differs from the previously analysed graves, as concerns the layout (flat grave), the location (grave in a settlement) as well as the grave goods. The little girl, less than seven years old was buried only with adornments : a necklace of beads and pendants, earrings and a bracelet whose analogies suggest a chronological framing in the third century AD.

Pilot Analysis of a Survey to Assess University Undergraduate Males Stress, Dressing and Eating Habits

Background: Stress can effect all aspects of life, including eating and dressing behavior. These changes impact the health and wellness of individuals. With less known research on men, the purpose of this study was to report preliminary findings using an original research instrument to assess the perceived effects of stress on eating and dressing behaviors among undergraduate college males. Methods: The sample included 32 male undergraduate students enrolled at a Midwestern University in the United States in 2017 completed the survey. The participants completed the survey two weeks apart. The instrument, Male Stress Dressing and Eating Survey, included 42 questions divided into four sections: 1) demographics, 2) effort put forth to control dressing and making healthy eating choices, 3) patterns of dressing and eating when stressed, and 4) dress items worn and foods eaten when under non-stressful and stressful conditions. Cohen’s Kappa (κ) was used to analyze test-retest reliability. The Wilcoxon signed ranks test, a nonparametric, paired sample test, was used to ascertain preliminary results pertaining to eating and dressing during perceived conditions. Results: Kappa values for these dressing question ranged from to κ = -0.01 to κ = 0.60. All Infraclass Correlation Coefficient test-retest coefficients were statistically significant (p < 0.05), with the median being .66 demonstrating good reliability. Descriptive statistics and nonparametric tests indicated that men under perceived stress were more likely to choose mixed dishes, salty-crunchy foods, sweet foods, and modify their diet. When under perceived stress, these men used fewer accessories and did not dress formally, were not engaged in hair maintenance behaviors, were less likely to use scent enhancer, and did not enhance their appearance. Conclusion: This survey has the potential to be reliable and useful in research related to stress, food, and dressing. Specifically, the instrument appears to be a useful tool for practitioners and researchers in the applied and academic areas associated with this age group and gender.

Lumen ex Oriente: Academic Dress of the University of Hong Kong, 1911–1941

A narrative of the development of the University of Hong Kong’s academic dress for officials and graduates from its founding in 1911 to the cessation of formal operations in 1941 with the Second World War. The article includes descriptions of the appearance of various items of academic dress at the University in this formative period.

EARLY MEDIEVAL GARNET-INLAID METALWORK: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF DISC BROOCHES FROM EARLY WESSEX

Garnet-inlaid metalwork was an emblem of elite culture in the early medieval North Sea world. This study compares three Anglo-Saxon garnet-inlaid brooches that are exceptionally similar in design and appearance. All three date to the seventh century, a period that saw the emergence of leading families that used such deluxe dress items to enhance their political position. The central hypothesis explored here is that the brooches were produced by the same, or by closely linked, goldsmiths working under the patronage of such a family. Integrated analysis was conducted using microscopy, CT scans, XRF and XRD, in part to establish whether the garnets used came from the same or different sources.

Object‐based Learning in a World Dress Course

Object‐based learning (OBL) is an active‐learning teaching approach that uses artifacts as teaching tools in the classroom. The purpose of this study was to identify how OBL assignments helped university students in a general education world dress course learn about unfamiliar items of dress throughout the semester. Using a grounded theory approach, student responses from an end‐of‐semester reflection assignment were analyzed to examine how OBL influenced student learning. Five themes emerged during the analysis: (1) positive reaction, (2) connected course content, (3) senses deepened understanding, (4) affective change, and (5) unique opportunity. The authors concluded that OBL enhanced student learning and improved the classroom experience for participants. Educators, researchers, and museum professionals can benefit from the results of this study.

The Corset and the Hijab. Absence and presence in the 19th and 20th-century Fashion System

Introduction The corset and the hijab : more than emblems of two societies and cultures, those two objects could perhaps be classed as being among the most evocative items of dress produced by two traditions often addressed as opposed : English and Egyptian cultures. Placing both objects and the two selected locations in parallel may seem, for some, a comparison not possible and, hence, surpassing the possibilities of the semiotic theory ; however, looking closer at both objects, not only they produce similar trajectories in time, but similar values are invested in, and manifested through them, as we hope to show. As much as England is an epicentre of Western culture and remains a dictator of Fashion trends and a centre for the qualification of designers, Egypt, as well, is a pivot of cultural and political life in the Arab world. Similarly, while the British cling to their glorious monarchical, colonialist history, Egyptians are tied to their Pharaonic past likewise, pulled in opposing directions, also being at the forefront of the proximity with both the Arab and Western worlds1. By presenting Egypt as a country similar to England in history and cultural influence, both nations can be placed side by side at least as a corpus to analyse the trajectories of feminine dress, while also serving to fulfil Edward Said’s celebrated statement about the West and the Orient being, contrary to the prevalent discourses, reversed reflections of one another2. Both sartorial objects, trad

Choses d'apparat: The poetics of dress in Michel Leiris's L'Afrique fantôme

Abstract Michel Leiris's treatment of clothing in L'Afrique fantôme, his diary account of his journey through Africa as part of an ethnographic expedition, demonstrates how dress habits constitute a value-laden system. Clothing belongs to a category of objects, which includes talismans and masks, that Leiris calls 'choses d'apparat' because of their tendency to acquire a ceremonial significance. As such, they mark indelibly the travellers' first impressions of the men and women they encounter. Leiris's substantial body of autobiographical writing shows that his interest in clothing is not limited to his travels but goes back to his most distant childhood memories, in which items of dress acquire a distinct theatrical significance. The present study examines the descriptions of dress in L'Afrique fantôme in terms of what they reveal about the respective attitudes of the European travellers and local populations they meet. It explains also how dress habits function as a bearer of cultural values and as a mediator in situations of intercultural contact. It shows finally how dress plays a key part in Leiris's critique of exoticism and colonial stereotypes, by means of which he engages in a different kind of human exchange than that practiced by his scientifically trained colleagues.