National museum of scotland

I visited the clothing and body section of the museum of Scotland, after a slightly less successful visit to the national gallery the pieces in this museums collection were brilliant for my project.

It was interesting to see pieces that i have previously researched in the flesh, and see the extent of their restriction and craftmanship as It became obvous quite how much discomfort the wearer of the garments would've been in.

The exhibiton as a whole also made me realise the extent of which we have regressed in a sense of detailing and precision with our fashion as a whole of society, and am therefore keen to add as much detailing into my piece as possible- for example adding more stitch lines into the hip padding of the garment and extra eyelets ribbon detailing In doing this i think my work will have a more authentic feel and historical feeling as well as being modernised in regards to the silhouette, and sheer fabric choices.

I thought the tie up ribbons on this corset under padding was an interesting detail that could be applied to the top half of my garement, but in a more modernised way such as up the sides or along the bottom of the top attaching to the skirt.

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On the right is an example of a hobble skirt, previously researched in this section of workflow, and i was shocked by how disadvantaged the wearer of this garment would have been at walking, with the title "hobble skirt" being very accurate, the circumference of the skirt was no less than a meter around and restrictive all down the leg. On the left is an example of a french farthingdale, taking the fashioning of the body to another extreme with hoops encompassing the skirt.

The lobster tail bussel, prohibiting women from sitting down, and enforcing an illusion of voluptuousness yet remaining thin and streamline at the front- Knowing the background to the bussel and having researched and used it in experimentation for my garment, it made me wonder how long body issues and an un realistic expectation of the body has been pressured onto society.

Overall, the visit was rewarding in re-enforcing the importance of the message and question behind my garment- How do womens fashion through the ages reflect their oppression?

And has inspired my attention to detail in the last few weeks of my design.

Research weeks 24-28

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