The purpose of this research was to develop an operational definition of historical accuracy for theatrical costume design. Contemporary Broadway costume designers were interviewed to discover their perceptions of historical accuracy and the characteristics they believe are essential to achieve it. Upon analysis, we determined that Robert Hillestad’s appearance taxonomy provided a vital foundation for understanding their insights, which revealed that, for a costume to be considered historically accurate, all elements displayed in Hillestad’s framework must be authentic to the period the costume represents. With Hillestad’s taxonomy as the basis, analysis of the designers’ words therefore resulted in the following definition:A historically accurate costume is one in which historically accurate articles made using historically accurate materials and processes are assembled on or around a historically accurate body.This definition of historical accuracy in costume design offers a foundation for designers and scholars to explore the discipline.

Edited by Evelyn WelchOxford: Oxford University Press, 2017If the title of this book sounds familiar, you may be thinking of the three-year scholarly initiative of the same name funded by the Human...

Prior to the turn of the twentieth century, women had limited access to ready-to-wear clothing. As the women’s ready-to-wear industry developed in the 1890s,“average-sized” women could easily purchase clothing, but was this the same for women considered stout? Larger women, referred to as stout during the 1910s, comprised approximately 12.7 percent of the US population. The term “stout” indicated a figure (often of matronly appearance) with generous bust, back, and hip curves that decidedly did not fit in with fashion’s demands for the slim figure. To explore attitudes surrounding the stout woman and the development of full-figured fashions, the author took a historical method approach using primary sources from the New York Times, Vogue, and Good Housekeeping. This study identified and analyzed the introduction and emergence of stout women’s ready-to-wear clothing, separate retail departments for different-sized clothing, and design details recommended to enhance and hide the figure.

“The fact remains that the silhouette is governed by a norm, and that is inescapable.” (160)Georges Vigarello is a French sociologist and historian whose work has centered on the sociology of the b...

The 2016 CSA Scholars’ Roundtable considered the role of the curator and dress scholar in an age when technology and culture have enabled everyone to be their own curator. This paper documents the authors’ panel presentations and aspects of the audience’s comments and discussion.

Beauty and brains combine in this classic study of fashion at the court of the doomed French monarchs, Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, who married in 1770 and were executed in 1793.First, the beaut...

Cassidy PercocoLos Angeles: Costume & Fashion Press/QSM, 2015. Clothing of the early nineteenth century continues to be of interest to a variety of audiences. These include those who interpret the ...