Corset or no Corset?

             After reading Fashioning the Bourgeoisie: A History of Clothing in the Nineteenth Century by Philippe Perrot I walked away with a greater understanding of my Trousseau Dress and look forward to Clare coming into our class tomorrow to continue the discussion on dress’s in the 19^th century. A very interesting point that I drew from the book was that fashion was an indicator of class. Perrot states “clothes became organized as significative differences within a code and as status symbols with hierarchy”.  Thus the choice of dress was determined based on your class and what was expected from your class when it came to style.  The reason why the relationship between fashion and class are important because in our society today we do not use fashion as a determining factor as to whether or not one is wealthy, we use cars and electronics to show off affluence. Thus, I believe that clothes hold the same symbolic meaning as electronics and cars do today in which an individual was able to be identified as to which class they belonged to base on their outfit and the materials used for the dress.

            Another point that I found interesting from the book was that women wore numerous outfits throughout the day. I found this point to be important because the Trousseau dress that I was assigned was an evening dress. Throughout the day women were expected to have a certain amount of skin covered up, thus one would have to have a breakfast dress in which they could wear the dress throughout the morning. Then the woman would have to plan on changing into an afternoon dress in which it was appropriate for a lady to show off a bit more skin.  Finally, the female had an evening dress which showed off the most amount of skin. Perrot stated that even on special occasions women would change their outfits, thus it was normal for a female to make anywhere between 5-8 outfit changes. These changes occurred because it was necessary! The corset still amazes me, the young lady that wore my dress had to wear a corset underneath because the design of the dress was to show off a small waist and emphasize the posterior bust. Perrot stated that even though corsets were the trendy and women wore them in order to make themselves appear more attractive the corsets “threatened the body” and gave women a higher chance of becoming infected with “sickness”.

On pg. 153 Perrot stated that over a 40 year period of observation of the corset out of 100 women; 25 “succumbed to diseases of the chest, 15 died after their first delivery, 15 remained infirm after delivery, 15 became deformed. The most interesting thing about these numbers were that as these negative health issues occurred as a result of the corset women still wore the corset.  I then thought back to my first point that fashion was a way to classify you with a social class. Thus many women of the upper class knew that by wearing a corset it not only made them look more attractive however it also showed everyone else that they belonged to the wealthy class. 

I am really excited to hear the discussion in class tomorrow and especially from my classmates that had dresses as their objects. I wonder if they were able to determine what class potentially their object would fall under. 

The exciting process of creating an exhibit

            After reading the articles from this past week the whole exhibit became real to me. Alice Parman’s article “Exhibit Makeovers: Do-It-Yourself Exhibit Planning” had a wonderful  lay out of a step by step process to use to get the juices flowing with the exhibit one is planning to put on.  However, before Parman went into the step-by-step process she drew from the concept of Romance being an essential component of your exhibit, this element I completely agreed with. Parman stated that in order to have visitors enjoy your exhibit they need to fall in love with it. I understood this as being that in order for the visitor to enjoy the exhibit they need to fall in love with an object being exhibited. I related this to my dress, which is beautiful in itself. However, how can I make the visitors fall in love with my dress? I believe that my label that I associate with the dress will be my key to making the visitor fall in love, which I will touch upon in a bit.

            The step-by-step planning that Parman spoke about I believe is the strongest information that I read this past week. The first step is the Mission Statement, in this step our group decides what our goal of the exhibit it and what we hope the visitors will take away from the exhibit. Additionally, in the mission statement phase we need to develop a story line that will draw the visitors in and keep them interested in the objects throughout the exhibit.  Second Step is when we organize our story line into “galleries of thought”. Parman states that it is important to organize our concepts either based on category, chronology, analogy, observation/deduction, comparison/contrast, theme, and watchword.  All of these organizational concepts are important and we have the ability to choose how we would like to organize our exhibit, I could see us using a couple of these ideas so it will be exciting to see what we will choose. The third step is the inventory which Clare has already chosen what objects she felt were the most important to be displayed. The fourth step is to find a way to motivate and engage your visitors, in which we have to take into account that we will have multiple perspectives and opinions attending the exhibit so we need to take into account all of these experiences and motivate our visitors. The fifth step is when we would plan the “look and feel” of our exhibit where we take into account the color of lighting we would choose to use and the dimensions of the display of the cases being used. The sixth and final step is the production and installation of the exhibit which is essentially the blueprint of our idea and then making it become a reality.

            A point that I connected with in Parman’s section about Romance was that it is important to make the visitors feel like they are learning in their own desirable way. When students visit our exhibit it would be wonderful if the student would pick a piece of clothing or object and immerse themselves in the time and history that surrounds the object. This would allow the student to learn feel as if they are learning but without having to fill out hand-outs or take notes. The label would play a key role in this concept and development of learning. The title of the label needs to draw my visitor in and have them want to learn more about my dress. Which got me thinking about some ideas already yet I need to keep in mind that the label would need to match the overall theme of the exhibit.

September 30th readings

            All of the readings from this past week dealt with issue race and gender and its relationship to the object. The articles this week looks at objects that was associated or commonly found among a certain race or gender. I found this week to be interesting because the objects showed us how gender roles were present in the nineteenth century. Additionally, I found it interesting how in the past many historians over looked the advancements and common standards of living among the African-American culture due to prior racism and we can see that objects were found among African-American communities as well.

            Upton’s article examined the landscape of blacks and whites in the 18^th century in central Virginia which at the time had the slave system present. The most interesting part about Upton’s article was how Upton was describing the landscape that was found on a plantation and how there were very specific roles that each found themselves designated to. The way that the plantation was designed reinforced the social relationship between whites and blacks and how blacks were considered to be inferior to the white community.

            Jane Przybysz’s article “Quilts, Old Kitchens, and the Social Geography of Gender at Nineteenth-Century Sanitary Fairs” examined the popular craft of quilting and how it was associated with a specific gender during colonial America.  With quilting being associated with females it demonstrates that the gender roles that feminist fight today are deeply rooted in our cultural and material history. I found that with the article dealing with gender roles is similar to my object I am studying for our exhibit, in the fact that my Trousseau dress also have gender roles associated with it with women expecting to have a honeymoon/newlywed dress to be presentable to society as a newlywed. Another aspect of Przybysz’s that I believe will help me with my object is that she used primary sources such as a diary and literature to examine the craft of quilting and looking at primary sources such as a diary I believe will give me a better insight as to the social relations that are associated with a Trousseau dress and the means women went through to have an appropriate garment.  

            Finally, Ulrich’s book The Age of Homespun, also showed the gender roles that were associated with specific domestic responsibilities. We begin to see how it was expected more for women to stay in the home and spin wool for clothes and candles and the men out in the community doing more manual labor. Additionally, I found it interesting that Ulrich introduced the development of the female labor economy which at the time was a bartering system. Women’s work was deemed valuable and the women were able to exchange goods among themselves, therefore we saw a community developing among women who were trading goods among one another. 

Reading Blog #2- Hairwork and biographies

            Helen Sheumaker’s Love Entwined: The Curious History of Hairwork in America examined the ancient practice of hairwork. The art of hairwork in the 19^th century was an important way for many to mourn and remember loved ones that have passed away. Sheumaker took an in depth look at art of hairwork through primary sources as well as secondary sources such as letters, diaries, etc. With hairwork being popular during the Victorian Age in the 19^th Century, it is crucial for the researchers to not only define the action but to also to understand the symbolic meaning behind the hairwork. An important aspect associated with hairwork that Sheumaker spoke about is that the art of hairwork is associated with social class. Hairwork pieces are associated with those who come from middle and upper class families. The craft of hairwork was done by professionals whom many worked out from their home. Middle and Upper class families had the money to pay for these nostalgic hairwork pieces.

            Kenneth Ames article “Meaning in Artifacts: Hall Furnishings in Victorian America” examined the design of the Victorian home and the hallways that were built in these homes. Interestingly enough, it was common for there to be a long hallway with formal rooms located from the hallway. This concept is important to know because it gives a great indication as to how social interactions occurred and how important the hallway was to facilitate these interactions. An interesting piece of furniture that was about was the hallstand, which served its purpose as a coat and hat stand. The hallstand was important in showing visitors the social status of the homeowners, thus if the hallstand had numerous coats and hats on it one would assume that the family is wealthy or is popular and has a lot of visitors. Ames stated that if the hallstand had a mirror, the mirror was another indicator that the family was wealthy.

            Dannehel article spoke about object biographies and why object biographies are important when studying artifacts. As Dannehl states that it is important to understand the background of the object and the history that surrounds the object. Yet, Dannehl stated that it is also important for the researcher to understand the function of the object; how the object was made, how was the object used, if the object was broken how was it fixed. This examination of an artifact gives the everyday objects that were normally overlooked receive more than the face value meaning. Dannehl’s article was a great reading to finish with because it summed up how important it was to not only look at artifacts at face value but take time to look at the object in its everyday function. This gives the researcher a great insight in the social functions of the artifact as well the how the individual used artifacts to help their life function more fluidly.  There is a lot to learn from artifacts that can’t been seen by the naked eye, which a more in-depth understanding of the artifacts gives us a better understanding of the community and social life that was present at the time.  The biography of an object will help me understand my Trosseau dress more and the life of the young woman that wore the dress. 

Object-Description

            Based off of my methodology designed from the first object exercise the steps that will be included in the methodology will be 1st observation, 2^nd step will be the imagination phase, 3^rd step will be the analysis phase. The object that I was assigned was a women’s honeymoon/newlywed dress called a Trousseau dress. My dress was dated back to 1888 and was made in Paris, France.

            The first step is the observation phase. During my observation of my object I found many exciting things. My first observation was that the dress was done professional by a seamstress and it was done very well. The dress was two pieces, the top section and the bottom section. The dress was made at the end of the bustle period, thus the dress had less emphasis on the backside but still did draw attention to the bustle region. The dress looked like it had some padding on the back side; however not as much padding that was associated with the bustle period. The bottom of the dress measured 38.5” from the waist to the feet.

            The top went from the shoulders down to the high waist and the bottom of the dress started from the high waist and went down to her feet. The top of the dress had a v-neckline in the front that would reveal more of her cleavage and the v-neckline was also present in the back of the dress. On the top of the dress on the front there was small round buttons in the center that looked that they closed the bodice of the dress. The top of the dress was very form fitting, it was boned and would have sat very snug on the young woman. We were unable to determine what kind of material was used for the boning of the dress; however we could assume that it was from whale because of how expensive the dress looked. The top measured 18.5” from the top center of the V-neckline to the waist. The top also measured 13” from the center of the top to the side, which would be roughly a 26” waist measurement from one side of the dress to the other side. The dress went from the shoulder to the elbow of the young woman.

            The dress was woven and made out of silk and also had machine factored lace throughout the dress, which demonstrated that the young lady had a lot of money. The colors that were used in the dress were green, darker cream, and red. The creamer looked darker because one could tell that the dress was older thus the cream fabric darkened a tad, but still the colors looked amazing with one another. The dress was made of silk ribbons that were the color of green and cream. Also I noticed that there were red rose buds on the cream fabric. The colors of the fabric were a pattern in which the cream with the red rose buds was alternated with green silk. The amount of colored ribbon looked varied, in which roughly the cream fabric looked approximately 2” wide and the green ribbon looked approximately 1” wide.   The same pattern of silk ribbon was also found on the top of the dress as well, therefore the top and bottom of the dress mirrored one another.

            The dress had a considerable amount of lace on it as compared to the other Trousseau dress. The neckline of the dress was trimmed in lace along with the center front opening for the bodice. Lace was also designed on the sleeve of the arm in which it went from the elbow to the wrist. The skirt of the dress also has draped lace throughout the patterns of silk, the largest amount of lace on the skirt was found on the backside where the bustle was placed. The bottom of the skirt was also trimmed with lace as well. The color of the lace was cream which matched the cream ribbon that was used throughout the dress.

            The next phase is the imagination phase, during this phase I place myself in the shoes of the young woman who bought this dress and think about what the dress would feel like to wear. Unfortunately when we saw our objects we were unable to feel the dress, however since the dress is made out of silk it would be safe to assume that the dress would feel nice on the skin. My initial thought of the dress was that the skirt had a lot of fabric and material, thus I believe that skirt would feel heavy on the hips when wearing it. As compared to the top of the dress which did not look like there was as much fabric used for it. The top of the dress had built in boning and was designed to fit the woman snug, therefore when the dress was buttoned fully it would sit very tight on the woman’s waist and would naturally create a bust line, even if the woman was not fully chested. Looking at how the bottom of the dress was created, the skirt looked fuller therefore the woman squeezed herself into the top and was able to let things fall as they would in the bottom of the dress.

            The final step is the analysis phase. Based on the historical research that I did regarding a Trousseau dress, the dress was bought for the honeymoon of the young lady. Since the dress was made in Paris, France we assume that the dress was purchased while she was on her honeymoon. The woman wore this dressing during the afternoon because of how the dress was cut. Historically women would reveal more as the day went on. Therefore, it was normal for a women to start her day off more covered up then when she was changing into her afternoon outfit she would reveal more cleavage and more defined curves and this was socially acceptable. I soon began to think that in order to have multiple outfits for one day; the woman would have to be wealthy. Having the ability to change into multiple outfits throughout the day demonstrated how wealthy you were and allowed the woman to flaunt it to her friends. I am going to also take it a step further because I believe that this allowed the woman to show what social class she belonged to simply because she had the ability to change into an afternoon dress. Therefore, due to the amount of lace that was found on the dress as well as the dress being made in Paris, France the woman who owned this dress came from a wealthy background and was able to have multiple outfits per day.

            I am planning to continue expanding the historical research of the Trousseau dress. The research I did was preliminary information to give me a good grasp on my article of clothing. Therefore, I am going to next focus more on the history of the dress itself and also the social implications that were associated with the dress. I will attempt to support the claims that I drew during my analysis section. 

Reading Blog #1

              In Small Things Forgotten by James Deetz and “Building in Wood in the Eastern United States: A Time-place Perspective” by Kniffen and Glassie had common underlying themes in both of the works. I believe that the main underlying theme from this week’s reading was that architecture is in embedded with a lot of history and culture. When we think of historical artifacts we immediately think of letter, books, painting, clothing, etc. However, we forget about the structures that encompass these historical artifacts. The readings from this past week proved that not only were the materials used in the 1800s were influenced from European countries, we could also see the influence in our building structures as well religious objects. Kniffen and Glassie stated the “method of construction employed had its European antecedents” (Kniffen and Glassie, 178), thus one would derive from the point that there was a stronger European influence than one would think. Deetz references to the advancement in the Tombstone’s used which gave us great insight into the religious attitude that was present. When we look at objects we sometimes overlook any religious or spiritual history that could be associated with it, therefore when Deetz pointed out that the Tombstones were related to a secular religion that is a huge connection with European lifestyle. The typical American attitude is that we are very original and we are not influenced as much so it was very interesting that the readings showed how we are society has been greatly influenced by the European culture even though we try to state that our countries and cultures are not alike. In conclusion, I found both of the readings to be very enlightening because one can learn a lot from artifact, which includes buildings and tombstones. 

Statement of Purpose

Hello, my name is Kelly Driscoll and I am currently a second year master’s student in the Master of Liberal Arts program here at Temple. I am currently pursuing my 2^nd master’s degree at temple. My first master’s degree is a Masters in Applied Sociology (MA) from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.  In my undergraduate studies, which were also completed from Old Dominion University, I doubled majored in Criminal Justice and Sociology.  While at Old Dominion University I played in goal for our nationally ranked field hockey program, following my career at ODU I was named to the national field hockey development team. I soon then got moved up in the central training program and trained full-time as a member of the US Field hockey team. What a wondering experience, so needless to say sports have played a strong role in my work ethic and character.

            I am very interested in studying race, ethnicity, and culture in the urban environment. After the completion of my degree, I would love to work with the at-risk youth population, via enrichment programs or non-profit groups. This class interested me because materials are used in our everyday life whether it is at work, at home, or in social settings. How one views and interprets these materials determines how we as human view the material and its relationship to our society. I believe that materials can dictate the socio-economic status of the individual.  Additionally, I am interested in relating how materials help an individual improve their life situation or how materials block an individual’s development in our society which will impede the individual from being successful in the long run.  Lastly, I am excited to see how bias in our society shapes our thoughts and feelings towards specific materials. We never really look at a material and wonder why we associate it with either male or female, so I think that throughout the semester it will be very interested and enlightening.