An object-based research study of archive pieces incorporating digital technology

Abstract

This article presents a case study of a collaborative project between garment technology students and museum costume curators, centred around object-based research. The project brief was to re-produce patterns and toiles of selected archive garments, with a focus on incorporating digital pattern technology, to explore the possibilities of this technology in an exhibition context. In addition to these specified outcomes, a successful knowledge exchange was observed, with the curators advising the provenance and social history of the pieces and the students sharing their expertise in manual and digital pattern cutting and in garment construction. During the project, the personal development of the students transitioned from a position of inexperience relating to archived garments, to one of recognized expertise through their recreation of the pieces in a pattern and construction context.