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Abstract
The visual and textual documentation contained in fashion magazines can be utilized as a valuable primary source for the study of dress, cultures, and associated meanings and values, both past and present. This article discusses processes of history making, specifically addressing the employment of theory in the reading of past fashion media, or “old” glossies, in archival space.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. Marco Pecorari discusses Foucault’s concept of archaeology and the archive in relation to his own doctoral work on the MoMu—the Fashion Museum of the Province of Antwerp—collection of fashion ephemera (invitations, catalogues, press releases, etc.) (Pecorari Citation2011).
2. All publications referred to throughout this article are UK editions.
3. ‘Spring ball gowns’ (US Vogue, March 1, 1951), photographed by Cecil Beaton and featuring a series of abstract expressionist paintings by Jackson Pollock, is another example of where fashion and art have met in an editorial photo-spread. See Änne Söll’s recent re-addressing of this example of fashion media (Söll Citation2009).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Felice McDowell
Dr. Felice McDowell is an Associate Lecturer in Cultural and Historical Studies at the London College of Fashion. Her doctoral research is a history of British fashion media and the representation of public cultural spaces in editorial photo-spreads. Her current research interests are in methodologies of fashion history, archival research, critical theory, and the visual and textual representation of fashion “work.” [email protected]