Researcher(s)
- Alex Culley, Apparel Design, University of Delaware
- Alexandra Arroyo, Apparel Design, University of Delaware
- Josephine Gladden, Apparel Design, University of Delaware
- Miranda Rack, Fashion Merchandising, University of Delaware
Faculty Mentor(s)
- Dilia Lopez-Gydosh, Fashion and Apparel Studies, University of Delaware
- Belinda Orzada, Fashion and Apparel Studies, University of Delaware
- Kelly Cobb, Fashion and Apparel Studies, University of Delaware
Abstract
As part of a university-wide commemoration celebrating the 1920s, the Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies is developing an historic fashion exhibition examining women’s dress for the decade. Slated for Spring 2026 in the University Museums’ galleries, Blank Canvas: 1920s Fashion, will explore how the chemise silhouette projected the socio-cultural changes and artistic movements of the decade. The exhibition will feature physical garments from the Fashion and Textile Collection, and their digital recreations.
Each summer scholar was assigned a 1920s garment. As part of the exhibition preparation process, a two-pronged approach was implemented: conducting object-based research and creating a digital twin for each garment. Object-based research, a form of material culture analysis, provides the means to examine the relationship between the garment and the period from which it came. From a potential Worth dress to confusing home alterations and from art deco to the Junior market, each garment tells its own unique story.
Digitally reconstructing the 1920s garments, ie. digital twins, provides an opportunity to fully “display” garments too fragile to be displayed on mannequins in the exhibition. This multi-step process involves taking detailed measurements and creating flat sketches of the garment. Next, utilizing CLO3D computer aided design system, pattern pieces for the garment are drafted, an avatar based on the average measurements of the 1920s is created and the dress is fit to the avatar. Surface design/embellishment on the dress is recreated using the top stitching function in CLO3D and Adobe Illustrator.
The Summer Scholar experience provided the opportunity to better understand 1920s fashion, work with historic garments, and directly contribute to the content and preparation of Blank Canvas: 1920s Fashion exhibition.