May 06 2012
Online museums
I have a hard time navigating the internet. I get lost easily.
But I have directions: find content that relates to the course learning outcomes.
Museums are a good source of design inspiration and clothing details for pattern making.
There is a Museum of Online Museums so that seemed a good place to start. I was expecting an online version of traditional museums but I found something that is quite amazing!
Cliff Muskiet’s Stewardess/Flight Attendant Uniform Collection
http://www.uniformfreak.com/uniforms.html
This is a wonderful resource as the clothing is dated, and there are detailed pictures of the garments. An assigned pattern project based on the database would be interesting. The pattern making project could incorporate ‘period’ details or reproducing the pattern for a specific garment.
I wandered a bit around the museums, and though more appropriate for my other course, I also found
The Vintage Wallpaper Gallery
Like most museums, you need TIME to visit.
The flight attendant uniform collection — what a unique find!
It does take time to explore available online resources for a class and you can easily get lost in some of those ‘museums on the web’.
Here’s another interesting place for potential inspiration: ArtPromote with a focus on exhibits that showcase textile and fiber arts – http://www.artpromote.com/fiberfabric.shtml
Wow! Thanks Karen. I have been looking at the Met website lately…they have been posting more garments from their collections. They have a timeline too.
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/?Department=The-Costume-Institute
I bookmarked artpromote!
I am not a textile expert, but I did remember visiting the Smithsonian Museum of American History and attending an exhibit on First Ladies. Sure enough, they have an online exhibit of inaugural gowns and other fashions: http://americanhistory.si.edu/exhibitions/exhibition.cfm?key=38&exkey=1239
Fascinating!