Dressing the New World

The Trade and the Culture of Clothing in the New Spanish Colonies 1600-1800

Corinne Thépaut-Cabasset, Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow (2015-17)

Corinne Thépaut-Cabasset

What effect did the successful marketing of European products have on the New World at the beginning of the 18th century? And how should one go about studying the European Fashion and Textiles that transformed the way people dressed in the Spanish colonies?

“Dressing the New World” research project is framed by a unique document, which describes Mexico in 1700s. This document is a rare reference for the knowledge of Spanish America at the beginning of the 18th century, and a very unique source to understand how and why Europe aimed to disseminate its textiles, commodities and fashionable goods overseas.

The research project seeks to consider Early Modern Fashion in detail through this historical piece and other resources from literature, iconography and material culture, merging into different disciplines: Modern History, Art History and Dress History.

Read more on the blog Dressing the New World