Costumes, Clothing, Consumption, and Culture

Previous CTR project

Research Programme 2013-2015
Iin collaboration with the National Museum of Denmark

Directed by Dr. Paula Hohti
National Museum partner: Dr. Mikkel Venborg Pedersen

PhD researchers attached to the programme:
Vivi Lena Andersen
Toolika Gupta
Karolina Hutkova
Vibe Maria Martens
Charlotte Rimstad

The Danish National Research Foundation’s Centre for Textile Research, the National Museum of Denmark and the Museum of Copenhagen have intense research cooperation within the field of textiles and dress 1600-1900. Particular focus is on consumption and circulation of fabrics, fashions and luxury goods in the City of Copenhagen and Denmark, in the Nordic Countries, and between Europe and the distant colonial and commercial networks, especially in India.
The international partners are Warwick University, Glasgow University, UK, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Indian Council of Historical Research, Delhi, India and the Europe University in Florence, Italy.

The research programme

The research programme groups scholars of several levels and institutions. In 2013-2015 the Marie Curie Mobility Fellowship is awarded to Dr. Paula Hohti, Finland, for a research project on 'Global Encounters: Fashion, Culture and Foreign Trade in Scandinavia, 1500-1630'.  Her collaborator in the programme is the senior curator, Dr. Mikkel Venborg Pedersen (National Museum), who works on the study of colonial influences into Danish everyday life and consumption in the 18th century (Luksus. Forbrug og kolonier i Danmark i det 18. Århundrede).

This research programme has strong links with various research initiatives on early modern and modern textile and clothing terminology, which are currently being conducted in Europe. In Denmark it is Textilnet.dk, which is hosted in Den Gamle By, open air museum of urban history and culture, and is a collaborative project between CTR, The National Museum, Designmuseum Danmark, freelance researchers and Den Gamle By. In Europe it is Textile et vêtements. Most research projects in the research program have terminological explorations combined with other approaches.

This research programme has also a strong affiliation to museum exhibitions. In 2012, some of the programme’s research results were communicated via the exhibition at the Designmuseum Danmark Museum Denmark entitled Rokoko-mania.  The research is also feeding into V&A’s new galleries on Europe 1600-1800. Finally, the programme will enrich a planned new costume exhibition of the National Museum of DK.

This research programme is also engaged in teaching at the Saxo Institute, University of Copenhagen (Dress and Fashion in Early Modern Europe, 1500-1650, Paula Hohti).



The Cooperation

The cooperation started in 2006 when Maj Ringgaard (National Museum) conducted her PhD research on the topic of Decomposition phenomena in 18th century textiles from Copenhagen city-excavations. In 2010 she presented her results in the monograph To par strixstrømper oc en nattrøie naccarat" Filtede og strikkede tekstiler fra omkring år 1700, fundet i Københavnske byudgravninger  - og sammenhænge mellem tekstilers farve og bevaring. The cooperation increased considerably when the international research project Fashioning the Early Modern: Creativity and Innovation in Europe, 1500-1800 was launched 2010-2013. 

Funded by the Humanities in the European Research Area (HERA), the international project gathered a new interdisciplinary European community of academics, museum curators and fashion and design professionals who work together to consider creativity, innovation and fashion in a multitude of aspects from 1500-1800, it's display in museum settings and it's relevance to contemporary policy, legal practices and to the designers and manufacturers of today’s fashionable goods. The project, led by Prof. Evelyn Welch (King’s College London), included PI’s and postdocs from universities and museums from Finland, Sweden, France and Great Britain, and the Danish partners were CTR, the National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, the Victoria and Albert Museum, UK, the Museum of Art and Design, Denmark, the Nordiska museet and the Royal Swedish Armoury, Stockholm.

The Danish Fashioning the Early Modern group consists of scholars from CTR (Marie-Louise Nosch, Paula Hohti, Camilla Luise Dahl), the National Museum of Denmark (Mikkel Venborg Pedersen, Maj Ringgaard), Designmuseum Danmark (Kirsten Toftegaard), and Den Gamle By - "The Old Town” museum in Århus (Tove Engelhardt Mathiasen). The Danish Group has launched the publication of the anthology:

Fashionable Encounters. Perspectives and Trends in Textiles and Dress in the Early Modern Nordic World. Ancient Textiles Series, Oxbow Books, Oxford 2013, edited by Tove Engelhardt Mathiasen, M.-L. Nosch, Maj Ringgaard, Kirsten Toftegaard, Mikkel Venborg Pedersen.