Reframing Fashion in the Museum

Call for Papers: Reframing Fashion in the Museum

Special issue of DRESS

Co-editors Ingrid Mida and Petra Slinkard

In recent years, the need to decolonize the museum and reframe collections and exhibitions to be more inclusive and relevant has prompted a re-examination of traditional museum practices. Issues of representation, diversity, inclusion, accessibility, social justice, labour practices and pay equity have become urgent matters that require a rethinking of what is being collected, whose stories are being told, and how objects are displayed. This dynamic period of change presents an opportunity to reframe fashion in the museum away from the hegemony of white, elite heteronormative fashion and celebrate other cultures, marginalized communities, bodies and stories.

This special issue of DRESS, planned for publication in 2024 (Volume 50), will focus on research articles and reports that document the successes, challenges, opportunities, and progress made to reframe fashion in the museum to be more inclusive, accessible and relevant to audiences today.

Scholars are invited to prepare full manuscripts that address this theme from a variety of perspectives. Research articles (6000-10000 words) would address this theme from a critical and/or theoretical perspective or as a case study about a museum or a specific exhibition. Research reports (3000-5000 words) would approach this topic in a more limited scope, for example, as a case study related to a specific object. Selected articles will be subject to a double-blind peer review. The deadline for submission of articles and reports is August 31, 2023. Possible topics may include:

  • Reframing dress history in exhibitions

  • Restitution of objects to Indigenous communities

  • Documenting clothing in community memory

  • Critiquing capitalist, authoritarian, or elite clothing discourses

  • Addressing cultural appropriation

  • Recontextualizing colonial objects

  • Redesigning hiring practices

  • Reframing collecting practices

  • Making collections and exhibitions more accessible to a range of users

Submission Requirements:

  • Submit full manuscripts, including low-res images, as a Word document (not as pdf).

  • Include an abstract of 150-200 words on cover page with 6 keywords.

  • Use Chicago Manual of Style citation method (notes only).

  • Use double-spaced Times New Roman 12-point font and include page numbers.

  • Images should include full captions (permission not required at submission stage).

  • Label file name: Lastname_Short Title.

  • Indicate category of submission as research article or report.

  • On a separate cover page, list author(s) name(s), institutional affiliation and short 100-word bio(s).

  • Include email and phone number of corresponding author.

  • Submit manuscripts and cover sheets to DRESS Editor-in-Chief Dr. Ingrid Mida dress@costumesocietyamerica.com

  • Final deadline for submissions: August 31, 2023

Detailed Instructions for Authors are also available on the Taylor & Francis DRESS webpage

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