Sandra Adams

This course is a chronological history of human dress from pre-history to the 20th century, and from archaeological remains of ancient cultures, through diverse global material technologies and markets influencing dress, through European monarchical and social class attire, to global exploration and colonialist effects upon worldwide human dress and ways of life. Portraiture, artistic dress and reform dress will be seen to evolve and transform long-standing gender binaries in human dress. Historic styles will be seen to continue to influence contemporary dress and fashions. The sartorial contributions of diverse historical and global human cultures also be appreciated for their innovations and ongoing influences. All students may become conversant with the anatomy, language and literature of dress.

Learning experiences include lectures, readings, library and museum visits, observational sketching and noting from documents of dress, film viewing and spoken illustrated presentations in class. Focus on primary, secondary and tertiary sources of clothing information will be essential. Historical accuracy, creative anachronisms and research of period clothing will be expressed in film viewing and Ryerson Library antique costume books. Visits to Art Institute curatorial departments to view period armor, textiles and garments will provide essential experiences of historic dress.

Assignments will include: self-introductory observations on a museum exhibition visit, a spoken presentation from a group of diverse Documents of Dress sketched and noted by each student on visits to about 6 libraries, museum installations and curatorial departments, and a final presentation/research paper of 10 pages on a Personification of Style, an individual whose attire and accomplishments made important cultural contribution in their time. Citations and bibliography are essential for credit. Knowing your sources is essential.

Dress and Society examines, questions, researches and discusses many interconnections of clothing, cultures and fashions. We will focus upon syntheses occurring from the meeting of dress as individual self-presentation with diverse global, cultural, historic and contemporary contexts. Controversies, ethics, fashion biographies and recently-emerged expressions of human dress and adornment will be explored.

Educated opinions will be furthered through museum exhibition visits, visiting artists' talks,
critical readings on fashion/social concerns, and weekly viewing of current media articles and images. A Fashion film screening and assigned books on fashion artists' lives will be included.

Assignments will include self-introductory illustrated presentation and 2 page museum response essay, fashion book and article readings, concise 'Fashion Now' Media Reports presented weekly, collaborative spoken and illustrated Fashion Book Panel presentations and a final 10 page 'Educated Opinion' Research Paper expanding upon course readings and further research. In-class discussions will occur every week and are integral to this course.

This team taught 3 week summer intensive course examines the unique lives, art and garments which have contributed to fashion theory and practices of the past 200 years. Topics introduce style innovators and creators of dress and menswear, relating fashion to cultural influences, subcultures, sculpture, performance art, dance, textiles, interior design, merchandising, journalism and creative writing. Roundtable readings will generate daily discussion while weekly collaborative research projects will lead to group presentations and individually-written essays. Visits to museum exhibitions and studios will inspire responses. For 3 hours daily M-F for 3 weeks, students with diverse interests can gain knowledge of fashion arts history and contemporary fashion practices while strengthening skills in research, speaking and writing.

This class explores garments, furnishings and objects from ancient times to the present with a focus on how physical forms fulfill function and desire. Students will engage with fashion, design, and museum collections related to their artistic, scholarly and curatorial practices.
Tangible qnd intangible qualities of fashion, dress and designed objects will be studied using readings, videos, films, historical philosophies, fashion theory journals and anthologies and curators' articles in art/fashion/archaeology exhibition catalogues. Students will visit relevant collctions such as SAIC's Fashion Resource Center, Art Institute and Field Museum.

Sources may include philosophers Hegel, Rudolf Steiner and Bachelard, architect Bernard Rudofsky, artists Joseph Beuys and Isamu Noguchi, critic Donald Ritchie, director Wim Wenders,
designers Claire McCardell and Yohji Yamamoto, fashion curators Harold Koda, Richard Martin and Andrew Bolton, and fashion journalists Judith Thurman and Robin Givhan, clothing authors Neil MacGregor, Laura Edwards and Lydia Edwards, historical pattern maker Susan North and archaeological writers Elizabeth Barber, and Cathleen Berzock, among others. Students will visit relevant collections such as SAIC's Fashion Resource Center and the Art Institute.
Experience garments and designed objects through observational sketching and descriptive writing at collections, museums and libraries to be shared in class visually with quotes from assigned reading.There will be frequent group discussions of assigned topics and readings. A final research project on an instructor-approved course-related topic of student's choice will result in a visual presentation and group conversation and a well-researched, cited 15-20 page original research paper.

This graduate-level seminar proceeds from selected in-depth topics in the history of dress, cross-cultural materials markets and clothing influences, evolution of fashions, aesthetic philosophies, literature and social issues, from diverse ancient cultures to the early 20th century. A focus on historical fashion revivals will relate past styles of art and dress to contemporary fashions and research applicable to students' studio work. Global human experiences of all periods will be relevant and valuable.

Learning proceeds from readings both in and out of class, lectures, discussion, museum exhibitions and library research visits, illustrated spoken presentations and several research papers. Reading includes diverse exhibition catalogues, critical and scholarly fashion writing, and recent media articles and illustrations. A film viewing of an historical subject employing period costuming is essential. Synthesis of art and clothing movements is essential.

In-class roundtable readings & discussions, exhibition response sheets & sketches, and assigned readings will lead to several thoughtfully-written, well-cited essays and projected illustrated spoken presentations. The first 3 page essay will be autobiographical, another of 6 pages will relate to an historical revival style, film costuming or cross-cultural fashion, textile and technological influences, and the final relevant 15 page paper and presentation topic will be of the student's choosing. A mid-semester interview with each student will help guide their topic choice and research. Research can be relevant to individual or collaborative studio work.

This independent study program for Master of Arts in Modern Art History, Theory, and Criticism candidates is taken in the final term of coursework.