Researcher(s)
- Jalyssa Nieves, Apparel Design, University of Delaware
Faculty Mentor(s)
- Katya Roelse, Fashion Design and Product Innovation, University of Delaware
Abstract
Fashion is a cycle that constantly repeats itself throughout history, showing the value of the utilization of museum materials for modern designers. Design details specific to certain time periods always come back around later on. In the Regency era, there were design details from the Renaissance and Medieval eras that made an appearance in their clothing. The empire waistline, in particular, is present in all three. Using this information and the historical artifacts from the Winterthur Museum as inspiration, my purpose was to redesign a historical garment from a new perspective. The dress I designed was created using the measurements of two dresses from Winterthur that were constructed around the time of the Regency era. I combined different elements of those dresses and two paintings from the Winterthur collection, as well as techniques from today, the Medieval era, and the Renaissance era to create an original garment. With the reimagining of these garments, I wanted to also reimagine the woman that would wear them. One of the paintings was a watercolor with a nature focus and a portrait of a Black woman in a Regency style dress done by John Lewis Krimmel. This, along with the insights of my professor Katya Roelse, lead me to explore more about Afrofuturism. A part of Afrofuturism is using an Afrocentric lens to create an alternative look at the past where there is a change in narrative power. With this in mind, I imagined my dress to be worn by an upper-class Black woman in the Regency era. While there were few Black people in the aristocracy during this time, they still existed and are not mentioned or very well-known today. It is important to acknowledge that and to show that wealth, royalty, and success are not just for one type of person.