Constructing Costume Histories: Illuminating the Value and Heritage of Costume Making in Britain

在伦敦Cosprop电影公司的档案馆里，躺着1995年BBC制作的简·奥斯汀的《傲慢与偏见》中的原版达西先生衬衫。这是19世纪初的一件传统亚麻衬衫，它的简约掩盖了它的文化力量。作为近代史上最具标志性的英国服装，它作为英国服装行业质量和专业知识的全球大使，一眼就能被认出。从芭蕾舞到哑剧，从电视到歌剧，该行业雇用了数千名熟练工人，涉及不同的制作专业。尽管达西先生的衬衫名声在外，但除了英国服装业的核心圈子外，它的生产地Cosprop仍然鲜为人知。英国制造的服装吸引了国际社会的钦佩和关注，但它们是如何制造的，在哪里制造的，是谁制造的，仍然是个谜。这是一种幕后活动，人们对它的关注有限，因此对它知之甚少或了解甚少。尽管如此，英国服装制作是一个蓬勃发展的高技能领域，拥有一系列世界领先的专家，他们致力于实现服装生产的最高标准。构建服装历史将聚光灯照射在服装工作室的世界上，以阐明英国服装制作的价值和传统。它将与五个行业领先项目合作伙伴的制作人合作，通过创建该行业的第一个视听和书面记录，记录、保存和促进英国服装生产的专业技能和历史。通过这种方式，它将为我们对英国服装制造的价值及其全球意义的理解带来新的维度。结合采访、档案和基于对象的研究，该项目将批判性地将英国的服装制作置于学术和公众意识中。这将通过三种方式实现：i)与庆祝服装制作行业的教育活动一起推出一系列短片，说明每个项目合作伙伴的服装制作的历史和遗产；ii)一篇学术文章，将提出一个服装制作词典作为实践，建立一个相当于支持对高级定制服装的尊重的独特法语词汇的英语词汇；以及，iii)一个经过编辑的系列，将学术分析与代表他们实践痕迹的制造者的贡献结合在一起，不是从演员或设计师的角度，而是从工作室本身的角度制作第一部服装史。该项目将由一名专业互补的PI和Co-I领导，并建立了成功的现有关系。维罗妮卡·艾萨克(布莱顿大学)带来了十年的戏服工作经验和维多利亚和阿尔伯特博物馆的表演经验，以及在服装史上的具体专业知识。杰德·哈尔伯特(Jade Halbert)(利兹大学)专门研究时尚界的制造业历史，专注于口述历史和其他第一手资料。她的研究重点是恢复不成文的制作历史，重点是在一系列生产环境中传递手工专业知识，从工厂到家庭。项目合作伙伴反映了一系列制作实践和传统，这些做法和传统决定并保持了英国服装业享有盛誉的高标准：皇家歌剧院(在歌剧和芭蕾舞方面的专业化和卓越能力)；Cosprop电影制片商(在电影和电视中对细节的真实性和关注)；历史服装学校(致力于专业知识、教学和研究)；利兹剧场(多种服装表演类型的专业知识)；以及LIPA的教职员工和学生(创造力和可持续的未来创造实践)。

In the archives at Cosprop Film Costumiers in London lies the original Mr Darcy shirt from the 1995 BBC production of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. A conventional linen shirt of the early nineteenth century, its simplicity belies its cultural potency. As perhaps the most iconic British costume in recent history, it is instantly recognisable, acting as a global ambassador for the quality and expertise of the British costume industry. This sector employs thousands of skilled workers across a diverse range of production specialisms, from ballet to pantomime and television to opera. Despite the celebrity status of Mr Darcy's shirt, however, Cosprop - the place where it was made - remains almost unknown beyond the inner circles of the British costume industry. Costumes made in Britain attract international admiration and attention, but how they are made, where they are made, and who makes them remains mysterious. It is a behind-the-scenes activity to which limited attention has been paid and therefore about which little is known or understood. Notwithstanding this, British costume making is a thriving and highly-skilled field populated by a range of world-leading specialists who are committed to achieving the highest standards of costume production. Constructing Costume Histories shines a spotlight on the world of the costume workroom to illuminate the value and heritage of costume making in Britain. In collaboration with makers at five sector-leading project partners, it will document, preserve, and promote the specialist skills and history of British costume production through the creation of the first audio-visual and written account of the sector. In this way it will bring a new dimension to our understanding of the value of costume making in Britain and its global significance. Combining interviews with archival and object-based research, the project will critically situate costume making in Britain within academic and public consciousness. This will be achieved in three ways: i) a series of short films illuminating the histories and legacies of costume making at each project partner, launched alongside an educational event celebrating the costume making sector; ii) an academic article that will propose a lexicon for costume making as a practice, establishing an English equivalent to the distinctive French vocabulary which sustains respect for haute couture; and, iii) an edited collection uniting academic analyses with contributions from makers that represent traces of their practice, producing the first history of costume not from the perspective of the actor or the designer but from the workroom itself.The project will be led by a PI and Co-I with complementary expertise and a successful existing relationship. Veronica Isaac (University of Brighton) brings a decade's experience of working with the costumes held by the former Department of Theatre and Performance at the Victoria and Albert Museum, together with specific expertise in the history of costume. Jade Halbert (University of Leeds) specialises in the histories of manufacturing in fashion, concentrating on oral histories and other first-hand accounts. Her research is focused on recovering the unwritten histories of making with emphasis on the transmission of manual expertise across a range of production environments, from the factory to the home.The project partners reflect the range of making practices and traditions that have determined and sustained the high standards for which the British costume industry is renowned: The Royal Opera House (capacity for specialisation and excellence for opera and ballet); Cosprop Film Costumiers (authenticity and attention to detail in film and television); The School of Historical Dress (commitment to expertise, teaching, and research); Leeds Playhouse (plurality of expertise in costuming diverse performance types); and the staff and students at LIPA (creativity and sustainable future-forward making practices).