Abstract:

The Fashion Archive at the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) is broadening the possibilities of what an online fashion collection offers and who contributes to the scholarship. Access to the physical garments in fashion collections is often limited to a wider audience beyond the institution due to space, time, and personnel. A growing number of collections, including PSU’s, create visual access with images and information about their objects online. Currently a multi-year effort is underway to bring the Fashion Archive to fuller digital usage through student-led projects which provide open access to a global user base. To date over 1400 objects have been cataloged and are now available online with detailed photography. Students may view the front, back, and key details of a garment in high resolution. Much of the digitizing work is being done by students, who are active participants in creating the access to, and uses of, the Archive. This presentation will show how the Fashion Archive has developed systems to train students to catalog, photograph, conserve, and research pieces within the collection. These systems provide both wider access to the collection, as well as opening up the possibilities of educational uses of the Archive in the classroom, through workshops, and internship opportunities.

The Archive is becoming a hub for adding information and uses for the collection from a growing user base. Contributors span fields such as fashion studies, theatre design, art history, anthropology, agriculture, history, and women’s studies. The Fashion Archive is increasing types of access to the collection items with downloadable files allowing reproduction and new design developments with 21st century technologies. These files include, but are not limited to:
(1) 3D scans of notions (buttons, buckles, etc) to be 3D printed or used in Extended Reality (XR);
(2) high resolution images of vintage fabric patterns that can be manipulated for digital textile printing;
(3) construction patterns of the garments attached as PDFs to be used to create reproduction garments; and
(4) 360 video of a garment which can be used in gaming, video production.

This presentation will share the ongoing development of both the systems to manage the physical collection and the class modules. This will include step-by-step process images and interactive links to work completed and in the beta test stage. It is important inquiry-based learning supports both collection development and information, as well as engages in cultural literacy acquisition. The PSU Fashion Archive highlights how an online historical collection can facilitate teaching, as well as student and peer-to-peer projects through hands-on learning. We will discuss how varied course modules, in multiple fields of study, may use the collection and build upon the work; how differing perspectives give a wider understanding of the garments being explored; how multiple viewpoints build a richer understanding of the object(s) being studied and people studying it. In turn, the voice of the online collection is enriched when it incorporates a larger, more diverse group of people who contribute to the Archive.

Keywords:

Technology, education, development, 3D printing, 3D scanning, Digital textiles, textiles, fashion studies, pedagogical innovation, teaching and learning with technology, emerging technology, equity, access, museum studies, archive, collections, object based learning.