Material Culture: Clothing and Textiles Metadata: Practices and Methods for the Arts and Sciences, Global, 1700-2024 (ICPSR 39257)

Version Date: Jan 20, 2025

Cite this study |

Principal Investigator(s):
Clare S. Culik-Spencer, FATE (c) Fashion And Textiles Education Archive Resource, London, UK. University of the Arts London: Central Saint Martins, UK. University of California, Davis, USA.

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39257.v1

Version V1

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Summary

The Material Culture: Clothing and Textiles Metadata: Practices and Methods for the Arts and Sciences, Global, 1700-2024 research project is privately sponsored and in collaboration with FATE (c) Fashion And Textiles Education Archive Resource (www.fashionandtextileseducation.com) under the direction of:

Principal Investigator:

Clare S. Culik-Spencer, M.A., B.A., Co-founder of FATE (c) Fashion And Textiles Education Archive Resource, London, UK; University of the Arts London: Central Saint Martins, UK; University of California, Davis, U.S.A.

Assistant Researchers:

Elaine Man, MA, B.A., FATE (c) Fashion And Textiles Education Archive Resource, London, UK.

Lana Shchadey, B.A., FATE (c) Fashion And Textiles Education Archive Resource, London, UK. Royal College of Art, London, UK.

Alex Secilmis, M.A., B.A., FATE (c) Fashion And Textiles Education Archive Resource, London, UK.

Marnix Steenackers, B.A., FATE (c) Fashion And Textiles Education Archive Resource, London, UK. University of the Arts London: Central Saint Martins, UK.

The Material Culture: Clothing and Textiles Metadata: Practices and Methods for the Arts and Sciences, Global, 1700-2024 research project was the first public use of FATE (c) Fashion And Textiles Education Archive Resource metadata. It was also the first dataset of material culture, clothing, and textiles in visual and video format.

This project provided a transparent system for tracing which areas of research could benefit from histories, theories, and cultural studies of design in fashion and textiles. This provided a wider scope of evidences showing potential ramifications for how this topic can be studied in research. This will aid in understanding not only history and design, but the exact connections and uses in the social and behavioral sciences.

The content of this project shows practices and methods to understand material culture of clothing and textiles from 1700 - 2019 from all seven continents. The 14 selected case studies show examples of material culture of clothing and textiles from FATE (c) Fashion And Textiles Education Archive Resource in London, United Kingdom. Items were selected through stratified sampling in order to demonstrate ethnographic diversities across the globe.

For this project the research team manually created contexts and used visualizations in the mediums of digital photographs and top view video demonstrations. These visualizations demonstrate how the material culture of clothing and textiles are worn on a human body to evidence the movement of them.

Citation

Culik-Spencer, Clare S. Material Culture: Clothing and Textiles Metadata: Practices and Methods for the Arts and Sciences, Global, 1700-2024. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2025-01-20. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39257.v1

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Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage

Smallest Geographic Unit

Country

Distributor(s)

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
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Time Period(s)

1700 -- 2024

Data Collection Notes

  1. For more information about this project please go to the FATE's Fashion and Textiles Education web site.

  2. Some datasets go together based on their location - Oceanic (DS3 to DS5), America (DS7 and DS8), and Japan (DS11 and DS12). In these cases the "dataset" file focuses on each item individually, but it shows the same 2 or 3 images used in the other datasets.

  3. Due to the size of the files be sure to have sufficient space available for the download. It is also recommended to download only those files of interest one by one instead of the entire project.

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Study Purpose

The purpose of this research project was to help shape and evolve how interested parties can better understand design historically and contemporarily.

Study Design

The files relating to each article of clothing (dataset) have been zipped "as is" as they were received from the research team. The original file names have been retained. With the exception of DS6, DS7, and DS8 there are eight files within each zip file plus a README document ICPSR created. The zip file contains 1 Excel file (.xlsx), 5 documents (.pdf), and 2 videos (.mp4). Each file contains proper citations for use. Individual's faces have been blurred out by the research team in the photographs and videos. These eight files are:

  • Dataset (Excel): details about each item plus image
  • Dataset (PDF): exact copy of Excel dataset
  • Digital drawing of human body (PDF): hand drawn human figure (same across all datasets)
  • Digital photograph of material culture (PDF): image of item
  • Digital adapted photograph of material culture worn on body (PDF): picture of item being worn by a model
  • Digital drawing of world map (PDF): image of item pointing to the country of origin
  • Digital adapted video of material culture worn on body (MP4): approximately 1 minute silent video showing the item being placed on / worn by the same model viewed from all sides; it also shows the model walking back and forth across the screen showcasing the item
  • Digital adapted video of material culture analysis (MP4): this is a longer 6 minute video of the item with a narrator reading the content verbatim as contained in the dataset files; the narrator's hands are shown pointing out various elements of the item

    • Sample

    The case studies of 14 material culture: clothing and textiles were selected through stratified sampling. The case studies were selected from the strata (material culture: clothing and textiles) of FATE Fashion and Textiles Education Archive Resource, out of 20,000 garments, textiles, accessories and books. The study is looking at material culture: clothing and textiles and the selection was made to evidence a ethnographically diverse set of material culture: clothing and textiles from 1700-2019. Material culture of clothing and textiles have been chosen that are primarily not labeled or associated with a brand in them. The visible labels are those of the FATE Fashion and Textiles Education Archive Resource for archival purposes.

    Time Method

    Cross-sectional

    Universe

    Examples of clothing and textiles showing material culture from all seven continents between the years of 1700 to 2019.

    Unit(s) of Observation

    Clothing object

    Data Type(s)

    Mode of Data Collection

    Description of Variables

    Each dataset (Excel and PDF) shows an image of the clothing item. There are style citations for APA (American Psychological Association) and MLA (Modern Language Association). What follows are three primary sections of data with the following sub-elements.

    Elements of Art

  • Color: includes primary, secondary, and may be described in terms of hue, tonality, value: lightness or darkness and saturation
  • Line: lines are continuous marks that are one-dimensional
  • Space: the area around or within the material culture: clothing or textile or the surface of the material culture: clothing or textile, and may refer to negative space
  • Shape: the form or geometric element defined by its outline or edges
  • Texture: the tactile quality of the material culture: clothing or textile
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    Principles of Design

  • Emphasis: the points of focus
  • Balance: the visual equilibrium
  • Proportion: relative scale with another element or principle or relative scale to the viewer of the material culture: clothing or textile
  • Rhythm: whether there is regular, irregular or repeated elements
  • Movement: the arrangement and or interaction of the elements to suggest motion
  • Variety: different or contrasting elements
  • Unity: the state or quality of togetherness in the elements
  • Harmony: combination of elements that are in agreement
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    Factual and Contextual Information

  • Materialities / Fibers: this describes the physical materials, plant, protein and synthetic fibers
  • Measurements: measured along the north-south and west-east axis, provided in inches and centimeters
  • Weights: measured in ounces, pounds and grams
  • Techniques: describe the handmaking, manufacturing and construction of material culture: clothing and textiles
  • Images: photographic images and or video
  • Years: years of the individual material culture: clothing and textiles
  • Origins: geographic locations and geographic transitions
  • Oral histories: primary source material from personal recollections
  • Owners / Wearers: the individuals who have owned the material culture: clothing and textiles and or have worn
  • Beliefs: spiritual, religious beliefs including beliefs that are attributed and associated with material culture: clothing or textiles, which are indigenous
  • Cultural: the ideas, customs, and social behaviours of a particular people or society
  • Social: relating to society or its organization
  • Political: relating to the government or public affairs of a country

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    Original Release Date

    2025-01-20

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    Notes

    • The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.