Colouring the nation:A new in-depth study of the Turkey red pattern books in the National Museums of Scotland

The production of Turkey red dyed and printed cottons was a major industry in the west of Scotland, particularly in the mid- to late nineteenth century. Although the extensive works were pulled down in the second half of the twentieth century, our knowledge of this industry is significantly aided by the survival of approximately 200 pattern books, now housed in the National Museums Scotland. These pattern books, examined along with business papers, exhibition catalogues and the Board of Trade Design Registers, are the foundation for a new study into the wider Scottish decorative textile industry. The ongoing examination of these pattern books has shown the variety and longevity of Turkey red dyed and printed patterns, as well as providing insights into wider aspects of the textile industry, including issues of design, manufacture and trade

Looking back and moving forward: the MLitt in Dress and Textile Histories at the University of Glasgow

Fashion studies and dress and textile histories are increasingly popular avenues of study at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in the United Kingdom, and as such there is continuing debate both on how to engage in general with these fields, as well as how institutions in particular can interpret and deliver courses relating to these subjects. This article outlines how the postgraduate MLitt in Dress and Textile Histories at the University of Glasgow developed from previous incarnations at Winchester School of Art and the University of Southampton. It explores some of the challenges faced by institutions and students engaging with fashion studies and dress and textile histories, using the Glasgow MLitt programme as a case study

Weaving the nation : Scottish clothing and textile cultures in the Long Eighteenth century

Clothing and textiles are an important means of communication, providing nuanced signals of economic and social status, occupation, and political affiliation. Consequently the study of clothing and textiles is a valuable approach to the investigation of a past society. Building on current methodological approaches associated with clothing and textile history and the study of material culture, this thesis will investigate how the clothing and textiles of the Scottish population in the long eighteenth century can be interpreted as symbols of wider cultural, social and economic practices. Studies of tartan and Highland dress have dominated the literature on historical Scottish dress and textiles, a result of these items’ intimate connection with modern Scottish identity. This thesis seeks to redress the balance by examining clothing and textiles in both the Highland and Lowland regions, in rural and urban areas, and in the experiences of the elite and non-elite sections of the population. This will be done using multiple and varied sources, including surviving artefacts, portraits, inventories, and contemporary literature. By incorporating quantifiable analysis and qualitative interpretation, this approach complements and adds to existing knowledge of Scottish clothing and textiles. The thesis begins with an examination of the clothing culture, looking at everyday clothing and its use in national, occupational, and political identities. Examination of the textile culture scrutinizes the use of textiles in literature, the economic and ideological approaches to the textile industry, and the practical motivations behind tartan manufacture. The role of ‘fashion’ in Scottish clothing and textile cultures is studied, looking at how outside fashions were received within Scotland, and how Scotland in turn influenced wider fashions. The thesis provides an overview of Scottish dress and textiles in the long eighteenth century demonstrating the importance such investigation can have on the comprehension of the wider social and economic practices of a nation

Artisans and aristocrats in nineteenth-century Scotland

This article considers relationships between artisans and aristocrats on estates and elsewhere in Scotland during the long nineteenth century. It argues that the Scottish aristocracy, and women in particular, were distinctly preoccupied with the craft economy through schemes to promote employment but also due to attachments to ‘romanticised’ local and Celtic identities. Building in part on government initiatives and aristocratic office-holding as public officials and presidents of learned societies, but also sustained through personal interest and emotional investments, the craft economy and individual entrepreneurs were supported and encouraged. Patronage of and participation in public exhibitions of craftwork forms one strand of discussion and the role of hand-made objects in public gift-giving forms another. Tourism, which estates encouraged, sustained many areas of craft production with south-west Scotland and the highland counties providing examples. Widows who ran estates were involved in the development of artisan skills among local women, a convention that was further developed at the end of the century by the Home Industries movement, but also supported male artisans. Aristocrats, men and women, commonly engaged in craft practice as a form of escapist leisure that connected them to the land, to a sense of the past and to a small group of easily identified and sympathetic workers living on their estates. Artisans and workshop owners, particularly in rural areas, engage creatively in a patronage regime where elites held the upper hand and the impact on the craft economy of aristocratic support in its various forms was meaningful

National dress, gender and Scotland: 1745-1822

This paper will investigate the relationship between national identity, dress and gender in Scotland. Two major events in Scottish history, the Jacobite rebellion of 1745 and the visit of George IV to Edinburgh in 1822, will be used as a foundation to demonstrate how the gendered approaches to national dress changed over the course of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This will be done using Jules David Prown's basic methodology for the study of material culture. This involves description, deduction and speculation of surviving artefacts, in this case three garments housed at the National Museum of Scotland

Jim Tomlinson, Dundee and the Empire: ‘Juteopolis’ 1850-1939 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2014. Pp. ix + 222. 12 figs. 15 tabs. ISBN 9780748686148 Hbk. £70)

No abstract available

Material Literacy in Eighteenth-Century Britain: A Nation of Makers, ed. Serena Dyer and Chloe Wigston Smith

No abstract available