What is the Point and Future of Fashion Studies for the Museum?

Over the past decades the interest and rise of fashion studies internationally has spawned many new graduate programmes and a greater interest in fashions within the museum. What is the criteria that constitutes authenticity of a degree in fashion studies and how is this measured and is it useful in the age of Instagram? Do these programmes, or should they, prepare individuals for the how to request and conduct research in the museum? Should they introduce the reality of museum work that is more than the popular notion of curating blockbuster exhibits, a practice that is much mythologized? Why are textiles largely absent?

This paper considers the future of fashion studies within the context of the day to day requirements of museum work with its escalating demands for accessibility, both physical and digital, and the conflicting demands of monies, staff time and multiple types of expertise that managing fashion and textiles in the museum demands (coupled generally with low pay). It will identify and address some gaps, cautions and potential collaborations, in educating future scholars and potential curators for tomorrow’s museums within the context of the sameness and differences of fashion/s.