A methodological approach to the materiality of clothing: Wardrobe studies

TLDR

The material of clothing is an active element in practice, grounded in practice theory, and recent dress/fashion studies highlight both the limitations of individual methods and the potential of combined approaches. The authors propose a new methodological approach—wardrobe studies—to foreground the materiality of clothing in research. Wardrobe studies analyze how garments relate to each other within the whole or parts of a wardrobe, enabling a holistic material analysis.

Abstract

The material is not just ‘a carrier’ of different types of symbols, but an active element in the practices. Bringing this to the fore requires new research methods. This article discusses a methodological approach, we call it a wardrobe study, which allows for the analysis of the way in which clothes relate to each other on the whole or within parts of the wardrobe. More specifically, we discuss how this method can contribute to increasing the materiality of clothes studies. The theoretical point of departure for this approach is a practice theory in which the material enters as an integral part. First, the article briefly discusses developments within the study of dress and fashion. Second, the methods combined and developed in wardrobe studies are discussed. The emphasis here is primarily not only on the weaknesses of the individual methods in practice-oriented dress studies, but also on how they jointly can contribute to the wardrobe study.