Creating variety without waste
New paper in CHANGE
The paper looks at the acquisition and use of clothes in the period of 1780–1850 to understand how variety was achieved and to discuss whether historical research can inform today’s debate on clothing and the environment. Three researchers from Norway and Sweden with in-depth knowledge of clothing during that period look at their material through questions based on current clothing and sustainability discourse, provided by the last two authors. The paper explores how ideas of variety were created and practised before the big changes in the second half of the nineteenth century.
Despite strong limitations in terms of regulations for trade, strict dress codes, expensive textiles and a restricted economy, variety was achieved among women and men of different social strata in the two countries. An important prerequisite was that the fabrics themselves were seen as valuable and durable, while the shape, trimmings, accessories and the like could be varied. Buying new, ready-made clothes was not yet an option. Access to clothes and accessories was an intricate web involving both caring, sharing (lending, renting, inheritance and shared access) and alterations done by amateurs and professionals. The wardrobe was a well-planned system with movement between occasions and over time, consisting of clothes with different functions and temporalities.
The present debate, with an emphasis on circular economy solutions and the industry as the main stakeholder, overlooks clothing as a complex cultural and historical phenomenon and the importance of the crucial informal economy around clothing. Variety in clothes can be achieved in much less resource-intensive ways by focusing on more valuable fabrics.
The work on the article was an attempt to explore new ways of collaboration between researchers with deep historical knowledge and researchers working on contemporary clothing habits and the environmental debate. We need to explore such methods of working to better activate the wealth of possibilities the past can offer in a time when more and more resources are being spent on clothing, while we are becoming increasingly similarly dressed. We thank our co-authors Marie, Bjørn Sverre, and Pernilla for the trust they showed in believing in our proposal to use their knowledge in new ways.
You can find the article here (intellectdiscover.com).