The Fashion and Sartorial Documentation Section of the Davia Bargellini Museum of Bologna. History, conservation and exhibition

Abstract

In recent years, the Davia Bargellini Museum of Bologna has set up the Fashion and sartorial documentation section thanks to donations from private donors and tailor shops that have closed down. To date, the core collection consists of documentary materials (fashion sketches, fabric models, patterns, photos from fashion shows, fabric samples, magazines and catalogues), lace and trimmings (finishing touches and entire products), lingerie and linen (personal undergarments and items for the house), and many outfits accompanied by complementary items and accessories (child, male and female accessories) dating from the eighteenth century to the twenty-first century. This contribution, besides defining the context of the fashion and tailoring collection in a museum of applied arts, also illustrates how the section within the museum was formed (history), problems and methods of cataloguing current materials (conservation), and the contents of the first communications to the public (exhibition). The collection highlights the relationship between the designers who created fashion and the local tailors who interpreted the designs which were in vogue. The collection makes it possible to explore the social history and the production of tailor shops seen as the artisan origin of Italian style, or “Made in Italy.”