Tracking Circus Costume Silhouette Changes Through Time: Visual Archival Research for Functional Apparel Design

Abstract

Introduction/BackgroundCircus artists are performers with specific costume needs determined by their acts. (Bicât, 2012). Due to the extreme physicality of their movements and body impact with their various apparatus and/or act partners, it is necessary to devote particular attention to the functional aspects of design in the development of their costumes. As a result, information is needed for the designer to make appropriate decisions about the silhouette, materials, and construction of the garments. While industry training can provide useful hands-on experience, it is not possible for all costume designers and technicians to have access to this type of instruction. Hence, it is important to develop knowledge resources in this area. One of the methods through which this knowledge can be explored is to utilize archival resources for the purpose of functional apparel design research. In this way, historical artefacts can be used as information sources for designers -from photographs and videos to physical garments, circus materials act as valuable primary references in the design research process. As physical circus costumes may be difficult to access in person, visual materials such as photographs, videos, and circus show programs can be used as references to 1) track changes in circus costume silhouettes through time and 2) develop circus costume design research garments. Thus, the objectives of the present research project were to explore the phenomenon through thematic visual analysis of historical resources, and to use the resultant information in the development of design research garments for a future study involving wear tests with circus professionals. The following research questions were raised: How have circus costume silhouettes changed over time? How can circus costumes be developed through the use of historical, visual archive resources such as photographs, show programs, and video? What are the benefits and limitations of using only visual resources in this process? Process The positioning of the researcher includes their experience in both circus costume design and fashion history. Through the lens of functional apparel design practice, the research project was devised as a way to 1) explore how photographs, show programs, and video can be used to track the historical progression of circus costume, and 2) develop design research garments, which can be used in future functional design wear testing by trained circus performers. To explore the phenomenon, the project was divided into two parts: historical visual artefact reference analysis, and design research garment development.Hundreds of circus performer photographs and circus show programs were accessed through the John and Mable Ringling Museum Archives. Viewing over 100 years' worth of images accompanied by knowledge of fashion history provides interesting historical contextwhereas female circus performers were wearing corsets while performing in the 1800s, corsets in2020 Proceedings Virtual Conference