Behind the Scenes: The Secret Life of Clothes

More work than you think goes into keeping fashion garments in order behind the scenes for fashion exhibitions. Behind the Scenes: The Secret Life of Clothes claims to “give you a rare chance to go ‘behind the scenes’ and get a glimpse of the work done by staff, volunteers and researchers” (Harris Museum, 2013)

If you were to just walk around and not read the wall text, the vibe of the exhibition that of being Behind the Scenes would not be apparent. Albeit when you read them, its lovely and inspiring to read about the members of staff and volunteers, their projects and insights into working in this field. The purpose of the exhibition is to really get into the frame of mind as to what it takes to conserve and preserve fashion, and stop history in its tracks. “We wanted to try to recreate the atmosphere of our stores and show what goes on in there.” Says curator Caroline Alexander. I think you defiantly get the atmosphere that you are in the stock room of somewhere you shouldn’t be. Which I guess is perfect for the ‘Behind the Scenes’ theme.

Considerably more space could be devoted to this exhibition of costume and fabric. Lancashire was the industrial heart of textiles in the 18^th Century and this should be showcased. The absence of that side of the history was to be questioned.  

The glass cabinets are filled to the brim with examples and samples ranging from

fashion plates to jewellery. Subtly integrated with the garments is the storage system that the museum uses for their garments in storage. Maybe it’s just ignorance but again, I found that only after reading the information boards, I could see the links between the display and the behind the scenes.

You can clearly see the time and effort that goes into referencing and numbering every item on display and beyond, but I can’t help but feel the way the cataloguing is shown visually ruins the effect of the display (see fig.1). I feel that with all the creative minds that have come together to put together an exhibition for the design focussed and creative attendees, it wouldn’t have taken much to design a way to clearly reference but make it look visually appealing, rather than using Microsoft Word and a Pritt stick.

Considering the exhibition is an insight into the Harris museum’s hard work and effort, and you can feel the proud vibe when going around the exhibition, the marketing for it is very weak. The show is hidden on the top floor at the back, which is the permanent room for fashion and textiles exhibitions, but I don’t feel like it’s the right room for this particular one. To the left of the exhibition lies the ‘latest exhibition’ room, which holds a Bruce Nauman exhibition, running from 15^th February – 24^th May 2014.  The Nauman exhibition has numerous leaflets and postcards (see fig. 2) compared to the one leaflet that Behind the Scenes has created (see fig. 3).

   

            

                 

I would have loved to see more of how they actually reference and keep the records of the garments in the storerooms, because without that, there would be no Behind the Scenes exhibition. I found an example lying around and found it extremely interesting to see the detail that has to go into referencing and noting every detail of just one piece (see fig.4). It would have been much more interesting having a copy by the corresponding items on display. 

Quite obviously by reading through some of the comments in the visitors book and my personal opinion, the Horrockses collection on display is in fact the most popular.  Given that it is the most well lit display in the exhibition I think that the viewers are automatically drawn to the most vibrant and bright part of the room. That and along with the whole process from illustrations, print making, photography and the garments themselves being all in one space.

The lighting can’t be complimented in all of the displays; some are just too dark to really appreciate the exhibition. I realise that the theme is to create the vibe of being behind the scenes, but we want to see every last detail we can of the garments on display, and with the lighting so dark, its difficult to appreciate the work that goes into it.

Only from reading the visitors book did I realise that the exhibition had a try at being interactive with a changing area, for people to try on some clothes from past-times, with the intention of them to then tweet the images. Also it’s slightly underwhelming to see on the leaflet that the events that go along with the exhibition end on the 5^th March 2014, when the exhibition itself carries on until spring 2015. Maybe some more will be organised throughout the year, but to really grab people’s attention, I personally would have them all sorted for the entire exhibit.

Overall I feel like Behind the Scenes: The Secret Life of Clothes could be a bit more ‘behind the scenes’. The whole exhibition overall was a bit lacklustre and unfinished. For a theme that gives off a very proud vibe that has been constructed and put together by the volunteers and staff at the museum it hasn’t been given much space or publicity.  It could have really been a big break in getting the public interested and appreciative of the hard work that goes on to keep pieces of fabric pristine.  It seems that the display was rushed into and not a huge amount of thought went into some of the pieces on show. Seeing pieces of clothing still in near perfect condition from centuries back is absolutely delightful but to me, behind the scenes has mostly stayed behind the scenes.