Online Workshop: Global Dress and Migration in History

The 'Global Dress and Migration in History' workshop will explore the history of migration through the lens of dress in a global dimension.

-- This workshop will be held online and is open and free. Details on access via Zoom will be sent out prior to the workshop. The keynote lecture will be delivered by Aanchal Malhotra. See the complete schedule below. --

Throughout history and up to contemporary times, people have migrated for a variety of reasons, to seek economic stability, educational and professional opportunities, to accompany their spouses and families, or to flee natural disasters, discrimination, persecution and violent conflicts. During and following migration, significant changes occur. Migrants are confronted with previously unknown climate conditions that require them to dress differently from what they are used to. With dress habits and norms differing between the countries of origin and new 'homeland', dynamics of inclusion and excusion are often expressed, felt and perceived in the sphere of dress and appearance.

Experiences are as diverse as the migrants' backgrounds and motivations but always marked by hierarchies between the Global North and the Global South, rural and urban spaces, and according to social class, gender, and definitions of race and ethnicity. The migrants' experiences upon their arrival marked by dynmaics of inclusion, exclusion, integration and adaption are equally diverse and differ along the criteria mentioned. With this workshop, we aim to explore these themes and dynamics through the lens of dress in historical and global perspective.

Papers will explore the themes including networks and communities; approaches to primary sources; skills and knowledge; migrant experiences; fashion, style and taste; and intangible cultural heritage.

The workshop is organised by Dr Svenja Bethke (University of Leicester) and Dr Eliza McKee (National Archives London) in collaboration with Leicester Museums and Galleries, funded by the Arts Humanities and Research Council (AHRC) as part of Svenja Bethke's AHRC Research, Development and Engagament Fellowship (2023-2026).

Note: All times in GMT

10.30am-11am: Opening and introduction

Svenja Bethke (University of Leicester) and Eliza McKee (The National Archives, UK) – Dress and Migration in History

Mark Simmons (Leicester Museums and Galleries) – The Local and the Global: Leicester Museum’s Dress Collection

11am-12.30pm: Panel 1 – Networks and Communities

Bethan Bide (University of Leeds) and Lucie Whitmore (Museum of London) – Crossing paths: How intersecting migrant communities collaborated to make fashion in London’s East End in the 1960s and 1970s

Jessica Amoako-Acheampong (University of Leicester) – The development of Black consciousness style in 1970s Britain

Stephanie Bode (Augsburg University) – ‘Deux filles qui avoient pris l’habit de garçon…’: Cross-dressing Huguenots on their escape from prosecution

12.30-1.30pm: Lunch break

1.30pm-3pm: Panel 2 – Approaches to Primary Sources

Azizah Alawusa (Toronto Metropolitan University) – Identity and migration networks in the Yoruba and Hausa clothing cultures: The history of twin robes

Elizabeth Kutesko (Central Saint Martins) – Transnational fashion on the frontier: Migration and modernities in the Brazilian Amazon

Alexis Walker (McCord Stewart Museum) – The Kul-e-Tuk parka: Inuit cultural appropriation, settler Canadian identity and Montreal’s garment manufacturing industry

3-3.30pm: Coffee break

3.30-5pm: Panel 3 – Experiences

Faith Cooper (Independent/Asian Fashion Archive) – Transformations and perceptions of dress: Navigating the early Chinese American female immigrant experience

Megan McAuley (Maynooth University) – ‘We were all barefooted, we had our boots in our bundles’: The ‘bundle’ and children’s seasonal migratory labour in rural Ireland, c. 1870-1950

Joelle Firzli (Independent) – Seashells of identity: The cultural and fashion evolution of Cowrie shells through migration and trade

11am-12.30pm: Panel 4 – Skills and Knowledge

Liz Tregenza (London College of Fashion) – ‘Do you consider him to be a fit addition to the British nation?’: Exploring twentieth century fashion businesses through naturalisation records

Premalatha Karupiah (University of Sains Malaysia) – From sarees to sarongs: a qualitative study of the everyday attire of Malaysian Indian women over seventy years old

Kelsey Akers (University of Amsterdam) – Fashion and agency: Reclaiming identity in Jewish displaced persons camps in post-war Europe 1945-1952

12.30pm-1.30pm: Lunch break

2.30pm-3.30pm: Panel 5 – Fashion, Style and Taste

Besim Can Zirh (Middle East Technical University) and Ina Hagen-Jeske (Augsburg University) – Building transnational bridal dress markets in between Turkey and Germany: From guestworkers to fashion entrepreneurs

Daniel de las Heras (Pratt Institute) – Transcultural fashion: The influence of migration in Denma Gvasalia’s designs

3.30pm-4pm: Coffee break

4pm-5.30pm: Panel 6 – Intangible Cultural Heritage

Silvana Nini (Center for Research and Publications on Arbëresh) – The case of the loss of men’s traditional dress among the Arbëresh, the Historic Albanian Diaspora

Wafa Ghnaim (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) – The Thobe of the Palestinian diaspora: the emergence of new styles (mid to late 20th century)

Michelle McVicker (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) – Rearticulating the “Imagined Mexican Landscape” of Olvera Street

5.30-5.45pm: Closing Remarks

Event Venue

Online