Connecting to Collections Care

We are about to start accessioning quite a bit of women's clothing into our collection. We need to get good photos for the catalog records. Since we can't take a photo from high enough up to show the whole dress while it's laid down flat, I'm thinking we should get a dress form to photograph each one on, as long as the material isn't too delicate to take the handling to put it on and take it off the dress form.

Do I need a conservation-quality dress form for just the maybe 45 minutes it's going to take to arrange and photograph each garment? Any tips for photographing full size adult clothing?

We already processed a bunch of children's clothes, but that was straightforward: we just laid them flat on a clean surface and photographed from above.

Hi Carolyn,

Although in an ideal world collections might only ever have contact with the most stable support materials, for the short-term use you describe I don't think I'd prioritize it as the cost difference is likely higher than the potential benefits. As you mention, though, the wear and tear from handling is a separate issue and I would prioritize choosing the forms that will allow the garments to be put on and removed most safely during photography. I would also be careful of unnecessary light and heat exposure, keeping the lights off and/or the garments covered whenever you aren't actively photographing.

The Textile Specialty Group's wiki describes several different support methods for 3D textile artifacts and may include some useful options. It also has some advice for dressing a mannequin. Two C2CC resources on this topic are Mounting Garments for Display and Much Ado about Mannequins. Both focus on display rather than photography, but offer information about customizing mounts that may be relevant to your situation.

Hope this helps, please let me know if you have further questions.

We are about to start accessioning quite a bit of women's clothing into our collection. We need to get good photos for the catalog records. Since we can't take a photo from high enough up to show the whole dress while it's laid down flat, I'm thinking we should get a dress form to photograph each one on, as long as the material isn't too delicate to take the handling to put it on and take it off the dress form.

Do I need a conservation-quality dress form for just the maybe 45 minutes it's going to take to arrange and photograph each garment? Any tips for photographing full size adult clothing?

We already processed a bunch of children's clothes, but that was straightforward: we just laid them flat on a clean surface and photographed from above.