So you want to be a fashion historian….
Ever since I wrote this for TheAtlantic.com, I’ve had a lot of people contact me wanting to know how to get a job like mine. (No, really, a LOT.) Let me preface this by saying: there’s no single career path to the field of fashion history. Virtually everyone I know in the business has come to it from a different background, with a different goal in mind. What worked for me (or anyone else) won’t necessarily work for you. The good news is: you have a lot of freedom to forge your own path without being required to attend a certain school or get a certain type of degree, experience, or training. And it’s every bit as much fun as it sounds.
First of all, many of us prefer the term “dress history” to “fashion history” because it includes all kinds of dress, not just fashionable dress. By “dress” we mean not only clothes but hair, cosmetics, accessories, underwear, and even posture and the body. That said, I usually identify myself a “fashion historian” because it’s the easiest way to describe what I do to outsiders, and because most of my work does concern fashionable dress as opposed to, say, religious vestments or baseball uniforms. “Costume history” is widely considered old-fashioned and/or misleading, because it suggests theatrical costume or masquerade dress, but many museums still have “costume and textiles” departments, so it’s not going away anytime soon.
Whatever you call our field, the people in it tend to fall into a few different camps. The major careers are curator, conservator, or academic (i.e., a university professor, who teaches as well as publishing research in scholarly books and journals). Other options might include archivist, costume designer, museum registrar, non-university educator, collections manager, re-enactor, or costumed interpreter (think Colonial Williamsburg). And there’s definitely crossover between them. Academics curate, curators write and teach, costumed interpreters and conservators are formidable researchers. I have a PhD and I’ve taught at universities, but I’ve also worked on and off as a curator, and my main activities these days are writing books and journalism and giving public lectures, which makes me a “public historian” more than anything.
Most of these jobs requre a master’s degree or PhD. It really doesn’t matter what you major in as an undergrad, because you’re probably going to have to get a graduate degree eventually. While sewing skills are useful for anyone interested in fashion history, fashion design programs will not prepare you for museum work or give you the historical background you need to succeed as a historian. When I got my MA, there were only a few graduate programs to choose from; I went to the Coutauld Institute of Art, which is the art history school of the University of London, and takes an art historical approach to fashion history. Today, there are many more options; some are more focused on textiles, others on design history, anthropology, or museum/curatorial studies. Graduate program tend to cluster in New York and London, but several universities across the country still have Family and Consumer Science departments, which is usually where you’ll find the fashion historians. They also lurk in Art History, American Studies, Theater, Women’s Studies, Anthropology, and History departments.
Every graduate program is different, and it’s important to do your own research and find the one that meets your individual needs and goals. Remember, too, that things change from year to year, and the loss of a single faculty member or funding source could have a dramatic effect on a program. Talk to current and recent students, not established professionals who have been out of school for a decade or two.
Because hands-on experience is as important as your academic qualifications, I do recommend looking for grad programs that offer internships or on-the-job training as part of the degree. If curatorial work is your goal, look for a school with a collection on site, or a program that partners with local museums or businesses. And don’t go into debt thinking you’ll sail right into a cushy salary after graduation. I’ll be brutally honest: the job market is very, very crowded, and salaries are not great, even for senior curators. In addition to a graduate degree and work experience, you’re going to need a thick skin and a certain amount of hustle. There are FAR more qualified applicants than jobs, and there’s no guaranteed path (or shortcut) to success. You can’t wait around for a job, or you might be waiting forever; you need to make your own opportunities. And that’s going to be true throughout your career, not just at the beginning. Museum hours are long and, even though costume and textile departments tend to attract young women, they are not family-friendly. I left museum work for freelancing when I had kids, because my full-time salary wouldn’t cover day care and there was no part-time option. That’s not a criticism; it’s the economic reality of working in the nonprofit arts sector.
Freelancing has worked out well for me, but ONLY because I had a full-time job for years before I started working for myself. I got a lot of experience and, more importantly, made a lot of contacts who became my clients and cheerleaders. It took me a long, long time to get my freelance income up to the level of my museum salary, and I couldn’t have put in that time if I didn’t have a partner with a “real” job that paid the rent. Freelancing is a great thing to do in addition to your day job or as a part-time alternative once you have established yourself in the field; realistically, though, it’s not something you can do right out of school and support yourself, and it’s difficult to do full time, even with experience and contacts. (That’s true in virtually every industry.) I love the flexibility and variety of freelancing, and it’s given me oportunities to work on projects I would never get to touch if I worked for a single institution. But it’s unpredictable, and it can be difficult to say “no” to projects without burning bridges.
If you want to work in a museum or a university, that means being prepared to go where the jobs are. Some of the best costume collections in the country are in remote villages or decaying industrial cities. But consider this: your entry-level curatorial salary is going to go a lot further in Cleveland or Deerfield than in New York or London. Everyone wants a job at the Met or the V&A, but I have brilliant colleagues doing important, exciting work in places like Phoenix, Providence, Atlanta, Indianapolis, and Richmond. Embrace the opportunity to work with a smaller or less flashy collection where you can develop a wide range of skills and make your mark as a curator. And don’t forget that “museum” work also encompasses historical societies, university museums, historic houses, parks and recreation departments, public and private archives — anywhere costume and textile collections are found.
There are people working in museums without graduate degrees, but it’s becoming harder and harder to advance up the career ladder without them. Experience counts, however, so it’s still possible to work your way up from an intern, volunteer, or curatorial assistant post, at least to a point. But don’t forget that you can be a passionate fashion historian even if it’s not your day job! I can’t emphasize this enough. You can read scholarly books and journals, volunteer with a costume collection, become a museum docent or a re-enactor, write for fashion history publications, follow fashion historians on Facebook and Twitter, and go to exhibitions, conferences, and events without a special degree or a job in the field. YouTube videos, iTunes University lectures, and podcasts bring the graduate school experience to your door. The University of Glasgow even offers a free online course on royal fashion history. You can have all the fun and intellectual stimulation without the student debt or cruddy one-bedroom apartment! And you won’t be alone; lots of people do this. Some of them have retired from the field or changed careers, some just enjoy the subject and have careers in other fields that allow them the time and money to pursue different passions.
More good news: job opportunities are better (and better-paying) for textile conservators, who need a science background as well as a history background, plus sewing skills. If you’re science-y and conservation sounds interesting to you, check out this interview with my colleague Sarah Scaturro on her own career path. There is a desperate shortage of qualified conservators, particularly outside of New York.
Finally, a one-size-fits-all piece of advice that you can act on today: get involved in a professional organization, where you’ll meet your peers (and heroes) and be the first to hear about all the latest fashion history research, job openings, internships, grants, exhibitions, and conferences. Again, you don’t have to be a “professional” to join; amateurs are welcome, and students often get big discounts on membership and events. In fact, this is a great thing to do as an undergraduate, because it’s where you’ll get best sense of what’s really happening in all those graduate programs you’re considering. I’m a longtime member of the Costume Society of America, and it’s been an incredibly worthwhile experience, both personally and professionally. If you live in the UK, join the Costume Society, the Design History Society, or the Association of Dress Historians. If you’re more into flat textiles than dress, you might prefer the Textile Society of America or the UK Textile Society. Some of my colleagues feel more at home in the Popular Culture Association, the College Art Association, the American Studies Association, the American Historial Association, the Court Studies Society, or ICOM, depending on their specialty. For medievalists, there’s MEDATS. If fans are your thing, there’s FANA. Or maybe you just want to hang out with your fellow nerds at Costume College or JASNA. Or all of the above! Many museums also have costume and textile support groups who raise money for the collections and host special events and lectures. Get involved, meet people, and find out what they do and how they do it; it’s the easiest way to figure out how you can do it yourself.