wirewhathowandwhy

Another wonderful day at MEAL - as ever it has provided a space for deliberation and eventually a number of solutions to some of the issues that I've been battling with. Three bonnets, one with structure provided with miniature pleating, one with string held within the fabric - an exciting example of cording - the other with wire providing structure but also with some parts of it becoming an element of decoration.
This all connects with the structure of a corset I've seen at the costume museum in Norwich and demonstrates how to bring physical stiffness to the fabric experiments I've been working on so far. 
Adding structural internal 'scaffolding' is a whole area so I’ll have to really consider if this is a direction that the project should/could go.
Time and reflection whilst physically being with the objects in the collection enables links to flow - fixings and the leather work in both a leather corset and the gaiters today have highlighted the detective storytelling that I have engaged in - the 'what is this for' element of the looking.  
Attempting to work out what the objects do, how they work or which elements function in what ways has become an unexpected element of the project. Which in turn highlights how little one knows about the everyday of the past.