Fashioning the Early Modern: Creativity and Innovation in Europe, 1500-1800 : About

Why did men from Spain to Sweden start to shave their heads and wear someone else’s hair in the mid-seventeenth century? Why did women decide that it was necessary to wear masks and other full-face coverings in public towards the end of the century? What was the economic and social impact of the sudden proliferation of ribbon-making machines?

Funded by the Humanities in the European Research Area (HERA), this project takes fashion seriously, asking the simple question: how and why did certain goods such as wigs, new textiles, ribbons, ruffs and lace become successful in early mod­ern Europe while others failed? How far did these goods travel and how were they transmitted across linguistic, social and ge­ographic borders? These are questions that remain relevant and our project demonstrates how a study of creativity and innovation as an economic and cultural force in the past can help our  understanding of the same issues today.

Project

Theme 1: Fashion Networks, New Technologies, Patents and Protection

Theme 2: The Designer and the Merchant: Names, reputations and the language of innovation

Theme 3: Print Culture and Fashion Products

Theme 4: Social Groups and the Circulation of Fashion

Theme 5: Creative Traditions: Knitting in Europe, 1500-1800