The National CollegePhD Research
Macushla Goacher
'The design of embroidery for costume in the late 18th century'
Eighteenth-century costume is noted for its opulence and elegance, the result of the successful synergy of art, craft and culture. Embroidery embellishment was a significant element of eighteenth-century dress, reaching the height of creativity and excellence during the second half of the century. This was particularly true for men's costume, which displayed a colourful splendour often outshining contemporary female dress.
My research is based around an unpublished collection of surviving designs for embroidery dating to the 1780s. Of French origin, these watercolours are of the highest quality in execution and concept, and display the hand of several different artists. They are mostly designs for embroidery for men's formal coats and waistcoats. Centring on this collection, my thesis has two key purposes: 1) to make a significant contribution to the existing body of knowledge of European eighteenth-century costume design by investigating the little-researched area of embroidery and costume; and 2) to illustrate the close relationship between fashion, art and culture which existed during the eighteenth-century.
This research will combine object-based study (in the form of surviving garments and embroidery-samples of the period) with visual source-material (paintings, drawings, caricatures, etc). To assess the evolution of design and the relationship with art, this collection of embroidery-designs will be set against the perspective of mainstream trends taking place in the Visual Arts during the 1770s and 1780s. This detailed stylistic study will be combined with an exploration of subject-matter appearing in embroidery for costume and will likewise chart the development of fashion and trends in embroidery decoration. The exploration of the role and practice of the embroidery-designer is equally fundamental to this study. Comparing this group of watercolours with the few similar surviving designs for costume-embroidery may lead to the identification of the artists concerned, and contribute to the body of learning concerning the instruction, creative-process and production of artists/designers working within this area in different countries, including Ireland.
The subject-matter and style of these embroidery designs for costume, and their transference from artistic conception to material representation, will be seen as a reflection of the cultural function of costume - that is, as a means of expression of the interests and values of both the individual and of society as a whole.
