Tailored Trades: Clothes, Labour and Professional Communities (1880-1939)

This network investigates how labour and clothes influenced the organisation of professional communities in Britain (1880-1939). It was founded on the hypothesis that the interrelated histories of clothes and labour were central to group identity formation within emerging structures of industrial capitalism. Institutional and operational changes in the clothing industry (e.g. accelerated modes of production, Taylorism, Fordism) facilitated mass-production of less individualised and cheaper clothing that could be distributed to growing numbers of consumers through department stores, co-operative societies and mail order companies. The increased uniformity of these ready-to-wear clothes helped to establish and shape communal identities for professionals (e.g. textile workers, soldiers, medical practitioners, shop girls, clerks). For those within these groups, this uniformity of dress could assist in strengthening group identities and thus facilitate attempts to gain political representation (e.g. trade unions, suffragettes, young wage earners and new workers). At the same time, clothes and other sartorial markers assisted in indicating and establishing hierarchies within professional communities. In the context of the increased professionalisation of British society after 1880, clothes obtained a wide range of complex cultural meanings in relation to group identity politics. Network activities address the still under-researched question of how clothes contributed to shaping professional communities in the time before the British war effort curtailed consumption in an unprecedented manner in 1939 (e.g. rationing, fair share). In doing this, our research aims to challenge academic debates focusing exclusively on the role of clothing as commodities or as markers of individual identity. We anticipate that the network's interdisciplinary approach, the planned collaboration with the listed cultural heritage institutions as well as our aim to engage the public in current academic debates will generate radically new ways of studying the history of professionalisation, the socio-psychological underpinnings of identity politics as well as the semiotics of material culture.

The rationale of the proposed research is built directly into the network's structure. Necessary to the project is the exchange of knowledge across different subjects in the humanities (literary criticism, social and economic history as well as fashion and design history). Themed academic workshops (Dress: Art and Industry; Working with Textiles; Uniforms and Identity; Women, Clothes and the New Workforce) and public outreach events systematically work towards the organisation of a conference on Clothes, Working Lives and Social Change (1880-1939). Moreover, the network's focus on material artefacts (especially textiles and fabrics) requires collaboration with our two partner institutions (Bishopsgate Institute and People's History Museum) that hold extensive archives and collections related to working lives connected to the British textile industry. The location of both partner organisations is of strategic importance to the success of the network. The Bishopsgate Institute is situated in a community with strong historical ties to the East London garment industry. The People's History Museum in Manchester reflects the history of the Manchester cotton and textile industry. It also houses the Labour History Archive containing unique collections from the labour movement (including trade unions and the co-operative movement) as well as one of Britain's only Textile Conservation Studios - repositories pivotal to the proposed research. The concluding network conference benefits from collaboration with the John Lewis Partnership, a retail business operating as a worker co-operative. Its rich Cummersdale Design and Textile Collection will be the base for future research projects aiming to strengthen links among academic scholars, the cultural sector and the wider public.

The outward-facing nature of network events will promote public understanding of a neglected aspect of Britain's cultural heritage, connect people in Manchester and the East End of London to their local culture and history and actively encourage public participation in the development of a debate that can contribute to the analysis of modern professional existence. Network events will also bring substantial benefits to the affiliated cultural heritage institutions and strengthen links between academic and cultural sectors with the view to generate future collaborative research that will have academic and public impact.

Partnership with the external organisations Bishopsgate Institute and the People's History Museum (PHM) as well as the John Lewis Partnership (JLP) will consolidate the network's impact on both a local and national level. Our two school days at the Bishopsgate Institute that are to run in concert with the delivery of two public lectures (given by PI and CI respectively) are central to this engagement plan. Focusing on the theme "The Worst Trades in London: The Textile Industry", they will draw on the Institute's rich archival holdings thereby assisting in making these available to secondary school students. Moreover, the creation of a "memory booth" for the recording of historical testimonies from East-London residents familiar with the local textile industry will actively assist in supplementing and enriching the existing archival provision at the Bishopsgate Institute by preserving these as a source for future researchers and interested parties. The creation of wikis (created by Exeter IT services in collaboration with PI, CI and curators in both partner organisations) that draw on material from the collections of both partner organisations will further assist in publicly sharing the network's research findings as well as showcasing archival provisions through the strategic use of social media. The final network conference benefits from the involvement of representative from the JLP who will assist in conceptualising the scope and content of the event. PI and CI are currently discussing strategies for future research collaboration with the JLP that will exploit the rich but underused archival provision in the organisation's Cummersdale Textile and Design Archive.

Engaging the interest and support of local history groups and learned societies in London and Manchester will further consolidate the network's impact by raising its regional and national profile. To facilitate future network links, we will invite members of the East London History Society, the Manchester Branch of the Historical Association, Salford Local History Society, the Working Class Movement Library (Salford) and other interested groups and organisations to participate in network events.

Using Exeter's and Northumbria's Knowledge-Transfer and Media Services, we will publicise our discussions and debates to a wide audience. A network website (created by Exeter IT services, maintained by PI and assistant) will include working papers by workshop participants, empirical date (images of textiles, artefacts, historical records), links to resources provided by project partners (podcasts, wikis) and a notice board for discussion and feedback. We will liaise with academic societies (Institute for Historical Research, Society for the Study of Labour History, East London History Society, Manchester Branch of the Historical Association, Economic History Society, Social History Society, Pasold Reserach Fund, Costume Society, Textile Society), Working Class Movement Library and campaign groups and trade unions (e.g. USDAW). Network details will be advertised on websites, newsletters and journals of these organisations and on those of our project partners.