Beautiful but Deadly: Toxic Fashion and Criminal Dress with Dr. Allison Matthews David

The Photo Detective

Death by outfit isn’t something featured in the game of Clue but it could be. Our ancestors lured to the new bright colors of the nineteenth century wore garments poisoned with arsenic and mercury, perhaps hurrying along their deaths. Not that you’re likely to see that as a cause on a death certificate. These garments continue to be harmful to curators today with long lasting toxins. You’ve probably never thought about fashion history as a dangerous profession, but this episode will change your mind. My guest is a fashion historian who studies toxic fashion and now clothing adaptations worn by a criminal element. Both topics are fascinating glimpses into what our ancestors wore, why they wore them, and the effects of doing so.

Related Episodes:

Episode 72: Wearing the Past: A Modern Woman’s Fascination with Period Dress

Episode 106: French Fashion, World War I and Your Ancestors

Links:

• Fashion Studies
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About My Guest:

Dr. Alison Matthews David is an Associate Professor in the School of Fashion and the Graduate Program Director, MA Fashion, at Ryerson University. She has a PhD from Stanford University, has published on nineteenth-century dress and material culture, and launched the open-access journal Fashion Studies with Dr. Ben Barry in 2018. Her most recent research project, Fashion Victims, looked at how clothing physically harmed the health of its makers and wearers. It was published as a book in 2015, was a co-curated exhibition at the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, and a co-authored book for children 9-12 years old called Killer Style

Her current project, The Fabric of Crime: A Forensic History of Fashion, investigates the theme of crime and clothing as weapon, evidence, and disguise. Exhibit A, the exhibition she is co-curating with Elizabeth Semmelhack at the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto on foot

I'm thrilled to be offering something new. Photo investigations. These collaborative one-on-one sessions. Look at your family photos then you and I meet to discuss your mystery images. And find out how each clue and hint might contribute to your family history. Find out more by going to maureentaylor.com and clicking on family photo investigations.

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