Fashion as a Work of Art: The Valuation of Costume in the Museum World

The argument of whether fashion is art has long been disputed. The perception that fashion is a commercial medium and its relationship with art in the commercial realm has tainted its valuation as an art form. That said, a number of major museums have costume departments and regularly organize exhibitions that attract record numbers of visitors. With costume at the lower end of the museum hierarchy and costume exhibitions attracting large crowds, what is the role of the costume collection in today's encyclopedic museum? The purpose of this study is to analyze the roles that costume collections play within the context of major encyclopedic museum collections in order to understand their standing within the hierarchy of the museum, their priority within the offerings of the institution and their possible influence on the future of museum operation. From an arts administration perspective, my goal is to see whether we arts administrators may learn anything from the manner in which costume collections are managed and presented.