CFP: The Economy of Dress and Textiles: Avenues of Trade, Production and Consumption in the Early Modern Period

Call for Papers: The Economy of Dress and Textiles:  Avenues of Trade, Production and
Consumption in the Early Modern Period
University of Bologna, Dipartimento di Storia Culture e Civiltà, San
Giovanni in Monte, Bologna, Italy, September 15, 2016
Deadline: Apr 30, 2016

The cloth and textile market is of central importance to the late
medieval and early modern economy. Trade routes, centres of production
and patterns of consumption were determining factors that stimulated
the influx of luxury cloth and textiles into established fashion and
textile markets, while second-hand garments developed their own
trajectory. Being sold at auctions and dealer shops, they sometimes
enjoyed a second life and were often refashioned. The entire cost
related to the fashioning of a garment, which comprised the purchase of
raw materials and tailoring expenses, is a reflection of the journey
and provenance of the relevant textiles, furs and haberdashery prior to
their shaping and consumption. In turn, the respective markets for both
low-end and high-end goods also played an important role in social and
cultural life, as the cost, display and representations of dress
emphasised the wealth and social and political status of the wearer.
The conference aims to generate a discussion about the economy of dress
and textiles in relation to the connection between trade, production,
consumption and the cost and status of low-end and high-end goods in
the late medieval and early modern periods.

PhD students and early career researchers are invited to speak about
the economy of dress and textiles from a variety of perspectives in
order to build a more complete picture of their journey both literal
and figurative from raw materials to fully fledged garments that
sometimes get refashioned.

Submission: potential speakers are invited to submit as a
single document: (1) a 300-word paper abstract, which should include
the main question of the research project, (2) a paper title, (3) a
brief curriculum vitae, (4) institutional affiliations and (5) contact
information to the Dressing the Early Modern Network at
info@dressingtheearlymodern.com

Each speaker will be allotted twenty minutes. The deadline for
submissions is 30 April 2016. Notification of the outcome will be
advised by e-mail on or before 15 May 2016.

Please note that funding is not provided for this event, so
participants will be required to fund and arrange their own travel and
accommodations.