From the production of crafted textiles such as Aran sweaters and crochet to the fostering of innovative International designers such as Sybil Connolly and Philip Treacy, Ireland has made a notable contribution to the global fashion industry on many different levels, despite its marginal geographic position and turbulent history. Yet to date the design, production and consumption of dress and fashion in Ireland has received only modest academic attention.

This special themed issue of Costume dedicated to Irish Dress seeks to present current developments in the study of this under-researched area. We seek papers based on original research in archives and other historical records, artefact collections, and oral histories. We welcome contributions on subjects from any period, from researchers drawn from fields including Anthropology, History of Design, History of Dress, Material Culture, Museum Studies, Visual Culture, Art History, History of Media and Cultural History. Subjects could include critical biographies or case studies of contemporary practitioners or new interpretations of historic subjects such as folk dress or national identity.

Some suggested topics:
Discourse of dress within Irish national identity
The role of textiles within Irish industry
Consumer activism within the Irish market, historic or modern
The discourse between craft and fashion
The role of dress within historic philanthropy
Costume and the Irish film industry
Uniforms and Irish national identity
Performance and the design of dance costume

Please forward enquiries to Dr. Macushla Baudis, baudism.ncad@gmail.com

Submissions, written in English, should be in the form of full papers of between 5000 and 9000 words that adhere to the guidelines of Costume, along with an abstract of 200-300 words and a brief biography of up to 250 words.

‘Instructions for Authors’ and help on how to submit papers can be found at: http://maneypublishing.com/index.php/journals/cos/ or www.costumesociety.org.uk

Papers should be submitted to Dr. Macushla Baudis
(baudism.ncad@gmail.com) and copied to Verity Wilson
(verity.wilson@hoa.ox.ac.uk) by 1 July 2013.

Papers for special issues will be subject to the usual double-blind refereeing and selection procedures of Costume.