About
Our digital library shows the representation of music through fashion found in album covers and other types of ephemera. Music has evolved over the years and will continue to evolve with the constant changes in cultural values, religious & political affiliations, and the socio-economic status of the era. In addition, it goes without saying that music is one of many cultural barometers that reflect these various shifts. One medium in particular that receives no consideration whatsoever is album cover fashion and artwork. Although the music itself is important, the representation of musical artists through the medium of fashion not only helps fans to identify a particular cultural shift or time period, but leaves an indelible mark on the memories of the music fan. Motivated by this notion, our team decided to explore fashion as an indicator for how musical artists of the past wanted to express themselves to society.
Mission:
As music and fashion inspire each other, “Representation of Fashion in Music Ephemera” aims to archive, display, educate, and organize media in the form of a digital repository. Objects will illustrate fashion found in music memorabilia and exemplifies connections between history, music, and textiles.
Goals:
- To create a digital library that explores fashion in musical ephemera in popular music from the last 100 years
- To bring together groups of music fans through the representations of fashion in music in a way that is fun, engaging, and sustainable through high standards for digitization, preservation, and metadata
- To create an interface that is aesthetically pleasing, but also accessible for a wide variety of users across various age groups and backgrounds (in other words, our users will be as diverse as music fans themselves!)
- To maintain high standards for metadata and description that adhere to best practices for musical and digital description.
- To follow digitization standards that will enhance our collection
Creators:
Xiara Acosta, Emily Allemen, Andrew Bongbonga, Arianne Johnson Quinn, Dahlia Thomas