Rachel Kelleher
Rachel recently obtained a BFA in History of Art and Design, with a Museum and Gallery Practices Minor. Following graduation and a gap year to gain experience in the field, Rachel hopes to pursue a graduate degree in Fashion and Textiles: History, Theory and Museum Practice, at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Her future career interests include fulfilling a position in collections management for a private or public costume archive. Past internship positions as a Fashion and Textiles Research Assistant for the Peabody Essex Museum and Cataloguing Intern at the Phillips Library Archive provided a deeper perspective on the detailed care that is taken to preserve a collection's garments, as well as the individuals who are responsible for maintaining the objects' longevity. Rachel's love of fashion history stems from past courses taken at Pratt that highlighted how evolving sartorial trends act as important indicators of social, political and economic change. As modes of self expression, the objects we choose to adorn ourselves often reflect the environment and the communities we interact with.
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By Rachel Kelleher
Artist Statement
This thesis analyzes Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s paintings of Jane (Burden) Morris and the dynamics of their collaboration within the context of the emerging new dress style movements and the constructions of female identity in Victorian England. Artistic Dress (with origins as early as 1846) was seen both as a liberation of the female body from heavy corsetry and a celebration of historical notions of natural beauty, which later helped lay the groundwork and fuel the development of sartorial trends incorporated into Aesthetic Dress (more popularized and mass produced in the later half of the nineteenth century, 1880s).

As Jane was an active participant through the selection and design of dresses featured in the paintings, her role has been noted by historian Jan Marsh: “Gabriel valued Jane's contributions and suggestions, not merely because of romantic infatuation but because of their worth; he respected her judgment.” The close companionship formed between the pair in the mid 1860s (the closest association during the years of 1867-1872), with Jane becoming his principal model and active collaborator.

Showing a strong distaste for the “unnatural” shape of modern costume, the artists in the PRB circle preferred to depict clothing truer to the female form. These new styles enabled fluid movement and individual expression, emulating that of Medieval, Renaissance, and Classical dress, with Rossetti acknowledged as the specialist in dress design. The PRB’s sensibilities were close to those of design reformers, and textiles were often featured prominently in their work, with “fluid textures, sensual surfaces, and saturated yet subtle colors,” according to historian Stephen Calloway. Designing garments and finding textile props for the portraits was often a cooperative effort between artist, sitter, and friends. In the painting of Jane, The Blue Silk Dress (1868), letters between her and Rossetti indicate that she was responsible for designing and making the gown. After a dress was utilized as a “costume prop” for a portrait, it soon became incorporated into the daily wardrobe. Jane’s and Rossetti’s work was “thus collaborative; she was a participant rather than the soulful model of Pre-Raphaelite legend.” Credit was given for the stitch patterns that were highly sought after by other PRB members and Marsh even goes on to note that much of Rossetti’s artistic work during their relationship could have been a product of her enthusiasm and assistance. Jane’s designs were revered for their intricacies and originality, and she went on to patent a number of them.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Jane Morris: The Influential Celebration of New Ideals of Dress and Beauty in Victorian England