Textiles and Costume

This chapter introduces the topic of The Fabric of Performance, provides an overview of each chapter and contextualises the broader research landscape within which the study sits, explaining the reasoning for developing the research as a publication while acknowledging other relevant works in this field. The introduction also explores the issues around researching three-dimensional objects using two-dimensional primary and secondary sources, and the benefits of being able to access extant artefacts to enable a tangible material culture approach to the inquiry. Finally, the potential impact of the work and its prospective contribution to the intersective research fields of costume, textiles and performance is addressed.