Dictionary Dressings : Re-Reading Clothing Definitions Towards Alternative Fashion Perspectives

Dictionary Dressings is a research project by Femke de Vries that uses the nature of the dictionary definition as a "zero condition" for a piece of clothing to decode clothes and explore an alternative fashion vocabulary.

Dictionary definitions are constructed to be factual and rational and as a consequence the entries for items of clothing show no reference to the ephemeral or immaterial character of fashion. They describe the characteristics of the items, their use, and their relation to the body but never mention fashion or style. Take the Dutch definition of a glove for example: "Handschoen: bekleding van de hand" (literally translated into English as Glove: covering of the hand). Since a hand can be covered by putting it in a pocket, by bandaging it or by sitting on it, the definition allows a pair of trousers or a bandage to be interpreted as a glove they cover the hand and so adhere to the definition. It is exactly this particular nature of the definitions of clothing that forms the foundation and very structure of Dictionary Dressings as a research project and an emerging design approach.

In this project artist and researcher Femke de Vries brings together designers, researchers and students to explore the opportunities of the approach. The experiments, references, materializations and translations of these formal definitions have contributed to the development of an open space for experiment that facilitates hybrid, fluid ways of reading, seeing, defining and making. The approach has emerged as a playing field for fashion without any hierarchy between experienced and amateur makers, no set outcomes or conclusions, that, most importantly, generates inclusive modes of production.