Gilded Age Legacies: Textiles, Consumption, and Environmental Afterlives
Join Ocean Hour Farm for the first in a 3-part series about fiber literacy and sustainable fashion.
What lies beneath the glamour of the Gilded Age, and how has it shaped what we wear today? This talk examines the enduring impact of the Gilded Age on contemporary fashion and textile culture, tracing connections between nineteenth-century excess and today’s systems of fast fashion, consumption, and waste. Moving beyond the era’s surface glamour, it considers the hidden histories embedded in clothing, including labor, extraction, and what conservators term “inherent vice,” the material tendency of textiles to change, decay, and transform over time. Drawing on examples from the RISD Museum’s collections, Kate Irvin reframes wear, aging, and repair not as loss, but as opportunities for storytelling and renewed connection to our clothing, while highlighting slow fashion, mending, and circular approaches as throughlines to...
Join Ocean Hour Farm for the first in a 3-part series about fiber literacy and sustainable fashion.
What lies beneath the glamour of the Gilded Age, and how has it shaped what we wear today? This talk examines the enduring impact of the Gilded Age on contemporary fashion and textile culture, tracing connections between nineteenth-century excess and today’s systems of fast fashion, consumption, and waste. Moving beyond the era’s surface glamour, it considers the hidden histories embedded in clothing, including labor, extraction, and what conservators term “inherent vice,” the material tendency of textiles to change, decay, and transform over time. Drawing on examples from the RISD Museum’s collections, Kate Irvin reframes wear, aging, and repair not as loss, but as opportunities for storytelling and renewed connection to our clothing, while highlighting slow fashion, mending, and circular approaches as throughlines to more conscious consumption.
Kate Irvin is Curator and Head of Costume and Textiles at the RISD Museum, where she oversees a global collection of more than 35,000 objects spanning from 1500 BCE to the present. Her work bridges historical research, contemporary practice, and experimental approaches to how we experience and understand fashion and textiles.
Our address is 152 Harrison Ave, Newport, RI 02840. Please ensure you stay on Harrison Ave. Some GPS systems will route you to the Beacon Hill Road entrance, but this gate will not open. The Harrison Ave gate will be open on the day of the tour. Please proceed straight down the paved driveway.
Where can we park?
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You cannot park on Harrison Avenue and will need to park on-site. We will allow cars to enter starting 15 minutes before the event, and staff will direct you to the designated parking area. Please carpool whenever possible. Parking spaces on-site are limited.
Can we come early or stay late?
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Since this is a working farm, all guests must be accompanied by a staff member. This tour is offered when we have dedicated staff available to accompany guests.