Michelle Mcvicker of the MA Fashion Studies program has been enjoying her time working as the Collections Management Assistant in The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, a position that she took on while finishing up classes for the MAFS program last spring. Check out her reflective essay below for more details on her job, her interest in fashion museology, and her time at ADHT!

My interest in Fashion Museology began in 2008, after shadowing the exhibition building for ‘Chic Chicago: Couture Treasures from the Chicago History Museum’. In the summers of 2014 and 2015, I participated in conservational archiving, labeling, photographing and storing of fashion garments as a Collections Management intern. These hands-on experiences paired with my instruction through the MA Fashion Studies program provided both a theoretical and object-based framework that I use to further investigate ‘Fashion.’

While at Parsons, I was also a Graduate Teaching Assistant for two undergraduate courses, “History of Fashion” and “Intro to Fashion Studies.” Teaching was one of the most rewarding experiences of my Masters degree, allowing me to concretize fashion history for emerging fashion designers. With my thesis, I aim to disrupt the extraordinary and perfect beauty that permeates contemporary fashion museology through a discursive approach of the main ingredients of Clothing: the Garment and the Body.

In my current role as Collections Management Assistant in The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, I am part of a team responsible for preparing and executing the return of The Costume Institute’s Collection to renovated storage facilities. Working with world-renowned garments within the Collection – inspecting their construction and materials – has been extremely rewarding and has further emphasized my belief in pairing fashion theory and practice.

I believe the role of the art museum is to provide visitors with an engaging experience that incorporates the diversity, multicultural histories, and realities of our present. Given the evolution in my own career path, I am passionate about exposing young people of all backgrounds to creative careers in museums, specifically within Fashion Museology.