Well, not clothes, necessarily. But accessories are usually included in with whatever that unwieldy word “fashion” includes, and are often places to find unique and interesting materials. I saw some interesting examples at the Museum of Bags and Purses* in Amsterdam:
Armadillo purse
Crocodile purse
Leopard purse
Lizard purse & shoes
Toad purse & shoes
Elephant purse
Ivory purses
Tortoiseshell purses
Straw purses (and a walnut!)
For the record, I’m pretty grossed out by a lot of these choices of materials, but I do think they are interesting from the perspective of fashion being a place to advertise your wealth, status, and technological innovation. And from a conservator**’s standpoint, having this wide variety of objects in a collection could pose some interesting challenges.
*If you know me at all, you know that a Purse Museum is not high on my list of destinations. I’m more of a “oh, I assumed you were the intern” backpack kind of girl. My favorite thing in the museum was this super cool men’s shirt collar travel box:
The materials are pretty special, and I love the fact that I have a hard time dating some of the objects. Although some of the materials are off-putting, I wonder about how the feel and how hardwearing they are. Interesting.