Faculty Publications

A Framework For Assessing Military Dress Authenticity In Civil War Reenacting

Document Type

Article

Keywords

Authenticity, Civil war, Reenacting, Reenactors

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Clothing and Textiles Research Journal

Volume

19

Issue

4

First Page

145

Last Page

157

Abstract

In the United States, hobby organizations participate in the public reenactment of historical events. The most popular is Civil War reenacting, which can be viewed as a manifestation of the unresolved nature of that war. Interpretation of reenacting has high potential for exploring American sensibilities. Among reenactors, the quest for historical authenticity is considered a core value. To that end, it was the intent of this research to develop a framework to assess the authenticity of reenactor's period military dress. Analysis of dress authenticity is a vehicle for understanding the underlying motivations of participants in the hobby. Demonstrated in the form of a conceptual model, authenticity can be viewed in terms of variables that either contribute to or detract from it. From construction of authenticity, cues can be discerned regarding individual responses to social and cultural conflict. Variation from the authentic can be indicative of the underlying implications of reenactor dress.

Department

Department of Design, Family and Consumer Sciences

Original Publication Date

1-1-2001

DOI of published version

10.1177/0887302X0101900401

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