‘Strike a pose’ is a very common expression in fashion, referring to the idea of ‘posing’ in front of the objective of a photographer. However, posing is not something we find just in fashion editorials; it is a sort of acting, performed by people in many portraits and photographs.

Group portrait of three girls in an outdoor environment in Lima, Dalarna, 1925-35, Courtesy Stiftelsen Nordiska Museet

These ‘representations’ are less directly linked to the fashion system; nevertheless, they have the capability to convey information about the complex and ever-changing relationship between people and their dress, identity and sartorial choices. Photographic portraits are fascinating as they are enigmatic. They are testimonies, incredibly valuable sources to study, understand and appreciate fashions and styles of the past, as they were interpreted and lived by people in their everyday.

Portrait of Mina Hadzi Paskovic dressed as a gipsy woman, 1931, Courtesy Museum of Applied Art, Belgrade

Looking at these materials, we can analyse customs and manners, even the personalities and attitudes of the people ‘captured’ in the shoots; why are they wearing those clothes? How did they pick them, and what do they mean for them? What do the clothes say about the time in which the photograph was taken, and about class, social status, history more generally? Every photograph tells a particular story, freezes a moment and allows us to actually see the way in which clothes were used and styled in real life: dresses and accessories are like props, and their very use, shown in the photos, becomes the material memory.

Portrait of a couple in the countryside of Lima, Dalarna, 1925-35, Courtesy Stiftelsen Nordiska Museet

Most of the times though, it is very difficult to be able to grasp the full story just by looking at a photograph. The relationship between a person and the clothes chosen for that photo is so intimate and linked to personal experiences, that it is hard to tell the real reason why that particular dress was selected to be immortalised in the photograph. Under this respect, the photograph in itself is a designed object, controlled in every part; it speaks about the character of the sitter, his or her way to be presented and to be remembered, and this is its most beguiling characteristic. Small details – the length of a skirt, the fit of a jacket or a dress, the expression of comfort or discomfort of the sitter, his or her position – are the hints to read between the lines and built a deeper and fascinating understanding of the story behind this alternative example of ‘paper fashion’.

The Europeana Fashion portal holds many of these precious objects: those presented alongside this article are but a few. Search our collection to find out more about these alternative ways of ‘seeing through clothes’.