Memórias costuradas: o traje da noiva em fotografias de casamento (1920-1969).

Abstract

This work brings as its initial reference a classical play of Brazilian theater, by Nelson Rodrigues, “The Wedding Dress”, analyzing the history of the emergence of fashion as a field of knowledge. Clothing is intended in this text to emphasize the symbolic meaning of clothing, as a document, as an information support. Assuming that clothing and, above all, the one that is emblematic for a social rite determinant for private life, especially, women's clothing, can be ordered, stored and recovered as a source in the symbolic field of clothing. The study of dress practices takes determining factors into account, such as culture, social and economic factor, etc. During the writing, such statements are supported by the studies of renowned authors, for this reason, it is observed that dressing habits reflect the historical character of the clothing, and that the apparel has much to say about the way of life of the subjects. This research is justified by working with this theme, because it is believed in the relevance of research and understanding of clothing - here, in particular, the wedding dress - as a fundamental research methodology for the evolution of the academic study of fashion, clarifying, thus, the way clothes have been neglected in historiography. The work developed here descant on the investigation of the relation of the wedding dress with the woman and the wedding rite, through photographs, as well as proposes to work on the concept of fashion as a social phenomenon, crossing its symbolic condition with its inherent industrial and marketing nature. We opted to work with the photographic record, due to its legibility over the years as a historical record, where the word and the image constitute the analyzed vehicles, emphasizing its possibility of memory remindful. Throughout the work, it is primordial to descant on the thoughts of several authors to establish a wide approach on issues related to photography in fashion research and its bonds with memories and sensitivities, the thoughts on the role of fashion in the field of knowledge were strategically reinforced and, for this reason, a reflective process on the possibilities of images as sources of study for the history of affective memory and of fashion came about. The research stands out for the precise reading and analysis of wedding photographs, tracing a biography of the photographs of such events, inserted in family albums, thus relating the image and the narratives of the interviewed brides. This work is rich in amplitude and depth, it is an ambitious research both qualitative and quantitative that chose to work with a generous collection of photographs and memories, described through the interviewees’ statements. The thesis presented here had concise purposes, such as a systematic and disciplined view of its object with as much depth as possible, and total originality in the treatment of the theme. Throughout the reading of the work, it is possible to observe the way photography and clothing converge in this analysis through the memorial process that both are carriers.