Alexandra Palmer
Senior Curator, Nora E. Vaughan Fashion Costume Curatorship
Area: World Cultures, Textiles & Fashions
Exhibitions & Galleries: Patricia Harris Gallery of Textiles & Costume
Bio
B.A., Art History, University of Toronto, 1979
M.A., History of Costume and Textiles (in conjunction with the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art), New York University, 1981
Ph.D., Design History, University of Brighton, England, 1995
Alexandra Palmer is the Nora E. Vaughan Fashion Costume Senior Curator and Chair of the Veronika Gervers Research Fellowship in Textiles & Costume at the ROM, and a Co-curator of BIG, the latest exhibit in the Patricia Harris Gallery of Textiles & Costume. She is cross appointed and teaches in Fine Art History at the University of Toronto, and the Graduate Programme in Art History at York University, and the School of Graduate Studies at Ryerson University.
A Canadian born in Greece and raised in England, Alexandra received her Bachelor of Arts in Art History from the University of Toronto, her M.A. in the History of Costume & Textiles from New York University in conjunction with the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum and her PhD in Design History from the University of Brighton.
Before she came to the ROM in 1997 she was Assistant Professor for Craft and Design History at Nova Scotia College of Art. At the ROM she has curated Measure for Measure (1989) in the Samuel European Galleries, Au Courant: Contemporary Canadian Fashion (1997) and Papiers à la Mode for The Institute of Contemporary Culture (2001), as well as Unveiling the Textiles & Costume Collection (spring 2002) , Elite Elegance: Couture in the Feminine Fifties (November 2002- spring 2003) and the exhibits in the Patricia Harris Gallery of Textiles & Costume since it opened in 2007.
Dr. Palmer has edited and contributed to numerous books, museum catalogues and journals. She is the author of two award winning books, Couture & Commerce: The Transatlantic Fashion Trade in the 1950s (2001) Clio for Ontario history, and Dior: A New Look, A New Enterprise 1947-1957 (2009) Millia Davenport Publication 2010 Award.
Photos and Videos
Recent Publications
| Year | Publication |
|---|---|
| 2009 | "Dior. A New Look, A New Enterprise 1947-57." V&A Publications |
| 2008 | Giovanni Franci and Rosella Mangaroni. "Una breva storia della moda canadese." La Moda in Canada I libri di Emil: Bologna |
| 2007 | Michèle Ruffat and Dominique Veillon . "Haute Couture, Copies Nord-Américaines et Prêt-à-Porter." La mode des sixties. L’entrée dan las modernité. Autrement: Paris |
| 2007 | L. Welters and A. Lillethun. "Torontonian Taste in Couture." The Fashion Reader, Berg: Oxford |
| 2007 | "The Paper Caper. Fashions of the Sixties." RRRIPP!! Paper Fashion Benaki Museum, Athens |
| 2007 | "Inside Paris Haute Couture." The Golden Age: Haute couture 1947-57 V&A Publications |
| 2006 | "Christian Dior à New York." In Christian Dior et Le Monde, Christian Dior Musée et éditions Artlys, 31-39. |
| 2006 | "A Bomb in the Collection: Researching and exhibiting early twentieth century fashion." The future of the twentieth century. Collecting, interpreting & conserving modern materials, AHRC Research Centre for Textile Conservation and Textile Studies: Archety |
Research Projects
Social and Cultural History of Couture in Toronto, 1900-1937
Printed Textiles in the 20th Century
History of the second hand fashion trade
Historical essays on Canadian fashion
Veronika Gervers Research Fellowship, supported by a memorial fund established in 1979 to commemorate ROM curator and textile scholar,