Fashion Forward: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Ancient Apparel
Sunday - Monday, July 19th - 20th, 2026
FREE ONLINE CONFERENCE, streamed live from the SASA website, explores the deep-rooted history of fashion, from basic clothing to expressions of community and human creativity via dress and adornment
The conference explores the deep-rooted history of fashion, from basic clothing to expressions of community and human creativity via dress and adornment, challenging the common assumption that fashion is primarily a modern phenomenon. The human experience of creating clothing items and body adornments is universal and timeliness. Throughout antiquity, dresses, armors, jewelry, clothing styles, and weaving techniques and traditions have played a central role in material cultures across the world.
Fashion Studies is the academic discipline that examines the history of fashion, its social and economic functions, and its role in the development of global production and consumption of clothing in the world today. It is closely interconnected with several humanities subjects, such as sociology, media studies, cultural anthropology, ancient history, art history, and archaeology. At the same time, the fascination with the ancient world has long resulted in the study and analysis of these aspects of material culture, iconography, and visual manifestations of pre-modern cultures, including clothing.
For more information and to RSVP
Conference document
BUTTON RUNWAY -always fashion-focused
The term style for the World Button Association revolves around the world of Fashion – thus the name Button Runway. Over the last year and a half we have visited fashion museums, manufacturers, and fashion university/college programs. We have visited a millinery store, visited with a costume designer, and chatted with people in Italy and the highlands of Scotland.
While our focus may seem different from antique button collecting, it’s a short journey back in time to understand the how, why, and what of fashion over the ages. The history of buttons is irrevocably tied to the evolution of fashion.
Join host Susan Smith on the fourth Tuesday of every month to see where she takes us next.
