Suzanne Rowland

Suzanne Rowland is a dress historian and PhD candidate in the School of Humanities at the University of Brighton. Her interdisciplinary thesis explores the early development of the wholesale, lightweight fashion manufacturing industry in the 1910s through its first successful commodity: the blouse. Using a combination of object-focused analysis, network theories and storytelling, untold stories from the factory floor are brought to life to show how female workers, in synchronicity with the machines they operated, were a key aspect of the success of this burgeoning industry. Suzanne's MA research focused on the sweated production and cross-class consumption of Edwardian blouses.
She is the author of two books for The Crowood Press that accurately recreate museum garments with step-by-step images and instructions for readers to follow: Making Edwardian Costumes for Women, (2016); and Making Vintage 1920s Costumes for Women, (2017).

Education
2000-2015 University of Sussex Cultural Studies BA (Hons)
2008-2010 University of Brighton History of Design and Material Culture MA
2016-2020 University of Brighton AHRC/Design Star PhD candidate