Teaching Experience Download as PDF

Teaching – School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Undergraduate Division

  • 2016 – present
    The Forms of Beauty Past

    Historical Techniques and Modern Manipulations

  • 2013 – present
    Sophomore Seminar

    Choose Your Own Adventure

  • 2005 – present
    Introduction to Fashion, Body & Garment

Teaching – School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Study Trips

  • 2020
    London

    Made in Britain: Design & Fashion In and Around London study trip summer 2020, to be co-taught with Bess Williamson

  • 2019
    Glasgow

    Textiles Traditions & Transgressions – Fiber & Fashion in Scotland study trip summer 2019, to be co-taught with Fraser Taylor and Dawn Gavin

  • 2018
    London & Paris

    Collecting & the Collection – Design & Fashion study trip, co-taught with Bess Williamson

  • 2016
    London & Paris

    Fashion & Design in the Modern Metropolis, 1870-1920 study trip, co-taught with Bess Williamson

  • 2014
    Designing London

    Fashion, Objects, Culture, and the Making of “Britishness” – London & Edinburgh study trip, co-taught with Bess Williamson

Teaching – Other

  • 2018
    Fashion History: Global Perspectives, Columbia College, Chicago, IL
  • 2016
    Dressing Through Time, SAIC Continuing Studies
  • 2015 – 2016
    MODA Designer Boot Camp, The University of Chicago
  • 2012 – 2015
    Skirt Academy, Silvertown Studio
  • 2010 – 2015
    Sewing Techniques: Fundamentals, SAIC Continuing Studies

Education

  • 2020
    School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

    Master of Arts, Visual and Critical Studies, anticipated May 2020

    Redressing Hair: Untangling the Strands of Nineteenth-Century Hairwork

  • 2003
    School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

    Bachelor of Fine Arts, Fashion Design and Visual Communications

  • 1997
    The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

    Master of Arts, Visual and Critical Studies, anticipated May 2020

    Bachelor of Arts, Fundamentals: Issues and Texts

Professional Experience

  • 2018 – present
    Co-founder – Chicago Fashion Lyceum, Chicago, Illinois

    A community of fashion scholars, practitioners, and other engaged individuals convened to create spaces to advance the practices of thinking, making, and research in the field of fashion studies. Organizing international fashion theory conference for Fall 2020.

  • 2018 – present
    Academic Advisor – School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

    Advising students, crisis response, retention and student success.

  • 2007 – 2017
    Assistant Director – Fashion Resource Center, study collection, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

    Managed collection, maintained databases, selected items for acquisition, organized acquisitions of financing, developed and installed exhibitions, secured and planned lectures and workshops, ordered publications and supplies, arranged loans, graphic design, toured classes and visitors, aided in student and faculty research, coordinated volunteers, directed student workers, advised student group Fashion Resource Center Committee.

    Selection of lecturers and workshops from Behind the Seams/Making series:

    • Designer presenters: Boudicca, Iris van Herpen, Isabel + Ruben Toledo, Creatures of the Wind, Ralph Rucci
    • Historian/curator/author presenters: Christopher Breward (V&A, Edinburgh College of Art), Robin Givhan (Washington Post), Caroline Evans (Central Saint Martins), Hamish Bowles (Vogue), Alexandra Palmer (Royal Ontario Museum), Deirdre Murphy (Historic Royal Palaces), Laurent Cotta (Palais Galliera)

    Selection of significant designer garments acquired:

    • Alexander McQueen, Mary Katrantzou, Thom Browne, Christopher Kane, Gareth Pugh, Comme des Garçons, Balenciaga (Adopt a Dress), Boudicca

    Selection of FRC departmental exhibitions and curatorial projects:

    • Making, How Do I Wear That?, Vote Now!

    Arranged and facilitated the first international loan of garments from the FRC Collection, presented at MoMu in Antwerp for the exhibition Game Changers: Reinventing the 20th Century Silhouette.

  • 2011 – present
    Founder – Silvertown Studio, Chicago, Illinois

    A community of inquiry, sharing and instruction in the skills of sewing and the history of dress. Projects include: Dress Academy, communal sewing evenings, historical pattern making and research.

  • 2011 – 2012
    Costume Diagramer – The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

    Collaborated with curator Gloria Groom on preparing materials for Art Institute exhibition Impressionism, Fashion, and Modernity, including diagraming paintings and researching garments.

  • 2007
    Studio Assistant – Studio Assisstant, Chicago, Illinois

    Hand stitched various flat and sculptural works.

  • 2005 – 2006
    Studio Manager – Katrin Schnabl, Chicago, Illinois

    Studio management, graphic design, facilitation of business affairs, cutting fabric for production, sewing garments, customer alterations, grading patterns.

  • 2005
    Costume Assistant – Emilie Autumn, Chicago, Illinois

    Punktorian Costumes by WillowTech House for Billy Corgan

    Construction and design consultation for costumes used in Billy Corgan’s music video Walking Shade.

  • 2004
    Intern – Alexander McQueen, London, England

    Utilized Photoshop and Illustrator to create new print designs for fabric, alter existing designs, and manipulate color-ways variations. Conceptualized embellishments, researched inspirations, and developed samples. Assisted designers by coordinating international mailings, faxes, and telephone communications. Scanned, optimized, and mounted sketches. Hand sewing, machine sewing, and draping of projects for factory and runway. Contacted and arranged interviews.

Lectures/Presentations/Workshops

  • 2019
    “When Bodies Are Not Enough: Affective Fashion in the Museum Space”, lecturer, Association for Art History Annual Conference, Brighton, UK, April 6.
  • 2019
    “Memories of Time and Touch: The Bodies of Victorian Hair Jewelry”, workshop presentation, Wildgoose Memorial Library in association with Centre for Life-Writing Research, Kings College London, UK, March 6.
  • 2018
    “Seeing Selves: The Absent Body in the Museum”, lecturer, The Arts Club, Chicago, IL, February 16.
  • 2017
    “Victorian Holiday Traditions, lecture and workshop, Department of Curiosities, Chicago, IL, December 3.
  • 2017
    “Seeing Selves: The Absent Body in the Museum and the Work of Exhibition Maker Judith Clark”, lecturer, Costume Society of America Midwest Regional Symposium & Annual Meeting, Cincinnati, OH, September 21.
  • 2017
    Expanding the Wardrobe: Diversity in Costume Communities and Exhibitions, professional development panelist, Portal to Progress: Transformations in Technology, Diversity in Dress, Costume Society of America National Symposium & Annual Meeting, Portland, ME, June 2.
  • 2017
    “History Repeating: Nothing Is New in Fashion”, MCA – North Shore Affiliate, The Art Center Highland Park, Highland Park, IL, March 14.
  • 2016
    SAIC + MODA: A Salvage Design Practice Workshop, workshop leader, Salvage 3.1: Fashion, sponsored by The Object Cultures Project and the Chicago Center for Contemporary Theory (3CT), The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, May 12.
  • 2016
    The Rise of Fashion: A Conversation, panelist, Salvage 3.1: Fashion, sponsored by The Object Cultures Project and the Chicago Center for Contemporary Theory (3CT), The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, May 11.
  • 2016
    “Genderless Fashion“, Chicago Style: The Collections, presenter, Chicago Humanities Festival Spring Festival: Style, Chicago, IL, May 1.
  • 2016
    “Dressing Up 1879“, lecture and performance, National Book Tour Launch for Laurie R. King’s book, The Murder of Mary Russell, Anderson’s Bookshop, Naperville, IL, April 5.
  • 2016
    “In the Rifts of Winter“, artist panel, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, February 17. 2015 “MODE MODERNISTE: Sonia Delaunay and the Art of Fashion”, lecturer, League of Women Designers, Department of Curiosities, Chicago, IL, December 16.
  • 2015
    “Mode Moderniste: Sonia Delaunay and the Art of Fashion”, lecturer, League of Women Designers, Department of Curiosities, Chicago, IL, December 16.
  • 2015
    “Victorian Hair: Sorrow, Style & Sacrifice”, lecturer, Hair Club lecture series, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, April 23.
  • 2013
    “Material Translation: Japanese Fashion from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago”, lecturer, Fullerton Hall, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, January 10.
  • 2013
    “Material Translation: Japanese Fashion from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago”, lecturer, The Arts Club, Chicago, IL, April 3.
  • 2012
    “A Study Collection: New Technologies and Functionalities” Learning from Dress Collections and Fashion Documents, presenter, Costume Colloquium III: Past Dress – Future Fashion, Florence, Italy, November 9.

Curatorial Projects

  • 2016
    Victoria & Albert Museum, Curating Fashion and Dress, course
  • 2012
    Co-Curator – Material Translations: Japanese Fashion from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
  • 2019 – 2010
    Exhibition Contributor, Learning Modern [Claire McCardell], Sullivan Galleries, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Group Exhibitions/Costuming

  • 2019
    Traces: Unsymposium Symposium, a Polyvalent Exhibition & Symposium, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
  • 2016
    In the Rifts of Winter, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
  • 2010
    I Do!: Chicago Ties the Knot, Chicago History Museum, Chicago, IL
  • 2008
    Department(Store), Sullivan Galleries, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
  • 2007
    Artwork5, Gallery 2, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
  • 2003
    Cain, TinFish Theater, Chicago, IL
  • 1996
    A Midsummer Night’s Dream, University Theater, The University of Chicago

Professional Organizations/Service

  • 2019 – present
    “Association for Art History, UK, member
  • 2019 – present
    “Costume Society of American, USA, member
    • 2018 – 2020 Past President, CSA Midwestern Region
    • 2016 – 2018 President, CSA Midwestern RegionDirected the business of CSA: to advance the global understanding of all aspects of dress and appearance, stimulate scholarship and encourage the study of costume. Worked within Region III to propose and implement measures for budget, membership, scholarships and awards, and symposia.
    • 2014 – 2016 Vice President, CSA Midwestern Region
    • 2014 – 2016 CSA National Membership Chair
    • 2011 – 2014 Board Member, CSA Midwestern Region
  • 2013
    “Costume Society of America Midwest Symposium & Annual Meeting co-organizer, SAIC/AIC, September 19-21.
  • 2013
    “Material Innovations Symposium and Making Workshop, co-organizer, FRC/SAIC, February 23.
  • 2014 – 2016
    “Costume Society, London, UK, member

Awards/Grants

  • 2015
    Faculty Enrichment Grant, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
  • 2003
    Cornelia Steckl Fashion Fellowship Award

    Department of Fashion Design, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

  • 2003
    CFDA/Target Design Initiative Finalist

    The Council of Fashion Designers of America, Target Corporation

  • 2001
    William V Mollihan Scholarship

    Department of Fashion Design, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

  • 1993 – 1997
    College Honors Scholarship

    The University of Chicago

Print

  • Caroline Bellios. “Strategies Against Absent Bodies”. In Fashion, Dress and Post-PostModernity. London: Bloomsbury, forthcoming.
  • Timothy Long. I Do!: Chicago Ties the Knot. Chicago: Chicago History Museum, 2010. 110-111, garment.
  • Caroline Bellios. “Touch”, Dimensional Line Publication. Evanston: Evanston Arts Center, 2011, essay.