Promiscuous Prints: British Garment Prints in Canada

Dr. Sykas focused on printed British textiles intended for use as garments from 1780 to 1880, a period in which immense growth in the market for textiles occurred in tandem with radical changes to their technologies and design. He investigated many aspects of these textiles, including the intersections of the increased interest in botanical and scientific study at the time and how they influenced the design of prints, the form and structure of repeat prints, how weave structure was determined by the different types of spinning manufacturing at the time and the various qualities of thread and twist they produced, and the most common mistakes and idiosyncrasies in the printing process and how they were solved. Within the ROM’s extensive textile collection, he found items that demonstrated the historical development of printed textiles for dress...[including] advances in both France and Britain, telling the story of printed garments through key aspects of printing technology, colour, pattern, and motif.