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Tamsin Johnson

Design, Nottingham Trent University

Thesis title:

Searching for the New Woman in Nottingham: Cycling, Fashion and Feminism (1885-1925)

Intersecting Visual Culture and Sports-Feminist Histories, this PhD assesses the changing forms of feminine modernity through the visual representation of the cycling woman (1880-1939).  Consulting local, Midlands-based and national archives this study critiques and maps the changing attitudes towards women’s cycling and fluctuating discourse on issues of feminine strength, speed, beauty and mobility. 

Research Area

  • Design

Publications

'Women in the Kitchen: The Performativity of Modern Living' (2021), Space International Journal of Conference Proceedings, Vol 1 (1). https://doi.org/10.51596/sijocp.v1i1.14

Conferences

'Theorising visions of Female Cyclists (1880-1939): Women, Speed and Modernity.', presented at the British Society of Sports History Annual Conference. Chichester University Aug 2024. 

'Restructuring Visions of Female Cyclists (1880-1939): The (Im)mobile Woman', presented at University of Nottingham's 'Art of History' conference June 2024. 

NTU's Postgraduate Conference, School of Art & Design. Poster Presentation **2nd Place Prize Winner, June 2024

'Cycling Women Visuals: Fetish and Feminism', presented at NTU's Material and Visual Delights symposium, April 2024

'Fashioning Entry: Women in the Male Sphere: 1890-1915', presented at NTU's Material and Visual Delights symposium, April 2022. 

'Women in the Kitchen: The Performativity of Modern Living', presented virtually at the International SPACE conference 'Gender, Space and Architecture', June 2021.

Public Engagement & Impact

Workshops:
Nov 2023: NTU's 2023 Sustainability Summit- 'Sustainable Buying Decisions: Fashion Business Application'. 
In this self-designed, self-produced, interactive workshop I guided attendants through the fashion buying-cycle, the overarching sustainability issues within the fashion industry (based off my 5+ years' experience) and how, as a buyer, your decision making influences the end product. In the activity, I produced 3 worksheets detailing a garment spec with a target cost-price and several options to get to that target cost price (some sustainable, some not). The purpose of the workshop was to get attendents thinking about how, in a commercial setting, sustainable decision making is influenced by the pressures of growth-based economics, profit and commerciality. 

Other Research Interests

Fashion theory, history of.
Design Theory and Visual Culture
Women's history


Memberships

British Society of Sports History (BSSH)
NTU: Fashion and Textile Research Centre