The Dress and Textile Specialists (Dats) was established in 1975 to provide a supportive network for professionals in the UK and Republic of Ireland who work with collections of fashion, dress, costume and textiles.
We aim to encourage the sharing of knowledge, information, skills and resources; to promote the use of professional standards; to encourage and develop expertise, research and scholarship; and to enable those working with dress and textile collections to develop and use them for the benefit of the public.
Members of Dats can access several resources, which have an emphasis on training and raising professional standards.
The Dats JiscMail email group allows members to communicate easily, share information and ask for advice.
The society also produces educational toolkits that offer further research into significant subject areas including textile identification and the mounting of historic dress.
Recent toolkits have included Curating Semi-Synthetic and Synthetic Fibres and Fabrics, which was written in partnership with the Plastics Subject Specialist Network to promote best practice and equip museum staff with the confidence and skills to care for collections of synthetic garments.
Victoria Haddock is the secretary of the Dress and Textile Specialists