Rebecca Jumper Matheson, PhD

Education

BA, Rice University
MA, Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York
JD, University of Texas

Biography

Rebecca Jumper Matheson is a fashion historian and an adjunct instructor in FIT’s MA Program in Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice. Matheson’s research focuses on nineteenth - and twentieth-century American women’s dress, using interdisciplinary approaches to discover women’s narratives as designers, makers, sellers, and consumers. Her recent projects have dealt with millinery, leather goods, advertising, teenage fashion, and dress for long-distance train travel. She is the author of two monographs, The Sunbonnet: An American Icon in Texas (2009) and Young Originals: Emily Wilkens and the Teen Sophisticate (2015).

Matheson holds a PhD in Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture from the Bard Graduate Center; an MA in Fashion and Textile Studies from FIT; and a JD from the University of Texas School of Law.

Research Interests

19th- and 20th-century fashion history

Selected Publications 

Books

Young Originals: Emily Wilkens and the Teen Sophisticate. Lubbock, TX: Texas Tech University Press, 2015.

The Sunbonnet: An American Icon in Texas. Lubbock, TX: Texas Tech University Press, 2009.      

Articles and Book Chapters

“Stella Blum Grant Report: American Artisans: William and Elizabeth Phelps and Phelps Associates.” Dress 49, no. 1 (2023). The Journal of the Costume Society of America; published online 30 January 2023.

“Cleanliness, Economy, Fashion, and Protection: American Women and the Duster Coast, 1860–1890.” Nineteenth Century 39, no. 1 (2019): 8–13. 

“Wilkens, Emily Ann.” American National Biography Online. Oxford University Press; published online 25 October 2018. 

“Sara Pennoyer: Twentieth-Century Retail and Advertising Executive, and Her Creation, Polly Tucker, Merchant.” In Shopping, Consuming, and Retailing: Historical Perspectives, special issue of Fashion, Style, and Popular Culture 5, issue 1 (January 2018): 59–79. 

“‘Ways of Comfort’: Women’s Dress for Long-Distance Train Travel in America, 1870–1915.” Dress 43, no. 1 (2017): 23–43. 

“Women’s Experiences of Making and Wearing Sunbonnets in Nineteenth-Century Texas.” In David B. Warren Symposium Vol. 5. Creators and Consumers: Women and Material Culture and Visual Art in 19th-Century Texas, the Lower South, and the Southwest. Houston: Museum of Fine Arts Houston/Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens, 2016.

“Emily Wilkens: Connecticut-born Designer for All-American Teens.” In Dressing New England: Clothing, Fashion, and Identity, Annual Proceedings of the Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife Held in Deerfield, Massachusetts, June 18–20, 2010, Peter Benes, ed. Deerfield, MA: Dublin Seminar and Historic Deerfield, 2014. 

“‘A House that is Made of Hats’: The Lilly Daché Building 1937–1968.” In John Potvin, ed. The Places and Spaces of Fashion: 1800–2006. New York: Routledge, 2008. 

Conferences and Presentations  

Jumper, Rachel and Rebecca Jumper Matheson. “Getting the Right Fit: Communicating Body Image Through Clothing.” Research presentation. American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences Annual Conference. Orlando, Florida. June 26, 2022. (co-authored)

“American Artisans: William and Elizabeth Phelps, and Phelps Associates.” Stella Blum Student Research Grant Presentation. Costume Society of America National Symposium. Minneapolis, Minnesota. May 25–28, 2022. A recorded version of this presentation is available on YouTube.

“The Duster Coat: An Icon of American Women’s Fashion.” Lecture and dialogue with Michele Majer. Trust Talks online lecture series. Decorative Arts Trust. February 19, 2021. Recording available on the Decorative Arts Trust’s YouTube channel.

“‘Traveling had become a science with her’: Traveling Dress in Edna Ferber’s Emma McChesney Stories.” Paper. Costume Colloquium VII: Fashion and Dress in Space and Place. Florence, Italy (converted to online format). November 14–15, 2020. 

“‘Smart Togs for Action’: Elizabeth Phelps’ Everyday Clothes for American Women in the 1940s and 1950s.” Paper. American Everyday: Resistance, Revolution and Transformation Symposium. Columbia College in partnership with Parsons School of Design. Chicago, Illinois. February 15, 2020. 

“‘Susurrus of Silk’: Sounds of Fashion in Late-Nineteenth and Early-Twentieth Century America.” Juried paper. 45th Annual Cleveland Symposium. Visualizing Sound and Silence in Art and Architecture. Case Western Reserve University and The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio. October 25, 2019.

“Leather, Denim, Canvas, Corduroy: The Materials of Phelps Associates’ Ready-to-Wear Expansion.” Paper. Costume Colloquium VI: Textiles in Fashion: Creativity in Context. Florence, Italy. November 14–18, 2018.

“That Girl from Texas: Jeanette Walworth’s Gilded-Age Critique of Fashionable Society.” Juried paper. Costume Society of America Atlantic and Southeastern Regions Joint Symposium. Shippensburg University. Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. October 11–13, 2018.

“Making as a Design Philosophy: Phelps Associates Leather Goods, 1940–1969.” Juried paper. Costume Society of America National Symposium. Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. March 13–16, 2018. 

“Patriotism, Craftsmanship, and the Pastoral in Media Representations of Phelps Associates Leather Goods, 1940–1950.” Juried paper. Fashion and Media conference. Drexel University. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. October 12–14, 2017. 

“Inspiration and Interpretation: The Influence of Museum Research in the Fashion Designs of Emily Wilkens.” Paper. Fashion: Now and Then conference. Adrian G. Marcuse Library. LIM College. New York City. October 20–22, 2016.

“‘Ways of Comfort’: Women’s Dress for Long-Distance Train Travel in America, 1870–1915.” Juried paper. Costume Society of America National Symposium. Cleveland, Ohio. May 25–28, 2016.

“Emily Wilkens Young Originals: A Case Study in 1940s Teen Fashion Through Objects and Documents.” Guest Lecture in History of Art Department Series: Primary Sources in Costume/Textile History. Fashion Institute of Technology. New York City. March 9, 2016.

“Women’s Experiences of Making and Wearing Sunbonnets in Nineteenth-Century Texas.” Paper. David B. Warren Symposium: Creators and Consumers: Women and Material Culture and Visual Art in 19th-Century Texas, the Lower South, and the Southwest. Museum of Fine Arts Houston/Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens. Houston, Texas. October 23–25, 2015.

“Austerity and Charity: New York Designers and United States Army Surplus CARE Packages.” Paper. Museum of London conference: The Look of Austerity. London, England. September 11–12, 2015.

“Pinnacle of Fashion: Hats of the Twentieth Century.” Lecture. Stone Fort Museum. Stephen F. Austin State University. Nacogdoches, Texas. October 19, 2014.

“‘Simplicity, Good Grooming, and Good Taste’: The Style of Emily Wilkens.” Juried Paper. Costume Society of America National Symposium. Boston, Massachusetts. June 7–12, 2011.

“Beyond Romanticism: The Art, Commerce, and Modernity of Lucile.” Lecture. Drexel Historic Costume Collection. Drexel University. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. April 14, 2011.

“‘Elegant Economy’: The Anti-fashion of Genteel Poverty in Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford.” Juried paper. Fashion in Fiction international conference: The Dark Side of Fashion. Drexel University. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. October 8–10, 2010.  

“Emily Wilkens: Connecticut-born Designer for All-American Teens.” Juried paper. Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife/Costume Society of America joint conference: Dressing New England: Clothing, Fashion, and Identity. Historic Deerfield, Massachusetts. June 18–20, 2010. 

“Making a Name for Themselves: Promotion and Self-Promotion of Designing Women.” Paper and panel discussion. European Business History Association—Business History Conference Joint Annual Meeting: Fashions: Business Practices in Historical Perspective. Bocconi University. Milan, Italy. June 11–13, 2009. 

“Quilted for Function and Design: The Poke-style Sunbonnet.” Research Exhibit. Costume Society of America Southeastern Region Annual Meeting and Symposium. Williamsburg, Virginia. October 31–November 2, 2008.

“‘Creator of Fashions’: Lucile (Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon) in Her Own Words.” Paper and panel discussion. Fashion Institute of Technology. Fashion Culture Fall 2008 Special Education Program: From Dressmaker to Couturière: The Story of Lucile Ltd. New York City. October 21, 2008.

“‘Creator of Fashions’: Lady Duff-Gordon in Her Own Words.” Paper and panel discussion. Pace Law School Symposium: The Enduring Legacy of Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon. White Plains, New York. November 9, 2007.

“‘A House that is Made of Hats’: Art and Fantasy in the Lilly Daché Building.” Lecture. Sotheby’s Institute of Art. New York City. March 26, 2007.

“The Milliner as Collector: Lilly Daché’s Inspiration and Design.” Juried paper. Costume Society of America National Symposium. Hartford, Connecticut. June 3, 2006. 

“Designing the It Girl: Lucile and Her Style.” Armchair Tour. Costume Society of America National Symposium. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. May 26, 2005. 

“‘A House that is Made of Hats’: Fashion and Architecture in the Lilly Daché Building.” Fashion Institute of Technology. First Annual Research Symposium of the MA program in Fashion and Textile Studies. New York City. May 6, 2005. 

“From Court Dressmaker to Couturière: The Creation of the Lucile Style.” The Preservation Society of Newport County. Graduate Student Symposium. Newport, Rhode Island. April 8, 2005.

Exhibitions

Designing the It Girl: Lucile and Her Style, Co-Curator, Graduate Student Exhibition, Museum at FIT, New York City, 2005.

Graduate student exhibition was the first to focus on the life and work of Lucile (Lucy, Lady Duff Gordon, 1863–1935). Co-authored (with Molly Sorkin) brochure containing full catalog of the exhibition. 

Grants 

Stella Blum Student Research Grant, awarded by Costume Society of America, 2020.

Bonnie Cashin Endowed Fellowship, travel fellowship, Bard Graduate Center, Fall 2019.

Awards

American Members of CINOA [Confédération Internationale des Négociants en Oeuvres d’Art] Award for Outstanding Dissertation, Bard Graduate Center, 2022.

Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz Dissertation Writing Award, Bard Graduate Center, 2021.

Teaching Prize Fellow at Bard Graduate Center for 2021–2022 academic year, awarded for writing course “Thread of Victory”: American Fashion and World War II.

First prize award recipient, 45th Annual Cleveland Symposium, Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Museum of Art, October 25, 2019.

Honorable Mention, Ray and Pat Browne Award for Reference/Primary Source Work in Popular and American Culture, Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association, 2009.

EFFI (Educational Foundation for the Fashion Industries) Award, FIT, 2005.

Courses

• FT 633 Advanced Theory: Symposium Seminar
• FT 701 Qualifying Paper Seminar