Perceptions of an Electronic Dress as Fashion, Art, and Costume

Recently, electronic dresses have been displayed as museum art objects for aesthetic evaluation. This cultural phenomenon was explored by determining museum visitors’ aesthetic experiences in viewing a dress with and without added electronics. Using a qualitative grounded-theory approach, the authors interviewed forty-four millennial participants during different viewings of the dress. Interview data results support that participants viewed apparel without digital music or colored LED lights as fashion, apparel with digital music as art, and apparel with colored LED lights as costume. This research is helpful for diverse fields such as apparel marketing and design, performing arts, and art museums.