Fashion & Costume Design Quiz

1. What is 'haute couture' and what qualifies a fashion house to use the term?

1. Any high-quality, expensive clothing sold in luxury boutiques
2. Clothing made from rare or unusual materials regardless of the manufacturing method
3. Custom-made clothing of exceptional quality — in France, the term is legally protected and only granted to houses meeting strict Chambre Syndicale criteria including hand-sewing and bespoke fittings
4. The latest runway collections from Paris, Milan, and New York Fashion Weeks

2. Coco Chanel revolutionised women's fashion in the early 20th century. What was her most important contribution?

1. She created the first ready-to-wear fashion line accessible to ordinary women
2. She introduced synthetic fabrics into high fashion
3. She introduced the concept of seasonal collections to replace year-round identical styles
4. She liberated women from corsets and restrictive dress by popularising comfortable, practical clothing using jersey fabric and simple lines

3. What is the 'little black dress' (LBD) and who is most credited with creating it as a fashion staple?

1. Christian Dior, who included a black cocktail dress in his 1947 New Look collection
2. Coco Chanel, whose 1926 simple black crepe dress was called 'the Ford' by Vogue for being universal and affordable
3. Elsa Schiaparelli, who designed black as a colour of rebellion in the 1930s
4. Hubert de Givenchy, who designed Audrey Hepburn's black dress for Breakfast at Tiffany's

4. Christian Dior's 1947 'New Look' was described as revolutionary. What did it introduce after wartime austerity?

1. Luxuriously full skirts, nipped waists, and a soft rounded shoulder — a dramatic, feminine silhouette using lavish amounts of fabric
2. The first ready-to-wear collection making designer fashion accessible to all
3. Trouser suits for women as a feminist response to post-war reconstruction
4. Ultra-minimal clothing in response to post-war economic hardship

5. Alexander McQueen was known for what distinctive approach to fashion?

1. Accessible fast fashion that made runway trends immediately available to consumers
2. Minimal, functional clothing drawing from Scandinavian design traditions
3. Practical sportswear elevated to high fashion through innovative technical fabrics
4. Spectacularly theatrical runway shows and collections merging fashion with art, darkness, nature, and historic narrative

6. What is 'prêt-à-porter' (ready-to-wear) and how does it differ from haute couture?

1. Clothing designed specifically for the Paris runway that is never commercially produced
2. Clothing sold in physical boutiques rather than by mail order — any price point
3. Designer clothing produced in standardised sizes that can be bought off the rack without custom fittings — more accessible and less expensive than couture
4. Pre-worn vintage designer clothing sold at reduced prices

7. Vivienne Westwood is known as the godmother of punk fashion. Which movement did her designs help define?

1. The Grunge movement of 1990s Seattle that reached British shores
2. The Mod movement of 1960s London
3. The New Romantic movement of 1980s nightclubs
4. The punk movement of 1970s Britain — through her shop SEX on the King's Road with Malcolm McLaren

8. What is the 'bias cut' in fashion and which designer made it famous?

1. Any asymmetrical cut applied to one side of a garment — popularised by Issey Miyake
2. Cutting fabric at a 45-degree angle to the weave, making it stretch and drape fluidly over the body — pioneered by Madeleine Vionnet
3. Cutting fabric at a right angle to reduce waste — pioneered by Coco Chanel
4. Cutting fabric from the back panel first — a tailoring technique from the 1920s

9. What is a 'capsule wardrobe' concept and who popularised it?

1. A concept from minimalist Japanese fashion meaning clothing that packs into one bag
2. A seasonal microwardrobe of 5-7 fast fashion pieces replaced every 3 months
3. A small collection of versatile, essential, high-quality garments that work together — popularised by Susie Faux in 1985 and further promoted by Donna Karan
4. A small display capsule used in museum exhibitions of historical fashion

10. What is 'costume design' in film and theatre, and why is it considered an art form in its own right?

1. The creation of clothing and accessories specifically to serve a character's narrative, psychology, and historical context — costumes communicate character without dialogue
2. The design of uniforms and formalwear for ceremonial occasions
3. The historical research into period-accurate clothing used in documentaries
4. The mass purchasing of off-the-rack clothing for cast members to wear in productions

11. What is 'sustainable fashion' and why has it become increasingly important?

1. Clothing made to last more than one season before being discarded
2. Fashion made exclusively from organic or recycled materials regardless of labour practices
3. Fashion that considers environmental, social, and economic impact — reducing waste, using ethical materials, and ensuring fair labour practices throughout the supply chain
4. Vintage and secondhand fashion resold through charity shops and thrift stores

12. Which Italian fashion house's signature interlocking double-G logo is one of the most recognised in luxury fashion?

1. Fendi
2. Gucci
3. Prada
4. Versace

13. What is 'draping' in fashion design and how does it differ from pattern-making?

1. Draping creates a design directly by placing and pinning fabric on a dress form; pattern-making creates flat paper templates that are transferred to fabric — two different routes to the same result
2. Draping involves hanging finished garments on display; pattern-making creates the templates
3. Draping is a traditional technique; pattern-making is a modern computer-aided process exclusively
4. Draping uses heavy fabrics; pattern-making uses lightweight materials only

14. The kimono is a traditional Japanese garment. What distinguishes its construction from Western tailoring?

1. The kimono has no seams at all — it is woven in one continuous piece
2. The kimono is constructed from rectangular pieces of cloth with no cutting — the fabric is folded and sewn in straight lines, creating shape through the obi belt and how it is worn
3. The kimono is fitted using dozens of precise seams to create a tailored silhouette
4. The kimono uses curved seams specifically calculated for each individual wearer

15. What is 'fast fashion' and which company is considered the pioneer of the model?

1. Fashion that ages quickly due to deliberately poor construction — first used by H&M in the 1990s
2. Luxury fashion produced faster than traditional 2-season cycles — pioneered by Prada
3. Sportswear designed for rapid athletic movements — pioneered by Nike in the 1980s
4. Ultra-rapid production of trend-led, inexpensive clothing with short lifecycles — Zara (Inditex) pioneered the model of going from design to store in 15 days

16. What is the significance of the 'Met Gala' (Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Gala)?

1. A biannual fashion industry trade show held at the Metropolitan Museum
2. An annual charity auction of vintage designer clothing for museum acquisitions
3. An awards ceremony honouring the year's best fashion design across all categories
4. The annual fundraiser and opening of the Costume Institute exhibition — considered fashion's biggest night, setting the year's most extravagant red carpet trends

17. Issey Miyake is a Japanese designer famous for which innovative technical approach to fashion?

1. Pleats Please — permanently pleated polyester clothing that is lightweight, packable, wrinkle-free, and machine washable
2. Reconstructionist fashion using deliberately slashed and deconstructed garments
3. Traditional Japanese textile techniques applied to contemporary silhouettes
4. Ultra-minimalist fashion using only white cotton and linen

18. What is 'deconstructionism' in fashion, pioneered by the Japanese 'Antwerp Six' and designers like Rei Kawakubo?

1. Fashion made from deconstructed vintage garments sewn back together
2. Fashion that deconstructs gender norms by making identical clothing for all genders
3. Fashion that questions and subverts conventional clothing construction — showing linings, raw edges, asymmetry, and imperfection as aesthetic choices
4. Minimalist fashion removing all decorative elements to reveal pure structure

19. What did Yves Saint Laurent contribute to fashion that had long-lasting feminist implications?

1. He created the first unisex fashion line making identical clothing for men and women
2. He introduced the tuxedo suit (Le Smoking) for women in 1966 — making formal trousers acceptable and elegant for women and challenging gendered dress codes
3. He introduced trousers to women's fashion during World War Two by necessity
4. He was the first male couturier to create collections specifically designed by a woman

20. What is the significance of the invention of the sewing machine (c.1850) for fashion?

1. It allowed designers to create more complex tailoring than hand-sewing allowed
2. It enabled mass production of clothing, dramatically reducing costs and time, making fashionable clothing accessible to wider social classes and creating the ready-to-wear industry
3. It had no significant impact — all quality fashion remained hand-sewn until the 20th century
4. It was primarily used in industrial textile production — it had no impact on fashion design