Preparing an Inuit woman's winter costume for display

This costume comes from the Baffin Island area in the Nunavut Territory, Northern Canada. It was collected in the early 20th century. It would have belonged to a woman. You can see it on display in the Americas galleries at World Museum Liverpool.

The costume consists of the parka, short trousers, a pair of leggings (or knee pads) and a pair of boots. It is made of caribou and seal fur and has fur on the inside as well as the outside. This double layer of fur would create a layer of insulating air and keep the wearer warm.

How we displayed this costume

To display this costume, conservators had to build a special mount. There are no hands or head on the mount. This would show how the costume was worn without having a figure inside.

The mount was made by the Organics Conservation department in collaboration with the Technical Services department. They made the rigid interior frame, while the conservator made the soft pads.

The mount has several special features:

• The top half of the body can be taken off so that the boots, leggings and trousers can be put on first. It is also adjustable in height.
• The steel rods that support shop dummies go through the shoe soles. This could not be done with these boots. Instead, angled rods went from knee level into the ground behind the boots.
• There is no means for fastening the leggings. Here they are held in position by drums of foam pressing against the interior of the leggings. The friction between the fur and the foam keeps them from slipping down.
• The hood is held upright and open with the help of fabric-covered steel rods, so that you can see the inside of the hood.

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