Uniforms for museum staff: the details of our new collection
The museum is the place of culture and knowledge par excellence. It is obvious that, in such a place, it is pivotal to deliver a clear and correct communication.
To this end, it is essential to pay much attention to every aspect of communication: from clarity of directions to the ease of finding the necessary information to visit the museum; from the presence of multilingual guides to the care of staff appearance.
For this reason, uniforms for museum employees were invented: solutions to satisfy the staff everyday needs, providing uniformity and recognizably, other than guaranteeing a flawless look all day long. Here is a guide of all the elements to look for in such a context.
What kind of tasks is museum staff involved into?
There are numerous figures working in the management of a museum. Among the most known there are segurity officers, or curators, who are in charge of vigilating on visitor’s behaviour and guaranteeing the protection of art pieces inside a designated area.
Other than security officers there are employees who manage the bookshop or the café and other staff who welcome visitors. These normally work in the ticket office, deliver informational material (for example, pamphlets and audioguides) or are in charge of entrance surveillance. In some museums, there are also tour guides who offer guided tours of the exhibition.
It is exactly for the heterogeneity of these jobs, that museum emplyees’ uniforms should look professional, if dealing with the pubblic and, at the same time, comfortable in the movements.
How to choose the right style for museum employees?
A priority in the choice of the uniform style for museum employees is the coherence with the exhibition topic. For example, an archaeological museum or an ancient art gallery reflects a classical setting, that demands a traditional clothing style. In such a context, the personnel might wear a dress or an elegant suit: shirt, jacket and trousers are favourite choices. For female employees, an alternative to trousers can be a midi skirt.
The working suit is an elegant and refined choice, that can be made even smarter through the broken suit: in this case, the shirt and the jacket are matched to a pair of trausers made with a different fabric or different set of colors, for a less rigid look.
There are more peculiar settings, such as Applied Sciences museums or Modern Art galleries: in these locations it is necessary to express concepts like modernity and fashion trends acknowledgment. It is here that we can dare to use a more casual style, opting for a polo shirt, maybe customized with the museum logo, and chino trousers or cigarette trousers. These solutions are easy and modern, but at the same time they match with the museum seriousness that any cultural hub demands. These are often used also by emplyees during workshops, when a formal look might seem excessive and uncomfortable.
What kind of features shuld you consider in the choice of uniforms?
Once the style is chosen, it is central to consider other important features. For example, the fabric. The priority, in this instance, is comfort: clothes should leave a feeling of freshness and dryness even after work hours, and guarantee smooth movements. For this reason fabric made with spandex, a synthetic fiber that makes the fabric elastic, is often used.
The uniform fabric should also be stain-resistant and wrinkle-free. In the first case, the dirt does not reach the fabric’s fibers, so the security guard look remains impeccable for the whole day; in the second case, the cloth does not need ironing after washing, and does not wrinkle after use. An advantage that should not go underestimated, considering that who works in museums must frequently change and wash the used uniforms.
To work well, museum personnel should feel 100% comfortable in their clothes. It is for this reaon that uniforms for security officers in museums must guarantee a very wide size range, able to fit any kind of body shape.
What kind of footwear to choose?
When talking about museum employees’ footwear, the focus should be set on the perfect balance between comfort and flexibility. Indeed, museum staff is really likely to spend many hours standing or moving frequently from one area of the museum to another: shoes, therefore, must guarantee a flawless look and, at the same time, the best comfort until the end of the workday.
In a classic context, female security officers can match to their uniform a mid heel shoe, with a maximum height of 6 cm, and with a wide tread: this solution offers, indeed, a better steadiness. The shoe is generally monochromatic and matches the outfit hues.
If the style is casual, it is possible to opt for more sporty shoes: in science museums and during workshops, sneakers are appreciated. It is even better when they are customized, here meaning that they match the colors and the design of the logo and the building.
What are the most suitable colors?
The uniform colors makes the difference: according to color psychology, indeed, each one conveys a specific emotion. Orange, for example, stands for energy and positivity; it is often used in the advertising world because suggests purchase. Green, on the other hand, is the color of rebirth and renewal; it is associated to nature and, for this reason, normally used in the selling of biological and ecological products.
For the same reasons, the security official expertise is communicated through dark color uniforms: black and blue are the most used colors to convey elegance in clothing. What about a less dark outfit? You can choose a shirt of a brighter color compared to the jacket and the trousers (or the skirt), for example white or light-blue. Or, again, you can use the color set of the company’s logo: if there are vibrant hues, you can use them for some accessories (for example, a broach, a scarf or the ID tag).
A practical example: the Violin Museum in Cremona
When we went visiting the Museo del Violino (“Violin Museum”) in Cremona to understand, in collaboration with the museum board of directors how to design the uniform, we got really enthusiastic.
The museum, rightfully famous in Italy and around the globe, exhibits a rich collection of bowed string instruments, that travels through five centuries of lutherie in the footsteps of Antonio Stradivari, and deserves to be visited at least once in your lifetime.
A wing of the palace where the Museo del Violino is set is fully dedicated to acoustics studies: here, in collaboration with Milano and Pavia University, researches linked to lutherie are done (sound, material, conservation analysis, and so on). Inside the museum, there is an auditorium, that hosts concerts and auditions.
Our job was not an irrelevant responsability: uniforms had to match the museum’s environment and make the most of the staff look. The goal was to express elegance and modernity, maintaining a certain level of comfort.
Our project for the Museo del Violino
We developed a customized solution, suggesting a combined set of uniforms for men and women, formed by jacket and trousers. The fabric is a four seasons fabric and is particularly elastic, to guarantee the best fit anytime during the whole year. The proposed uniforms’ fabric is stain-resistant and do not need ironing.
In particular, for men a tailored cut was chosen: the jacket has a classic rever collar, and the trousers show a vertical fold and a fly over the zipper. Women, instead, wear straight leg trousers with a high waist band, that easily fit any waist size; the jacket has a peaked lapel.
In both cases, men and women, the shirt embellishes the outfit, thanks to the supplement of some elements. Women show a refined two button collar, whereas men show convertible square cuffs.
In conclusion…
The museum emplyees’ outfit should match perfectly expertise and comfort and be coherent with the theme of the exhibition: considering it, indeed, a more classic or casual or modern style can be considered.
If you are looking for museum uniforms, we can guide you to the right choice. Contact us: our team is ready to answer your questions.