January 26 – April 29, 2017

The Historic Costume & Textiles Collection celebrates the winter into spring months of Spring Semester with an exhibition of the garments that help keep us warm and dry. “All Wrapped Up,” is a history of fashion in the shape of capes, coats, and cloaks. Luxurious evening wraps share space with iconic trench coats and other functional and fun outer garments that are used for protective and decorative purposes alike. Examples of both men’s and women’s outerwear are featured.

September 1, – December 10, 2016

Red and blue are the colors of our states during election season, so we’ve decided to explore those colors in our fall exhibition, Red or Blue? Join us this election season as we delve into the cultural meanings and psychology of the colors of the season, and view some of our best examples of red and blue gowns, suits and dresses from various decades of the twentieth century.

Blue satin Galanos 1986

Red chiffon Halston 1970s

The Historic Costume & Textiles Collection is featuring some of its best examples of red and blue in its latest exhibition. These colors first were used in television election coverage in 1976, although at that time, neither color was ‘assigned’ to one political party. In addition to political affiliations, cultural meanings of red and blue also have shifted over time, having different meanings in the past than they do today. We will look into these meanings as well as the natural dye sources for these colors. Approximately thirty garments will be on display in the upper Gladys Keller Snowden gallery in Campbell Hall, including designer evening gowns, daywear and suits. Related materials will be in the lower gallery.

View images from the exhibition

September 17-December 12, 2015 and January 19-April 30, 2016

Geoffrey Beene, Bill Blass and Oscar de la Renta were some of the premiere designers of the latter part of the twentieth century. The Ohio State Historic Costume & Textiles Collection presents the exhibition, American Aesthetics, featuring the work of these three designers in an exhibit running September 17-December 12, 2015 and then re-opening January 19-April 30, 2016. These three men dominated the Coty American Fashion Critics’ Awards during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, helping to create an American aesthetic in fashion design.

Geoffrey Beene was born in Haynesville, LA in 1927 and moved to New York City to study fashion at the Traphagen School of Fashion after dropping out of Tulane in 1946. His first collection was featured on the cover of Vogue in September of 1963. Beene won his first of eight Coty Fashion Critics’ Awards in 1964. He is considered one of fashion’s ultimate modernists. Beene initially received success for his popular unfitted sheath dress of the 1960s, but was later knows for his innovative minimalist design in body-revealing soft draping.

Bill Blass was born in 1922 in Fort Wayne, IN and attended the Parsons School of Design in 1939. After being drafted in the Army in World War II, he returned to the U.S. and began working for Maurice Rentner. Blass won the Coty Award in 1961 and 1963 while working for Rentner and later won again in 1970 under his own label. Blass also designed menswear starting in 1967 and won three Coty awards for his menswear as well. Blass is known for impeccable tailoring, luxurious fabrics and a sporty, sophisticated yet simple and classic aesthetic.

Oscar de la Renta was born in the Dominican Republic in 1932 and studied both there and in Madrid, Spain. He worked for Balenciaga in Madrid, followed by Lanvin/Castillo in Paris. Later in his career, he worked for (1993-2002) Balmain. De la Renta worked in New York for Elizabeth Arden for two years before working for Jane Derby. When she died in 1965, Oscar took over the label. He won the Coty Award in 1967, 1968 and 1973, and is known for a dramatic sense of color and embellishment.

Bill Blass and Oscar de la Renta were part of the “battle” between French and American designers featured in Deborah Riley Draper’s documentary, Versailles ’73: American Runway Revolution. We are having a screening of the film on March 19, 2016 at 2pm. Contact us for more information.

September 17 – December 13, 2014 and January 22 – May 9, 2015

And the Bride Wore…

And The Bride Wore… had two installations, one during Fall semester, and the second in Spring semester to maximize the number of dresses to display in the upper gallery space.

The exhibition was organized around several themes, instead of being a strict timeline of wedding gown fashions, and featured dresses from the 1880s through the end of the 20^th century and into the 21^st. All have interesting stories which accompany them. The themes include, “Something Old” and “Something New” which are pretty self-explanatory, “Something Borrowed”—a dress borrowed or re-cycled from a previous bride, “Something Blue”—a non-white wedding gown, “Generations”—more than one generation of brides in a family, “War Brides”—dresses worn around various war times, and “Local Interest”—dresses with stories and connections local to Columbus and Ohio. Each installation will feature 15-16 gowns and all thematic areas.

Henriette Seroi and Colin Robertson 1919

Henriette Seroi’s story was featured in a Columbus Bride blogpost. Click here to read more.

The gowns featured in the exhibition, as well as other wedding gowns in the museum’s collections, can be viewed online on our website Fashion2Fiber

Dr. Katherine Jellison joined us for a talk about her book,  It’s Our Day: America’s Love Affair with the White Wedding 1945–2005 and the research related to it on February 25, 2015, as a public program related to the exhibition.

 

Please contact us if you have questions about our exhibitions and programs