Historic Costume & Textiles Collection

College of Education and Human Ecology
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

DONATE

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Collections
  • Search Collections
  • Exhibitions
    • Current Exhibition
    • Upcoming Exhibitions
    • Past Exhibitions
  • Fashion2Fiber Digital Gallery
  • Clothes Lines Blog
  • Teaching
  • Friends and Donors
    • Donating Objects
    • Financial Contributions
  • Visit Us
  • Contact Us
  • Links

Cartoon Couture

October 24, 2017 by Gayle Strege

 

George Moutard Woodward 1801 cartoon on Fashion from Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum

1800-1810 cotton apron-front dress

Cartoons have ridiculed and satirized fashion’s trends and fads and some of its more extreme styles for centuries, from editorial pages to popular comic strips. In partnership with the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum, this exhibition highlights select fads, trends, and innovations from the 19th century through the 1970s, pairing examples of the clothing itself with the comic strips, cartoons, paper-dolls, and comic books in which these styles appeared. The exhibit opened November 4, 2017 at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum and ran through April 21, 2018.

Filed Under: Past Exhibitions

Dior in Ohio: 1947-1997

June 30, 2017 by Gayle Strege

September 14 – December 15, 2017 and January 16 – April 28, 2018

(closed Spring Break March 10-17, 2018)

This exhibition celebrates the fashion arts of Christian Dior in recognition of the 70th anniversary of his post WWII “New Look”. Featured garments include ball gowns, daywear and suits exclusively from Ohio museums or worn by Ohio women. In addition to Diors from our collection, are evening gowns and day dresses worn by Elizabeth Parke Firestone of Akron from The Henry Ford Museum as well as the Western Reserve Historical Society, which is also lending day and evening wear belonging to Mary Peters Bolton from Lancaster and Cleveland. Kent State University Museum is also lending garments, and other Ohio women represented in the exhibition include Dorothy Peters from Lancaster and Marilyn Maxwell from Cincinnati among others. See exhibit installation images on our fashion2fiber website.

“Fanny” evening gown, 1953, worn by Elizabeth Parke Firestone. From the Collections of The Henry Ford, Dearborn, Michigan

Suit of Dorothy Peters c. 1950, Gift of Dorothy Peters

Silk day dress of Elizabeth Parke Firestone, 1953, on loan from Western Reserve Historical Society

Filed Under: Past Exhibitions

All Wrapped Up: A Sampling of Fashionable Outerwear

January 20, 2017 by Gayle Strege

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. See exhibit installation images on our fashion2fiber website.

1880s brown wool coat
1960s Pierre Cardin Mod wool coat
Andre Courreges orange wool 1960s car coat
Anne Klein floral wool ‘tapestry’ midi coat c. 1970

 

Filed Under: Exhibitions, Past Exhibitions

Red or Blue?

July 29, 2016 by Gayle Strege

red-or-blue-webSeptember 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

Blue satin Galanos 1986

Red chiffon halston 1970s

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

Check out the digital exhibition on Fashion2Fiber

Filed Under: Exhibitions, Past Exhibitions

American Aesthetics

July 6, 2015 by Marlise Schoeny

blass-and-delarenta

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.

3-19-2016 FrontBill 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.

View images from this exhibition on our fashion2fiber website.

 

Filed Under: Exhibitions, Past Exhibitions

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • …
  • 7
  • Next Page »
  • Exhibitions
    • Current Exhibition
    • Upcoming Exhibitions
    • Past Exhibitions

Categories

Carousel Collections Current Exhibition Events Exhibitions Features Past Exhibitions
  • Facebook

Welcome

The Historic Costume & Textiles Collection is a scholarly and artistic resource of apparel and textile material culture. The 11,500+ holdings encompass a range of three dimensional objects such as textiles and articles of clothing and accessories for men, women, and children, including national dress costume, from the mid-18th century to contemporary 21st century designers.

Quicklinks

  • Clothes Lines
  • Fashion2FIber
  • FRIL: Fiber Reference Image Library

Search Historic Costume & Textiles Collection

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

Visitors

Visitors are welcome to tour exhibitions when they are on display in gallery spaces. Gallery hours and location can be found on the visit us page or you may contact us for upcoming information on exhibitions, programs, and events.

Research

The Collection is available to researchers by appointment only, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call or email to make arrangements.

Contact Us

The Historic Costume & Textiles Collection
175 Campbell Hall
1787 Neil Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210

Telephone: (614) 292-3090
Fax: (614) 688-8133
Email: strege.2@osu.edu

© 2022 The Ohio State University - College of Education and Human Ecology. All Rights Reserved. If you have trouble accessing this page and need to request an alternate format, contact the webmaster.

© 2022 Historic Costume & Textiles Collection | The Ohio State University - College of Education and Human Ecology | Privacy Policy.
All Rights Reserved. If you have trouble accessing this page and need to request an alternate format, contact the Webmaster.