January 22, – June 28, 2014

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This is an exhibition showcasing a grant project funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The grant helped support the digital photography of artifacts that could be used to teach history in accordance with Ohio’s curriculum for grades 8-12, and offer workshops to teachers to provide them with information and resources to create lesson plans using the digital images. The exhibition will feature five history lesson areas: Early American Republic 1770s-1820, Civil War, turn of the century consumerism, the Great Depression and WWII and 1960-70s innovation. Wireless access to the museum’s Fashion2fiber website will be available in the gallery via ipads and personal devices to retrieve information regarding artifacts not included in the exhibition due to space.  http://fashion2fiber.osu.edu

The grant-funded workshops which accompanied this exhibit invited teachers to examine five main areas of historical inquiry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 5 – December 7, 2012

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The Columbus Fashion Story, explores the history of fashion as it relates to Columbus’ bicentennial history and its fashion industries. Two of retail fashion’s industry giants had their beginnings in Columbus, Ohio–Federated Department Stores in 1851 as S. Lazarus, and Limited Brands Inc. in 1963 as The Limited store in the Kingsdale shopping center. Both began modestly and eventually gained nation-wide recognition.

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Celebrating 100 Years of Girl Scouting, 1912–2012

March 9 – June 1, 2012

What do American fashion designers Bill Blass, Halston and Mainbocher have in common with the Girl Scouts of America? Their uniforms of course! While on first appearance one might not consider a uniform to be a garment that makes a fashion statement, Girl Scout uniforms do reflect historical American fashion trends. Not only do the uniforms reflect fashion throughout their 100 year history, the Girl Scouts organization actively partnered with leading names in the fashion industry to design and create their uniforms. This exhibition showcases these partnerships.

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October 5, 2011 – February 11, 2012

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Trade is one of those English words with many meanings. It can be a verb as in “to make an exchange” or “to buy and sell.” As a noun trade can indicate a skill or craft, or it can refer to an entire industry such as when the fashion industry is referred to as “the rag trade.”

Global Textile Trades explores all these aspects of trade from the craft of creating cloth from fibers and yarns to the skill of decorating that cloth through patterns of weaving, dyeing and embroidery techniques. Trade as exchange happens not only in the buying and selling of goods, but also in the exchange of cultural aesthetics and ideas. The international trade in textile products over the past several hundred years is evident in Indian influence in the textiles of Southeast Asia and Europe, and European influence in the textiles of Asia and Africa.

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October 28, 2010 – May 21, 2011

• “Designer built OSU collection” – Columbus Dispatch, January 5, 2010

The Ohio State University’s Historic Costume & Textiles Collection presented a tribute exhibition honoring Charles Kleibacker and his contributions to the Collection and the University while he was Designer-in-Residence and Curator from 1984-1995. The exhibition ran October 28, 2010 through May 21, 2011 and featured thirteen Kleibacker ensembles that either Charles or some of his clients donated to the Collection. These dresses represent a microcosm of Charles’ professional life, showcasing his dedication to quality, engineering, construction details and educating students.

In addition to the garments, images of some of the many remarkable pieces owned by the Collection and acquired by Charles during his tenure at OSU were shown. Among these are some of the most important designer and period fashions and textiles in the Collection including gowns by Charles Frederick Worth, Paul Poiret, Madeleine Vionnet, and Coco Chanel.

Additional video components in the exhibition featured a documentary of Charles’ life created by Jeff Simms of the Columbus Museum of Art and a compilation of images from the files of the Collection of Charles “in action” on the various exhibitions, fund-raisers and Friends events he initiated.

A recap of the exhibition opening preview can be found here.

Gayle Strege
Curator

Kleibacker red qiana jersey cape and skirt with pink silk jersey wrap top c. 1971