October 24 – December 5, 2009 (Main exhibition)
May 5 – July 25, 2010 (Condensed version featuring student research in Thompson Library first floor exhibit cases)

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The Historic Costume & Textiles Collection houses over 12,000 artifacts of material and popular culture, some of which provided inspiration for researchers ranging from undergraduate students to independent scholars.

Thirty items on display represent some of the variety of disciplines linked to textile and historic clothing research. They are:

• Historical research, including business history and biographies
• Art Historical research
• Design
• Textile Science research

Artifacts are accompanied by the corresponding publications — theses, dissertations, honors theses, books, essays, and chapters in books. Visitors are encouraged to pick up the publications and read them.

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February 26 – June 27, 2009

• Read more about this exhibit in Columbus Alive.
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The Sewer’s Art: Quality, Fashion and Economy features 49 beautifully constructed garments that reflect the creative and artistic talents of four fashion and style-conscious women from the beginning to the end of the 20th century who sewed for economical reasons and/or for self expression, to create high quality fashionable clothing.

Introduction

Home sewn clothing is rarely, if ever, exhibited in a museum. It is not considered ‘art’ in the academic sense. Art museums primarily showcase the work of ‘professional’ artists, and the clothing most often exhibited in art museums is of the ‘fashion designer’ variety. [Read more…]

October 18, 2007 – May 10, 2008

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Is anything more iconic or versatile than the little black dress? Gayle Strege, curator of Ohio State University’s Historic Costume & Textiles Collection doesn’t think so. Beginning October 19, sixty of the collection’s little black dresses will be on display through May 10, 2008. Located on campus in Campbell Hall’s Geraldine Schottenstein Wing at 1787 Neil Avenue, it’s a convenient stop for students and visitors alike.

The little black dress is not as simple as its name implies. How can it be when it ruined the reputation of Madame X on the one hand, and elevated Audrey Hepburn’s star status on the other? [Read more…]

October 26, 2006 – May 19, 2007

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Feathers, Leathers, and Fur: A Fashion History was an exhibition in the Geraldine Schottenstein Wing for the Historic Costume & Textiles Collection at The Ohio State University that explored the historical use of fur, along with non-fur skins and feathers, as clothing items and adornment. Human cultures in all corners of the globe have looked to nature for inspiration in ornamenting the body and have often borrowed the more decorative outer coverings of many of nature’s creatures. The more unusual, fine, and rare of these items often reached the level of luxury status within a society.

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Oct 20, 2005 – May 20, 2006

What does children’s clothing tell us about how we as a society appreciate our children? How have these views changed over time? These are two questions which curator Gayle Strege of The Ohio State University’s Historic Costume & Textiles Collection’s addressed in the exhibition Toddlers, Teens and Tweens: 250 Years of Children’s Fashion.

Drawing from over 550 items of children’s clothing within the Collection’s archives, the exhibition illustrated not only the history of children’s clothing styles, but also explored society’s views of child care and their resulting influences on children’s clothing fashions.

Among the themes for the exhibition are:

• The 18th century practice of swaddling and its residual existence in the 19th and 20th century.
• Dressing both girls and boys in skirts when they were babies and toddlers.
• Children dressed as miniatures of adults.
• Fashions specifically for children and their special needs: school and play.
• The introduction of the marketing terms ‘teen’ and ‘tween’ in the 20th century.
• Children’s fashions for 2005.

View images from this exhibition.