Browse Exhibits (4 total)
Shifting Silhouettes
Shifting Silhouettes:
How Society, Culture, and History Shape the Way We Clothe Ourselves
The Vassar College Drama Department Historical Costume Collection in collaboration with the Locust Grove Historic Estate examines the transitions in fashion from the 1870s through the early 1900s
For Better and For Worse
For Better and For Worse: Sixteen Decades of Wedding Wear at Vassar
May 23-June 9, 2013 at the Palmer Gallery, Main Building, Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, NY)
In 2007, Vassar received a donation of four wedding dresses from the same Vassar family—three generations of dresses. The upcoming exhibition includes these four dresses, plus a fifth dress on loan to represent the fourth generation, as well as other wedding wear and photographs collected over the years. Explore changing views of marriage over the last 160 years, including current views on marriage equality.
Fashioning an Education
Fashioning an Education: 150 Years of Vassar Students and What They Wore
May 16-June 12, 2011 at the Palmer Gallery, Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, NY)
To celebrate the college’s 150th anniversary, the Vassar College Costume Collection shared student research about the complex role that education has played to influence fashion. This exhibition showcased student clothing from the 1860′s to 1950′s and photographs of student styles from the 1960′s to today.
A Glimpse into Vassar's Secret Closet
A selection of historic costumes from the Vassar College Costume Collection shown in the James W. Palmer III Gallery from May 21 to June 6, 2010. Free and open to the public, the exhibition opened on Friday, May 21.
Organized by Holly Hummel, Arden Kirkland ‘93, and Candace Schuster of the Drama Department, the exhibition offered the public a chance to see the results of an NEH funded semester-long process of costume preservation. This exhibition honored Holly Hummel, senior drama lecturer and costume designer, who retired at the end of the year. She began organizing the collection shortly after she started working at Vassar in 1981.