A Century of Style: 100 Years of 4-H Fashion
A Century of Style: 100 Years of 4-H Fashion is the brainchild of Dr. Joyce Smith, OSU Extension Clothing and Textiles Specialist, and her swansong as well. Joyce is retiring this year, with over 25 years experience working with 4H Youth, Fashion Boards, and the Fashion Revue. She thought that since this was 4H’s centennial year, it might be fun to showcase some of the clothing projects from the last 100 years. The only problem was that we had no 4H clothing projects in the Collection. So, we put out a call to the counties to see what kind of response we would receive, to see if there were even enough pieces to make up an exhibition. Maybe we could fill one floor of the galleries. Well, to our happy surprise, we received over 400 responses. Unfortunately, that meant we had to go through the painstaking process of editing some of the offerings because we didn’t have enough gallery space or mannequins to show all of them. We tried to be fair and include at least one thing from each donor, resulting in over 100 items in this exhibition.
Many donors to this exhibition included letters with their donations, writing about how important and meaningful 4H has been throughout their lives. Several are from 4H families that go back four and five generations. Each garment is special to each donor, many having fond memories and stories attached. We recorded some of these stories that accompanied the garments into the exhibition booklet.
Thanks to Joyce for her creative ideas, we will miss them. Thanks also to all the donors who submitted garments for this exhibition. Without all of you, this exhibition would not be possible. To think that all of these beautifully crafted items were made by someone at home and not bought in a store is truly amazing.
A Century of Style is not just about sewing. Although many of the projects are vehicles for learning hand stitches and machine stitching, this exhibition showcases other forms of manipulating fibers and fabric such as embroidery, crewel, drawn work, felting, crocheting, quilting, and printing.
A microcosm of the twentieth century, the projects represented in A Century of Style reflect that era’s social history. We were unable to locate any projects from the first ten years of 4H, but are fortunate to have three cotton dresses from the 1920s. Two of these dresses are very simple in construction, with no shoulder seams. The pattern was placed with the shoulders on the fold of the fabric, requiring finishing of only the neck opening, side seams and sleeve openings; not the most economical use of fabric which was to become more of an issue in the next decade during the Great Depression.
We received very few projects from the 1930s, the majority being non-clothing items. Of the two dresses offered, one was a 4H uniform from 1932, and the other was a dress-up dress from the end of the decade. A very special object that represents the frugalness of the decade and the necessity to make clothing last is a pair of child’s socks that show examples of darning and mending.
The 1940s projects made from feed sack fabrics reflect the continued need for economy and frugality due to the shortages of materials caused by the war effort. The majority of clothing items were from the years before and after the war. The increased number of 1950s and 1960s projects reflects this country’s emerging affluence.
The ‘youthquake’ of the late 1960s/early 1970s brought evolution to 4H projects as well. No more aprons and tea towels as beginner projects, rather elastic waist skirts, triangle scarves, drawstring bags and simple shift mini dresses that were the fashion for the day.
Issues of gender equity began with women’s liberation in the 1970s. No longer were dresses the only type of garment made for school clothes. The introduction of trousers in all their various forms: knickers, gauchos and slacks, were worn to school and as sportswear-a new category or women’s clothing. In a true example of equality of the sexes, the first project tailored by a male 4H member was in 1974.
The ‘back to the nature’ peasant and country styles of clothing epitomized by the ‘Gunne Sax’ dress patterns gave way to disco glamour and bright jewel colors in the 1980s and early 1990s. In its continuing evolvement, 4H introduced new projects to keep up with the times. Sewing by the end of the twentieth century was no longer an economical necessity, but a leisure activity that could be, at times, expensive. ‘Clothing for your career’ and ‘creative costumes’ were two projects introduced to provide an outlet to meet the challenge.
All Wrapped Up
All Wrapped Up: A Sampling of Fashionable Outerwear celebrates spring semester’s transition from cold wintry temperatures into wet spring months with an exhibition of the garments that help keep us warm and dry. It is a history of fashion in the guise of capes, coats, and cloaks showcasing objects of luxurious adornment, exquisite tailoring, and practical utility.
Luxurious evening wraps are most plentiful in the decades of the opulent Belle Epoque, (1871-1914) and during the flamboyant 1920s Jazz Age and 1930s era of Hollywood glamor, while attention to tailoring and design detail is well paid in the wool coats for daywear from the late 19th century through to designer examples at the end of the 20th century. Iconic examples of outerwear such as the trench coat, as well as the bomber jacket, evolved from military fashions, while other jackets such as the motorcycle and jean jacket rose out of popular culture and the working classes.
The onset of the automobile required use of an overcoat, the duster, which was worn to protect one’s clothing underneath from the dust that would come into the windowless vehicles. Later in its history, shorter car coats evolved, eliminating the longer skirts of coats that got caught up in one’s feet while trying to drive.
A look at outerwear over the decades provides insight into not only the social history and popular culture prevalent at the time of its wearing, but also a glimpse into the science and technology of fabrics and fibers in the effort to keep us warm and dry. Coated wool fibers were developed early on for use in trench coats to keep out the rain, while in later years, plastics and plastic coatings found use in raincoats. Heavy wool overcoats provided warmth because of wool’s natural thermal characteristics for decades, but when down coats emerged on the fashion scene in the 1980s, they were warmer than wool and weighed significantly less.
Coats and outerwear are often seen only as practical and functional items of clothing and are overlooked for their design merit and aesthetic appeal. With this exhibition, we hope to change that point of view and build appreciation for outerwear that, in addition to having a utilitarian purpose, can also be fun, elegant and expressive.
American Aesthetics
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
And the Bride Wore
And The Bride Wore…
…is a phrase that often appeared in newspaper accounts of weddings throughout the twentieth century, describing the dress chosen by the bride for one of the most sartorially significant moments of her life. We chose it as the title of this exhibition about wedding dresses, because we wanted the focus to be on the dress itself, the bride and the material culture background story about both.
As with all exhibitions, making the choices about which artifacts to display is often difficult because of the breadth of worthy items from which to choose. We solved this dilemma in two ways. The first was to create two installations so we could show as many wedding gowns in the collection as possible. The second was to organize the dresses into categories for interesting groupings. For this exhibition, the groupings are: Something Old—a dress of a certain age, Something New—a dress relatively recent, Something Borrowed—a dress borrowed from a former bride, Something Blue—in this case, a non-white dress, Local Stories—a dress with an interesting story relevant to a local Columbus or Ohio store, War Brides—dresses with stories related to times of war, and Generation Gap—dresses from multiple generations in one family.
Again, with exhibitions, they do not happen without considerable help and I would like to acknowledge that help here. Assistant curator, Marlise Schoeny, did thorough “background checks” on the brides to uncover information to include in the informational labels, and also created the photo gallery of brides for whom we have portraits but are not in the exhibition—a method of including those for which we don’t have the space to physically display. Friend of the Collection, Jennifer Brown of Romance Studio created several headpieces to accompany our gowns; those pieces are noted in the labels. Volunteers Julie Burnsides dressed several of our mannequins in their varied period attire, and Jackie Farbeann employed her needle to stabilize those artifacts that needed tender loving care. In addition, volunteers Kathy Copeland, Connie Cummings, and Joyce Smith helped with many tasks, large and small, to make this exhibition as well as the daily operations of the Historic Costume & Textiles Collection a success.
Campus Fashion: 150 Years of College Style
The Ohio State University began celebrating its 150th anniversary this academic year and we are doing our part with an exhibition that takes a look at what people were wearing on college campuses for the past 150 years. The exhibit features what people wore to class, what they wore in the dorms (today sometimes those garments are the same but that was not true in the past), what was worn to football games or other activities, and what clothing was worn for special occasions related to college life such as formals or joining honors societies, fraternities or sororities.
In addition, we are featuring some student projects from design, construction, pattern-making and tailoring classes from years past. Pictures from the OSU Archives photograph collection in the exhibition highlight student life over the decades. A particular interesting series highlights the evolution of classes in Nutrition and Fashion from the early days of the Department of Domestic Science, and School of Home Economics.
Spotlights about alumni who've worn clothing in the exhibition include Grace Heck Faust, who graduated OSU Law School in 1930 (one of two female law graduates) and was the first woman in Ohio to be elected as a prosecuting attorney.
Dr. Ruth E. Moore is another notable alumna. She received all her degrees at Ohio State and was the first African American woman to earn a PhD in a natural Science. She taught at Howard University Medical College and also chaired the Department of Bacteriology from 1947-58.
Capital Fashion, Columbus 1851-1965
Between 1851 and 1965, the F&R Lazarus Company retail store dominated the trade and physical landscape of Columbus. Capital Fashion 1851-1965, the new exhibition at the College of Human Ecology, The Ohio State University, explores the fashion industry in Ohio’s capital city during the middle 100 years of Ohio’s bicentennial.
The dates covered by the exhibition, 1851-1965, parallel the history of the F&R Lazarus Co. From its early years as a men’s clothier in a 20 x 40 foot room, to its rise by 1965 as a member of the largest Department Store Chain, Federated, Lazarus’ growth reflects that of the capital city; from small beginnings through a “golden age” of downtown development and eventual branching out into the surrounding countryside.
Prior to the middle of the 19th century, clothing production was predominantly custom made by tailors or dressmakers. They purchased many of their supplies from dry goods merchants such as W. A. & J. C. McCoy & Co., or Sessions & Harris. Several of Columbus’ major department stores of the 20th century, such as Lazarus, The Union, and Morehouse-Martens, started out as either men’s clothiers or dry goods merchants. In fact, Lazarus did not offer women’s clothing in its store until 1909.
To represent the custom made apparel from this era, several tailor’s and dressmaker’s garments are featured in the exhibition, including a beautiful rust colored, watered silk dress from the 1860s. This gown belonged to Henrietta Hammon Falkenbach, whose husband Joseph was Franklin County Treasurer in 1866-7. He later became counsel to Germany during Cleveland’s administrations.
Two Columbus dressmakers from the turn of the century, Daisy Schaeffer and Kate Hoffer, actually had labels for the dresses they made. This is rare since most dressmaker’s work was done anonymously. One of Ms. Schaeffer’s dresses is featured in the exhibition. A blue silk chine, it was made for Fannie Barker Brown (Mrs. John Edwin Brown Sr.) around 1897. Mrs. Brown traveled all the way from McConnelsville, Ohio, to Columbus to do her dress shopping.
The exhibition also features some of the earliest women’s clothing items sold by the F&R Lazarus Co. In 1887, Fred and Ralph Lazarus bought a family shoe store and added it to their men’s clothing business. Women’s shoes were the first items sold at Lazarus for the female gender, and both the Mykrantz and Falkenbach families bought wedding shoes there in 1895 and 1905, respectively.
In 1909, the Lazarus brothers opened a new store, offering “everything ready to wear” for men, women, boys, and girls. On display in the exhibition is a woman’s linen duster coat, purchased from the store for the wedding trousseau of Anna Frank King, who was married in 1912. Dusters were necessary attire to protect one’s clothing from the dust that was kicked up by the tires of the new motor cars when driving at the turn of the century.
Although most of the capital city’s department stores had their beginnings in the 19th century, they experienced their glory years during the 20th century. The Union, Morehouse-Martens, The Fashion (as The Home Store), Lazarus, Armbruster’s, the Dunn-Taft Co., Boston Store, and the Z. L. White Co. were all located on High Street by 1920. Women’s specialty stores, stores that only sold women’s clothes and accessories, started to appear along North High and East Broad streets to give the department stores some competition. MacDonald’s Shop for Women, Mrs. Eugene Gray’s, The French Shop, and Montaldo’s are all represented in the exhibition with dresses worn from the 1930s-50s by some of Columbus society’s fashionable women, including Shirle Westwater, Agnes Jeffrey Shedd, Sarah Hislop Pace, Margaret Dombey, and Jeanne McCoy.
The Union, Lazarus, and The Fashion were especially significant in promoting fashion trends through numerous style shows. They had designer clothing salons within the stores and employed many women who worked their way up to become buyers and fashion directors. Along with models and fashion editors, these women dressed the part and helped disseminate the latest fashion trends. June Wells Dill, fashion editor for the Columbus Dispatch , Alice Crouthers, a buyer for Lazarus, Kathleen Busche and Nancy Davis, fashion directors for The Fashion and Lazarus, respectively, contributed garments from Columbus stores that are in the exhibition.
The New York fashion industry also regarded Columbus as an important part of the business. In 1964, the grandest fashion show of its time, the Coty American Fashion Critics’ Award Show, came to town, sponsored by the Dispatch and the major department stores. That year’s winner was a young Geoffrey Beene. This was the first year the show was presented outside of New York City.
Columbus was the nucleus of fashion for central Ohioans during these years, drawing customers from the surrounding countryside. They were all interested in purchasing the latest styles, or perhaps in acquiring that one special garment or accessory for a wedding or graduation. For many the trip to downtown Columbus, including a visit to the F&R Lazarus & Company, was a special occasion which required dressing up. The numerous department stores and specialty shops in the area provided a truly democratic variety of merchandise in the capital city, from designer fashions to bargain basement values. The stores of these golden years of downtown retailing will all now exist only in old photographs and memories.
Dior in Ohio: 1947-1997
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.
Dressing the Part, On and Off the Stage
Costume designers for theatre, film, and television use elements of design to convey to the audience visual information about characters. As individuals, we choose attire to communicate to others who we are.
Dressing the Part, On and Off the Stage, the new exhibition presented by the Historic Costume & Textiles Collection at the College of Human Ecology, explores the personalities portrayed by costumes designed for various types of stage performances, and how they translate into clothing selected by or made for individuals to perform the ‘roles’ of themselves. On display will be costume renderings from The Ohio State University Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute (TRI) and garments from the Collection.
The displays in Dressing the Part, On and Off Stage, depict four character types:
The Youthful Innocent
The Sophisticate
Dangerous Women and Rogues
Performers and Entertainers
Fashion American Style: 1900-1999 America’s 20th Century Rise to Dominate World Fashion
In the 1900s, after centuries of dependence on Paris fashion dictates, Americans broke free to set their own fashion trends. Fashion American Style: 1900-1999, the new exhibition at the College of Human Ecology, The Ohio State University, documents American’s bold move during the course of the 20th century from formal and constrictive fashions to today’s casual simplicity.
Created by Gayle Strege, curator of the Historic Costume & Textiles Collection, the exhibition will document the rise of American designers of fashion from their first recognized influence during the 1930s, both in the industry and Hollywood, through World War II and the establishment of an American couture industry, to the end of the century when major changes in the garment industry affected apparel designers and design, production, and marketing.
The displays in Fashion American Style will highlight three areas of interest:
Early dominance by Paris, early influence of Hollywood designers, and World War II (1900-1945)
American Fashion: Couture, high-end ready-to-wear, and sportswear (1945-1970)
Fashion industry changes: The end of couture and the rise of licensing and designer ready-to-wear (1970-1999)
Fashion and Music
Music and dress are a reflection of society at any given point in time. The diverse population of the United States has always, and continues to, influence both music and fashion. This exhibition displays artifacts tracing the history of American music and their influence on fashion. Beginning with the turn of the 20th century, it follows the relationship between fashion and music from its beginnings in vaudeville and with itinerant country singers to the current fashion companies run by rap superstars. From folk music to hip-hop, and related dress trends, from flapper dresses to Timberland boots, this exhibit provides examples of the interplay between music and fashion trends. Moreover, it examines how human behavior is influenced by the use of dress and how music serves as a means of communication between individuals.
Over 50 examples are on display in the Gladys Keller Snowden gallery, along with interactive links to listen to the top 10 songs of the decades of the 20th century.
Marlise Schoeny, Assistant Curator, Co-curator of this exhibit
Dr. Julie Hillery, Co-Curator of this exhibit
09/24/2021-04/30/2022