Costumes Society Of America

Clothing is the most personal expression of a culture. Objects of dress and adornment reveal so much about the individuals who wore them and the cultures and times in which they lived. History, art, technology, psychology, culture, social systems, customs―all are reflected in people’s clothing.Countless treasures exist in clothing and textile collections across the U.S., but until now no comprehensive directory to the collections was 04 Activeable. Clothing and Textile Collections in the Uni... [Read More]

Managing Costume Collections offers systematic approaches to organization, accessibility, record keeping, safety, and a host of other stewardship concerns related to managing costume collections of every type. Conceived to address needs long identified by the Costume Society of America, this guide is written for a broad spectrum of collection managers at museums, historical societies and houses, university theaters and study collections, and company archives, as well as for vintage dealers, priv... [Read More]

The award-winning true story of third-generation American farmer John Peterson's hero's journey of success, tribulation, failure and rebirth. Peterson is a true American original. His story parallels that of the family farm in 20th Century America. What makes The Real Dirt on Farmer John so special is the fact that John Peterson is not only a farmer....he's an artist, too.Includes Farmer John Music Video, Photo Gallery, Recipes from Farmer John's cookbook and information on organic farming, CSA'... [Read More]

Form-fitting dresses, silk veils, earrings, furs, high-heeled shoes, make-up, and dyed, flowing hair. It is difficult for a contemporary person to reconcile these elegant clothes and accessories with the image of cloistered nuns. For many of the some thousand nuns in early modern Venice, however, these fashions were the norm. Often locked in convents without any religious calling―simply to save their parents the expense of their dowry―these involuntary nuns relied on the symbolic meaning of... [Read More]

If clothes make the man, who makes the clothes―and the trends they inspire? Fashion historian Daniel Delis Hill takes readers on a fascinatingly detailed tour of America’s changing sartorial landscape, tracing menswear from the tailors and “slop shops” of the early nineteenth century to Calvins, tattoos, and the Armani tux. Each chronological section covers the full range of men's clothing by category, including suits and evening wear, outerwear, sportswear, accessories, sleepwear, swimw... [Read More]

Between 1678 and 1710, Parisian presses printed hundreds of images of elegantly attired men and women dressed in the latest mode, and posed to display every detail of their clothing and accessories. Long used to illustrate dress of the period, these fashion prints have been taken at face value and used uncritically. Drawing on perspectives from art history, costume history, French literature, museum conservation and theatrical costuming, the essays in this volume explore what the prints represen... [Read More]

Dressmaking, considered a natural extension of women's proper work in the home, was a common and lucrative employment for women in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It afforded creative expression, prestige in the community, and even the possibility of financial independence. Yet as entrepreneurs, dressmakers faced unique business pressures, and with the advent of department stores and widespread mass production of women's clothing, most were forced out of business. Coinciding with t... [Read More]