Vassar College Costume Collection

Wedding Dresses from the Vassar Community – More than Just Pretty Dresses

Arden Kirkland — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 20:44:46 +0000

As Vassar begins Spring Break, I’m finally able to carve out a moment to catch you all up with our plans for our next exhibition. We’re not sure of our opening date yet (we’re hoping to open during Senior Week as we did in 2010 and 2011, to be open for Commencement, by May 26) [...]

French Fashion Show Photos

Arden Kirkland — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 22:13:13 +0000

Our Second Annual French Fashion Show event at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center was a great success! The folks at Contrast magazine, who co-sponsored the event with us (along with the FLLAC Student Advisory Committee, the Department of French and Francophone Studies, and VC Soundsystems) have posted about the event on their blog, with some [...]

Announcing: Another Fashion Show at the Art Center

Arden Kirkland — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 17:49:29 +0000

It’s hard to believe it has already been a year since last year’s fashion show at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar. Well, it was such a success that we’re doing it all again! Once again, we’ll bring fashion to Thursday’s Late Night at the Loeb, on November 15. The galleries of the Frances [...]

A “Glimpse” of a Digital Exhibition

Arden Kirkland — Wed, 16 May 2012 02:24:05 +0000

We’re pleased to announce that you can now view a digital exhibition representing our 2010 exhibition “A Glimpse into Vassar’s Secret Closet.” This exhibition was the culmination of the NEH-funded Historic Costume Preservation Workshop in the spring of 2010. During the 2011-12 academic year, student research assistant Julie Fields ’12 compiled photographs from the exhibition and turned [...]

Costume History Class Visit, Fall 2011

Arden Kirkland — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:21:12 +0000

Students from Kenisha Kelly’s Drama class “History of Fashion for the Stage” had a wonderful opportunity to visit the Drama Department’s collection of historic clothing. To begin, historic collection Co-Curators Holly Hummel (Faculty Emeritus) and Arden Kirkland (Costumer for the Drama Department) introduced the class to the collection. Then the class was broken into four smaller [...]

French Connection Photographs

Arden Kirkland — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:08:44 +0000

Did you come and visit for the evening of the French Connection event, at Late Night at the Loeb on November 17? If so, please send us some of YOUR photos – but if not, enjoy these photos of the event. The fashion show included contemporary styles mixed with historic reproductions back to Marie Antoinette, and [...]

Video of the French Connection Fashion Show

Arden Kirkland — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:08:27 +0000

If you missed our fabulous French Connection event at Late Night at the Loeb on November 17, you can watch this video of the fashion show from YouTube. (If you’re in a hurry, fast forward to about 5:10 to see all the models walk at the end). This video comes to us via Contrast, Vassar’s [...]

Vassar Costumes at the Loeb

Arden Kirkland — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:27:09 +0000

I am pleased to announce an exciting fashion event taking place this week at Vassar: “The French Connection: an evening of art et fashion” brings fashion to Thursday’s Late Night at the Loeb. The galleries of the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center are open late on Thursday, until 9pm, with a fashion show at 7pm and [...]

Historic Costume Preservation Workshop Final Report

Arden Kirkland — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:39:14 +0000

I am very pleased to share the final report from our NEH grant funded “Historic Costume Preservation Workshop” at Vassar College in spring 2010. Including all the appendices, it is rather lengthy, so I certainly don’t expect you to read through every word – but it’s a great reference to flip through and see just how [...]

Presentations to the Costume Society

Arden Kirkland — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 04:07:33 +0000

Two weeks ago, three of us were able to attend the annual symposium for the Costume Society of America. We had a wonderful time meeting with other like-minded souls. I traveled to Boston on Wednesday with my colleague Kenisha Kelly, Visiting Assistant Professor of Costume Design in Vassar’s Drama department. We arrived just in time for [...]