Ongoing and Upcoming Historical Clothing Exhibits

The Charleston Museum in Charleston, South Carolina currently has on exhibition clothing and textiles from the Civil War Era.

Exhibit highlights: (From their website)
This original exhibition offers a peek into the lives of those left on the home front and those battling deprivation and fear while raising their families and protecting their property, as well as those fighting on the front lines. Threads of War will illustrate how, as the 1860s marched on, the war took its toll not only in lives lost but on fashion, supplies, and every aspect of life. Womens, mens and childrens clothing, uniforms and accessories, quilts, coverlets and flags, along with magazines, newspapers, daguerreotypes and diaries provide tangible images of mid-nineteenth century Charleston and a lifestyle torn apart by war. The Charleston Museum will offer a wide variety of workshops and programs in conjunction with the exhibit. For more information, please visit www.charlestonmuseum.org or call (843) 722-2996.”


Exhibit features includea beautiful brown silk day dress worn… a cream wool challis dress with Zouave-style jacket… Wedding garments, accessories and memoir excerpts from the 1865 wedding of Louisa McCord and Augustine T. Smythe… A home-made palmetto straw hat and hand-crafted turkey feather fans… a magnificent Chinese embroidered shawl… Mens riding trousers… elegant vests from shortly before the war… 19th century top hat…An intricate woven coverlet made on Towles Plantation… A magnificent Star of Bethlehem quilt… a flowery chintz-appliqud quilt…a custom-tailored coat of fine wool…
Sounds pretty amazing!


Also, from the FIDM Museum in California:







9thAnnual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design
February 8 April 30, 2011



“On view will be actual costumes from over 20 movies from 2010.”
From their website, it looks like they may have a few of the gowns from TheYoung Victoria.

About Susan

Hi! My name is Susan and I am a historian, seamstress, teacher, mother, and wife. My passion for history has manifested itself in the art of recreating clothing from different periods of time. Growing up in the American South, I am heavily schooled in the art of recreating clothing from the 19th century. After nearly a decade of immersing myself primarily in the Victorian period, I found the need to branch out and explore other periods of time. However, it is my connection with the American South and the clothing of rural America that continues to be the driving force behind my designs.