Clothing & Accessories - Overview
Work, play, fashion, economic class, religious faith, even politics—all these aspects of American life and more are woven into clothing. The Museum cares for one of the nation's foremost collections of men's, women's, and children's garments and accessories—from wedding gowns and military uniforms to Halloween costumes and bathing suits.
The collections include work uniforms, academic gowns, clothing of presidents and first ladies, T-shirts bearing protest slogans, and a clean-room "bunny suit" from a manufacturer of computer microchips. Beyond garments, the collections encompass jewelry, handbags, hair dryers, dress forms, hatboxes, suitcases, salesmen's samples, and thousands of fashion prints, photographs, and original illustrations. The more than 30,000 artifacts here represent the changing appearance of Americans from the 1700s to the present day.
"Clothing & Accessories - Overview" showing 5 items.
Woman's Dress, 1936
- Description
- Mrs. Bertrand Cohn purchased this "Delphos" dress in Paris in 1936. When she returned to New York, she wore it to the Metropolitan Opera with silver shoes and a diamond necklace. She later donated the dress to the Smithsonian.
- The designer, Mariano Fortuny, was born in Granada, Spain, in 1871 to a family of artists. After his father’s death in 1874, the Fortunys lived in Paris and Spain and eventually settled in Venice, Italy. Inspired by his surroundings and encouraged by his family, Mariano became a painter. Fortuny's artistic interest covered a range of creative endeavors, from sculpture, photography, and interior design to stage and set design and stage lighting. His interest in dyes and chemistry led him to textile and costume design, for which he is best known today.
- Influenced by Orientalism and neoclassicism, Fortuny created lush and decorative fabrics. Using a mixture of hand and screen printing to decorate the fabrics allowed him the freedom to experiment and design. His most famous design was the "Delphos," a classic pleated tea gown he began making around 1907 and continued until his death. Named after a Greek classical sculpture, the Delphos dress was a simple column of vertical pleats permanently set in silk by a process never successfully duplicated. Fortuny considered his dress concepts to be inventions, and in 1909 he patented the pleating process and the machine he invented and copy-righted the design of the dress. These dresses were meant to be stored by rolling them lengthwise, twisting them into a ball and placing them in an oval miniature hat box (we have the one that came with this dress), thus preserving the pleats and keeping the shape of the dress.
- Avant-garde American dancers Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis wore Fortunys because of their interest in the body and movement. Originally made to be worn as teas gowns for entertaining at home, the gowns were seen outside the home by the 1930s.
- This two-piece tubular cut tea gown is constructed of a finely pleated rose-colored silk. It is full length with openings at the side seams to form armholes. The wide scoop neckline has a drawstring encased along the inside edge, and there are two rows of stitching on either side of the shoulder seams. Silk cording evenly threaded with yellow glass beads with black and red stripes is stitched along the side seams and the armhole edges. The separate belt is made of rose-colored silk painted with a silver metallic pattern of trailing oak leaves and dots.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1936
- user
- Mrs. Bertrand W. Cohn
- designer
- Fortuny, Mariano
- ID Number
- CS*322625.002
- catalog number
- 322625.002
- accession number
- 322625
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Westinghouse World's Fair Pin
- Description (Brief)
- Souvenir pin commemorating the New York World's Fair (1939-1940.) The pin features the Westinghouse Electric Company's robotic mascot "Elektro."
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1939
- ID Number
- 1989.0438.1482A
- catalog number
- 1989.0438.1482A
- accession number
- 1989.0438
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Experimental stockings
- Description
- In 1928, the E. I. DuPont de Nemours Co. hired Wallace Carothers Ph. to conduct pure research in any area of chemistry he chose. His interest was in the construction of long chain polymers, similar to those found in nature. There was no product in mind when he and his team began their work, they simply wanted to learn as much about large molecules as possible. The work done by Carothers and his team lead to the discovery of polyesters and polyamides. DuPont went with the polyamides, and nylon was born. It was the first fiber produced entirely in the laboratory, and was introduced to the public in the form of women's stockings at the 1939 World's Fair. Nylon stockings went on sale May 15, 1940, and were a smashing success. Prior to the production of nylon stockings, American women wore stockings made of silk or rayon. By 1942, nylon stockings were taking twenty percent of the stocking market. With U.S. entry into World War Two, nylon was declared a defense material and withdrawn from the civilian market. Nylon's most famous use during the war was as a replacement for silk in parachutes. However, it was also used in ropes, netting, tire cord, and dozens of other items. So many uses were found for nylon that some referred to it as the "fiber that won the war." When the war ended, nylon stockings were brought back and quickly replaced silk and rayon in the stocking market.
- This is the first pair of experimental nylon stockings made by Union Hosiery Company for Du Pont in 1937. The leg of the stocking is nylon, the upper welt, toe, and heel are silk, and cotton is found in the seam. The nylon section of the stocking would not take the silk dye, and dyed to black instead of brown.
- Date made
- ca 1937
- 1937
- maker
- Union Hosiery Co.
- ID Number
- TE*T12049
- accession number
- 227591
- catalog number
- T12049
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Scarecrow Costume
- Description
- Ray Bolger wore this patchwork outfit as the Scarecrow, one of the trio of friends who accompany Dorothy to the Emerald City in The Wizard of Oz.
- date made
- 1939
- user
- Bolger, Ray
- designer
- Adrian
- ID Number
- COLL.SCRCRW.002000
- accession number
- 1987.0608
- catalog number
- 1987.0608.01
- 1987.0608.02
- 1987.0608.03
- 1987.0608.04
- 1987.0608.05
- 1987.0608.06
- 1987.0608.07
- 1987.0608.08
- 1987.0608.09
- 1987.0608.10
- 1987.0608.11
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
- No Image Available
Lipstick Case
- Description
- Physical Description
- Gold metal gun shell shaped lipstick case containing red lipstick.
- General History
- In a 1941 editorial Vogue magazine asked: "Is it patriotic to worry about my looks at a time like this?" The response from one soldier: "To look unattractive these days is downright morale breaking and should be considered treason." The United States Marine Corps Women's Reserve wore a Forest Green Hat with a red silk hat cord. Revlon created a red lipstick to match the cord.
- date made
- 1942
- maker
- Revlon Products Corporation
- ID Number
- 1997.0109.01
- accession number
- 1997.0109
- catalog number
- 1997.0109.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center