Clothing & Accessories
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.
2,710
Page 1 of 136
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If You Don't Come in Sunday...
- Description
- Text of poster refers to how before industries were unionized workers had to work seven days a week.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
- ID Number
- 1986.0710.0001
- accession number
- 1986.0710
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
We Vote for Health- Home- Happiness
- Description
- An International Ladies Garment Workers Union poster supporting Roosevelt and Truman for President and Vice President.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- referenced
- Roosevelt, Franklin Delano
- Truman, Harry S.
- maker
- International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
- ID Number
- 1986.0710.0003
- accession number
- 1986.0710
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Woman's right to vote...
- Description
- A poster sponsored by the International Ladies Garment Workers Union.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- associated date
- 1920
- 1900
- 1970
- maker
- International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
- ID Number
- 1986.0710.0007
- accession number
- 1986.0710
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Union Cap
- Description
- This International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) cap, dates from around 1933.
- Date made
- ca 1933
- referenced
- International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
- ID Number
- 1986.0710.0037
- accession number
- 1986.0710
- catalog number
- 1986.0710.0037
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
The Woman Who Cares
- Description
- A poster sponsored by the International Ladies Garment Workers Union encouraging citizens to vote.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
- ID Number
- 1986.0710.0048
- accession number
- 1986.0710
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
I Reside Wherever There Is A Good Fight Against Wrong
- Description
- A poster sponsored by the International Ladies Garment Workers Union with a photograph of Mother Jones in a protest parade. Mother Jones was an activist as well as a community and union organizer. She is a co-founder of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW.)
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
- ID Number
- 1986.0710.0049
- accession number
- 1986.0710
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
She's Holding Her Family Together with a Needle and Thread
- Description
- A poster advertising the International Ladies Garment Workers Union.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- associated date
- 1972
- maker
- International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
- ID Number
- 1986.0710.0050
- accession number
- 1986.0710
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Two of the World's 100 Million Best Dressed Women
- Description
- A poster advertising the International Ladies Garment Workers Union.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
- ID Number
- 1986.0710.0051
- accession number
- 1986.0710
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
The Day the Senate Voted Against Mother's Day
- Description
- A poster advertising the International Ladies Garment Workers Union.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- associated date
- 1908
- maker
- International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
- ID Number
- 1986.0710.0052
- accession number
- 1986.0710
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
The fashion- half a century ago...
- Description
- A poster advertising the International Ladies Garment Workers Union.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
- ID Number
- 1986.0710.0053
- accession number
- 1986.0710
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Pamela wore a mini skirt, sweater, white go-go boots and 4 union labels
- Description
- A poster advertising the International Ladies Garment Workers Union.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
- ID Number
- 1986.0710.0054
- accession number
- 1986.0710
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Dress worn by Charlotte Cushman in the role of Queen Katherine in Shakespeare's Henry VIII .
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1847-1874
- Associated Name
- +D
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- ET.014937
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
The Red Shawl
- Description
- "The Red Shawl" is a soft ground color etching and aquatint by May Gearhart (1872–1951). Although she created landscape prints like her sister Frances, May Gearhart also made prints of figure subjects. "The Red Shawl" is an image inspired by one of her trips to Mexico.
- In the print, a woman shown in profile holds a small bouquet of flowers while walking along a cobblestone sidewalk next to a white building. Her layered clothing, Gearhart's skillful use of color, and the deep shadows give the impression of a cold, but sunny morning. The woman is wearing a full, plaid, violet skirt and a red shawl. Her slightly bowed head is covered by a yellow kerchief and her face is shadowed.
- Gearhart achieved a watercolor effect by thinning oil-based inks. This tiny print is very loosely rendered, a characteristic of the soft ground technique. Although the process of printmaking usually involves creating a set of identical images, Gearhart often printed in small editions, using different shades of ink for each print to produce unique impressions.
- The Gearhart sisters both taught school, and they worked closely with two brothers, Benjamin and Howell Brown, to establish and support printmaking organizations in California. The Gearharts and the Browns exhibited their prints at the Smithsonian in the 1920s, and they all made generous donations of their work.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- [1920]
- graphic artist
- Gearhart, May
- ID Number
- GA.13357
- catalog number
- 13357
- accession number
- 70154
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Antique Jewels
- Description
- Jules Jacquemart reproduced these jewels in Bijoux Antiques (Musée Campana), working directly from the objects. He started by making detailed drawings or watercolors of the objects, but sometimes he etched them directly on the plate. This print was considered a still life by Jacquemart’s contemporaries. One enthusiastic author even praised him as “the most marvellous etcher of still-life who ever existed in the world. In the power of imitating an object set before him he has distanced all past work and no living rival can approach him.” This etching originally appeared in 1863 in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts, which first published one of his etchings in 1859. Of the almost 400 prints Jacquemart made, about two-thirds reproduce objects.
- The Museo Campana housed the art collection of the Marchese Giovanni Pietro Campana in Rome. When the collection was disbursed in 1861, France acquired a large part of the jewelry, which comprised mainly Etruscan, Greek, and Roman pieces, as well as some 19th-century work. The jewels were exhibited in Paris from 1862 and helped start a fashion for archeological jewelry. They can be viewed today in the Musée du Louvre, Paris.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1863
- graphic artist
- Jacquemart, Jules
- printer
- Delâtre
- publisher
- Gazette des Beaux-Arts
- ID Number
- GA.14602.01
- catalog number
- 14602.01
- accession number
- 94830
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Spectacles
- Description
- These silver-framed eyeglasses with round lenses are know as Martin's Margins. They were invented by Benjamin Martin (1704–1782), an instrument maker from London, England. The dark rims were supposed to protect wearers from excessive light and improve their vision. This pair probably dates from the second half of the eighteenth century. Most Martin's Margins frames are made from steel or silver and have either horn or tortoiseshell rims.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1750-1800
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- MG.M-11223
- accession number
- 260033
- catalog number
- M-11223
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Woman's Quaker Bonnet
- Description
- This bonnet from 1850-1874 is what a Quaker woman would have worn. Quaker bonnets were much plainer than the fashionable bonnets of the nineteenth century, with less adornment. They changed very little in style and shape making them difficult to date accurately. This bonnet with its quilted lining and skirt section would offer warmth to the wearer during inclement weather.
- This bonnet is constructed of dark navy blue velvet with a quilted maroon lining and curtain. The bonnet fastens with two black ribbon ties with a single long maroon ribbon attached to either side of the front edges. It measures 12 ½ inches high by 9 ½ inches wide by 12 inches deep.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1850-1874
- ID Number
- 1983.0805.04
- accession number
- 1983.0805
- catalog number
- 1983.0805.04
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Christening Gown
- Description
- This white infant’s dress with short raglan sleeves was made by African American dressmaker Elizabeth Keckley for her goddaughter Alberta Elizabeth Lewis-Savoy in 1866. The neckline has two rows of casing with a narrow gathering ribbon. The center back opens with ribbon ties and a placket. The back waist is detailed with four rows of gathering ribbon and the front waistband is covered with lace, which is partially stitched down. A full skirt with twenty pleats is gathered to the waistband. Handmade Bucks point bobbin lace trims the sleeves and hem.
- date made
- 1866
- wearer
- Lewis, Alberta Elizabeth
- maker
- Keckley, Elizabeth
- ID Number
- 1983.0853.01
- accession number
- 1983.0853
- catalog number
- 1983.0853.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Triangular Brussels Point de Gaze Needle Lace Shawl
- Description
- This large triangular lace shawl was made in Brussels point de gaze needle lace. The overall design has fine naturalistic floral motifs with a few sections of the common bold, tightly buttonholed wheels. It shows a very fine overall pattern and execution. It was made in Belgium of fine cotton thread in about the 1850's
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1850-1860
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- 1984.0111.018
- accession number
- 1984.0111
- catalog number
- 1984.0111.018
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Blonde Bobbin Lace Silk Flounce
- Description
- This flounce of stylized floral motifs is executed in Blonde bobbin lace. The flounce is made of cream colored silk thread in three sizes. The ground is point ground, with the motifs made in dense linen stitches and lighter half stitches outlined with a heavy gimp thread. Honeycomb ground is used as decorative fillings. The flounce is edged with a narrow machine made picot edge on both sides.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1830-1845
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- 1984.0111.243
- accession number
- 1984.0111
- catalog number
- 1984.0111.243
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Spectacles
- Description
- This pair of Harlequin-shaped eyeglasses dates from about 1960. The frame is made from 12KT white gold and has a black enamel-like design on the rim and temples. The Ultex bifocal lenses are made each from one piece of ground glass. The nose pads and earpieces are covered in plastic. By the mid-twentieth century, the variety of styles, colors, and materials for eyewear had become limitless.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1955
- ca 1960
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- 1984.0140.417
- catalog number
- 1984.0140.417
- accession number
- 1984.0140
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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- Clothing and dress 2710
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- Manufacturing industries 1332
- Industrialization 1331
- Buttons 1038
- Art 443
- Furnishings 359
- Peters Prints 318
- Firefighting Collection 263
- Textiles 258
- Fire Fighting 131
- Adornment 117
- Lace and lace making 114
- Children 108
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- button 1323
- Lithographs 317
- Fire hats 168
- Fashion Plate 103
- frontpiece, helmet 87
- Lace (needlework) 77
- collotype 43
- Main garments 36
- Dresses (garments) 34
- Chromolithographs 31
- Entire Body 22
- Hats 20
- pattern, bobbin lace 20
- Pins (fasteners) 19
- production papers 18
- Cosmetics 17
- Shoes (footwear) 17
- lace, border 14
- Posters 13
- cape, fire uniform 13
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- Industry & Manufacturing 1331
- Work and Industry: Production and Manufacturing 1258
- Buttons 1038
- Art 448
- Cultural and Community Life: Domestic Life 381
- Work 368
- Domestic Furnishings 358
- Peters Prints 318
- Cultural and Community Life: Fire Fighting and Law Enforcement 268
- Firefighting Collection 263
- Textiles 257
- Cultural and Community Life: Costume 247
- Cultures & Communities 198
- Lace 111
- Cultural and Community Life: Textiles 89
- Family & Social Life 87
- Fire Helmets 87
- Helmet Frontpieces 87
- National Museum of American History 83
