Women's Studies visit, September 2012

On September 20th, we had the pleasure of a visit from Susan Hiner's class: Women's Studies 241, "Fashion and the Feminine." After a few minutes looking at the authentic objects we had on display, the students formed groups of 2-3 to try on reproductions, with one person trying on, one person as a dresser, and one person taking notes about the experience. Then we looked at some of the authentic objects in greater detail, making comparisons to what they were wearing. Finally, after they undressed (and could come in closer without the burden of farthingales, hoops, bustles, and trains), we spent our final moments continuing to discuss the finer details of some of the objects from the collection.


If you're having trouble viewing this slideshow, you can view it directly in Picasa; from there you can see a full screen view, or download your own copy of an image.

This visit also provided us an opportunity to display a dress that we have never displayed before, a gown from the 1910's (just about a century old!). It was exciting to see this gown on a mannequin for the first time, and to see just how much of a hobble skirt it really has. Unfortunately we weren't able to steam it, but it's still great to see on a mannequin.

It also was lovely to see this dress juxtaposed with the pink 2 piece dress (right hand side) from only a few years previous, from the early 1900's. What a change in silhouette in  just around a decade! Yet another juxtaposition was the 1950's gown on the left, providing us an opportunity to discuss how fashion often moves in cycles, with skirts moving from wide to narrow, then widening again.

From Visit from Women's Studies 241

All the images shown in this post are from the Vassar College Drama Department Research Collection of Historic Clothing and are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Visit from Project Aware, May 2012

The young women from the Mill Street Loft's Project AWARE (in Beacon) came to visit us on May 8, 2012. They had a lot of fun trying on reproduction costumes, and then had some great questions and ideas when we looked at actual historic clothing from the collection.

Here's a slideshow with some images from their visit.



If you're having trouble viewing this slideshow, you can view it directly in Picasa; from there you can see a full screen view, or download your own copy of an image.

History and Drama class visits

The fall of 2011 was a busy time for Vassar's collection of historic clothing. After the September visit from Susan Hiner's class, we had a day in November that we did double-duty: two classes visiting in one day! While that made for a busy day, it's wonderful for us to fit more than one visit into one day. A lot of time goes into setting up and taking down the materials for each visit, so if we can get more students in to see the objects while they're out, that's great! Here's a slideshow from the morning visit:


If you're having trouble viewing this slideshow, you can view it directly in Picasa; from there you can see a full screen view, or download your own copy of an image.

In the morning, Students from Kenisha Kelly's Drama class "History of Fashion for the Stage" came to visit. This was not our usual "Trying on History" visit - instead, we used the whole class period to allow students to do a "close reading" of one of the historic objects on display. The class was broken into four smaller groups, and each group focused on studying one object from the collection. Then the class was broken into different groups, mixing from the previous groups, so that each student could view all of the objects on display and learn from the other students who had studied each garment in greater depth. The objects were laid out on tables, rather than displayed on mannequins, so that students could examine the interior construction as well. However, we did provide a photograph of each object mounted on a mannequin, so that the students could see the correct silhouette of the garment on a body (something that can be hard to imagine).

Then, in the afternoon, Rebecca Edwards brought in students from her History/Women's Studies class, "Pathways to Vassar: The Rise of Women's Higher Education in Historical Context." They tried on reproduction garments, examined the historic objects on display on tables, and related what they saw and felt to their study of changes in women's education.

You can also view these images in our Picasa Web Album.

"Fashion's Empires" Class Visit

In the fall of 2011, Susan Hiner brought her French class for a visit to Vassar's historic clothing collection, to view objects from the collection, try on reproductions, and explore the subject of "Fashion's Empires."

Take a look at this slideshow from their visit:


You can click on the slideshow to go to the Picasa Web Album with the images; from there you can see a full screen view, or download your own copy of an image.

If you're having trouble viewing this slideshow, you can view it directly in Picasa.

Drama Costume History Class Visit, Fall 2010

Editor's note: We've been busy with "Trying on History," but you wouldn't know it from this blog! To catch up, we'll be sharing several posts from visits over the last two years. Here's the first! 

Vassar's Costume Designer, Kenisha Kelly, had her Costume History class participate in our "Trying on History" activity in November of 2010. This activity has its roots in the Drama Department's Costume History class, but over the years it has grown to provide further outreach to other Vassar classes and local community groups. Still, our costume history class visitors are the best prepared for this activity!

Take a look at this slideshow from their visit:


You can click on the slideshow to go to the Picasa Web Album with the images; from there you can see a full screen view, or download your own copy of an image.

If you're having trouble viewing this slideshow, you can view it directly in Picasa.

Visit from Project AWARE

On May 12, 2010, the VCCC hosted some of the girls from the Mill Street Loft's Project AWARE (in Beacon). We all had a great time - thanks for coming, ladies!

Here's a slideshow with some images from their visit.



You can click on the slideshow to go to the Picasa Web Album with the images; from there you can see a full screen view, or download your own copy of an image.

Class Visit - French 183

On October 8, 2009, the VCCC also hosted Susan Hiner's class "Fashion and Modernity." Here's a slideshow with some images from their visit.




You can click on the slideshow to go to the Picasa Web Album with the images; from there you can see a full screen view, or download your own copy of an image.