Preserving a Collection of World Dress at the Goldstein Museum of Design

FAIN: PG-52168-14

University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN 55455-2009)
Eunice Haugen (Project Director: May 2013 to September 2015)

The purchase of a metal museum cabinet to rehouse a collection of garments from around the world. The rehousing project would ensure the preservation of and access to a collection of about 100 accessory garments--hats, belts, socks, scarves, aprons, and shoes--that belong to ensembles, mostly women's, from Europe, Central and South America, Asia, and the Middle East, and date to the 19th and 20th centuries. The collection includes hand-woven textiles, embroidery, beadwork, and leatherwork that document a global history of textile production, fashion, and design. The collections are used extensively by students, researchers, and in exhibits.

The Goldstein Museum of Design (GMD) in the College of Design at the University of Minnesota requests $5,500 to purchase one powder-coated metal museum cabinet, which would bring almost to completion a several-years project of re-housing a large and historically-significant group of about 870 garments from cultures around the world. The requested cabinet would allow the re-housing of nearly 100 accessories (hats, belts, socks, scarves, aprons, shoes), essential components of ensembles of world dress that often include three to six garments. The examples of world dress in this collection comprise an irreplaceable historic record of cultural expression in clothing made and worn prior to the 21st century. The requested cabinet, outfitted with nine drawers and replacing crowded, non-archival boxes, would ensure the preservation, safe storage, and easy access of these accessories for scholarship, digitization, and display in gallery exhibitions and educational programs.