OSU Historic Costume and Textiles Collection

The Historic Costume & Textiles Collection is a scholarly and artistic resource of apparel and textile material culture. The 11,500+ holdings encompass a range of three dimensional objects such as textiles andarticles of clothing and accessories for men, women, and children, including national dress costume, from the mid-18th century to contemporary 21st century designers. The Collection also houses a number of period fashion magazines, fashion plates, swatch books and commercial patterns. Particular strengths of the Collection are objects pertaining to central Ohio and the U.S. The Collection began as a few examples of textiles used by faculty for teaching in the rapidly growing Department of Home Economics. The earliest documented identification numbers assigned to artifacts date to 1927. Over the years the Collection grew from donations of historic clothing from the Theatre Department in the 1950s, and couture clothing by Dior and Balenciaga from Elizabeth Parke Firestone. The Collection’s first curator was New York Designer, Charles Kleibacker, who was also Designer-in-Residence in the Textiles and Clothing program from 1984-1995. During those years, the collection grew significantly with the help of a vibrant Friends group, who also raised funds for the Geraldine Schottenstein Wing for the Historic Costume & Textiles Collection, which was completed in 1995. This space included offices and storage and the Gladys Keller Snowden Gallery where rotating exhibitions are on display.