OCTOBER 13, 2007 - JANUARY 5, 2008
 |
|||||||||||
| The Chicago History Museum is the oldest cultural institution in Chicago, with over 22 million artifacts. The costume collection alone has over 50,000 garments and accessories from the mid-18th century to the present. Not only is this one of the largest costume collections in the United States, it is also one of the oldest. Although the Museum may have begun collecting costume when it opened its doors in 1856, the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 destroyed all objects and records. The first documented garment to enter the Museum’s collection is an elk skin robe, collected in 1898. | |||||||||||
| Image
courtesy of NYPL digital gallery, The New York Pubic Library |
|||||||||||
| The costume collection,
emphasizes clothing that was either made in Chicago or worn by Chicagoans
and Americans. It includes items ranging from George Washington’s vest to
Michael Jordan’s shoes. This is very different from most other major costume
collections that exist in art museums, which tend to focus primarily on
“high” fashion. Yet the Chicago History Museum has also acquired a wealth of
haute couture, from Charles Frederick Worth to Comme des Garçons, that
testifies to the sense of style possessed by generations of Chicago women.
Indeed, the Museum has one of America’s finest collections of fashionable
dress. In September of 2006, the Chicago Historical Society re-opened as the Chicago History Museum after a $30 million dollar renovation. Part of this renovation included the creation of a new 1300 sq. ft. gallery dedicated to the exhibition of the museum’s costume and textile collection. Chic Chicago will open at the Chicago History Museum on September 27, 2008. |
|||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||
| Michael Jordan’s basketball uniform worn during the 1989 NBA play-offs | |||||||||||
| The Chicago History Museum | |||||||||||
| BACK |
Website design by Tamsen Schwartzman |
||||||||||
