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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

historic clothing collection, Costume Institute of Utah, clothing donors

College

Fine Arts and Communications

Department

Theatre and Media Arts

Abstract

What we wear reveals a great deal about us, not only as individuals, but also as a society. Likewise, historic clothing allows us to see into the past. For example, in the 1940s cloth was used for war efforts. To help conserve fabrics, women made straight skirts with little flare. Such a simple thing as a skirt helps us understand the past a little better. Over a year ago, the Costume Institute of Utah desired to donate their entire historic clothing collection to Brigham Young University. The university already has an existing collection, however it is limited and this addition would be a great benefit to help strengthen the existing collection. The problem with the collection to be donated was that it was disorganized and stacked in random boxes in the Smith Family Living Center. The university could not accept the donation in this state. Under the direction of clothing historian expert, Dr. Mary Farahnakian, my job would be to help organize the collection, remove unnecessary articles of clothing, catalog each remaining article, digitally photograph each article, and input the collection into a program that would make it available to historians around the world on the web.

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