Texas Fashion Collection facts for kids
| Established | 1938 |
|---|---|
| Location | University of North Texas College of Visual Arts & Design, Denton, Texas, United States |
The Texas Fashion Collection is a special place that keeps and studies important clothes and fashion items from the past. It is run by the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton, Texas. This collection helps students, researchers, and everyone else learn about fashion history.
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How the Collection Started
The Texas Fashion Collection began in 1938. Two brothers, Stanley and Edward Marcus, wanted to save examples of clothes made by top designers. They did this to honor Carrie Marcus Neiman, who helped start the famous store Neiman Marcus.
In the 1960s, after a fire at the Neiman-Marcus store, about 200 clothing pieces from this collection were added to the Dallas Museum of Fashion. This museum was a group effort by fashion professionals in Dallas.
In 1972, the Dallas Museum of Fashion gave its entire collection to the University of North Texas. This happened because the museum needed more space. In the 1980s, this collection was renamed the Texas Fashion Collection.
Where the Collection Has Been Kept
Over the years, the TFC's home has changed and improved. At first, the clothes were kept in different classrooms around the UNT campus.
In 1993, UNT made a special climate-controlled space in Scoular Hall just for the collection. This new space was about 3,700 square feet. It allowed the team to list and organize all the items for the first time. In 1995, the collection received a grant to help with its history and documentation.
In 2013, Scoular Hall was torn down, and the TFC moved to a new temporary building called Welch Street Complex 1. Then, in 2019, the TFC opened the Gloria and Bruzzy Westheimer Research Gallery. This is a 1,300 square foot space in the UNT Art Building.
Who Has Led the Collection
Many people have helped lead the TFC. Stanley and Edward Marcus, along with Carrie Marcus Neiman, were the first to care for it. Fashion experts from the Dallas Museum of Fashion also helped the collection grow.
Edward and Betty Mattil helped donate the collection to UNT. Myra Walker was the director and curator from 1987 to 2017. During her time, the collection doubled in size and became very well-known. Annette Becker became the current director in 2016.
Seeing the Collection Online
Since 2010, the Texas Fashion Collection has worked with the UNT Libraries. They are creating a digital catalog of the collection's items. This means more and more pieces can be seen online through the UNT Libraries' Digital Library.
Where the Collection Is Shown
The TFC does not have its own permanent exhibit space. However, it often works with other museums and places to show its items. This helps more people see and learn from the collection.
Some places that have shown items from the TFC include:
- Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas
- Meadows Museum, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas
- Crow Museum of Asian Art, Dallas, Texas
- Bullock Texas State History Museum, Austin, Texas
- McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas
- Goss-Michael Foundation, Dallas, Texas
- NorthPark Center, Dallas, Texas
- Salve Regina University Gallery, Newport, Rhode Island
What's in the Collection
When the Dallas Fashion Group first started, they were good at getting donations of designer clothes from women in Dallas. Since UNT took over in 1972, the collection has grown a lot. It started with 3,000 items and now has more than 18,000 historic pieces.
The collection includes designs from famous names like Cristóbal Balenciaga, Hubert de Givenchy, Oscar de la Renta, and James Galanos. Most of the TFC's items show how people in the Dallas-Fort Worth area wore high-style fashion from the 1930s to the 1990s.
A very special part of the collection is the 1965 Emilio Pucci-designed uniforms. These were worn by hostesses for Braniff International Airways on their Gemini IV flights. This "Braniff Pucci Collection" was given to the museum in 1969. It even includes dresses owned by Bess Braniff, whose husband helped start Braniff Airways.
Fashion on Main
Fashion on Main used to be an exhibition space for the Texas Fashion Collection. It was located in the old Titche–Goettinger Building in downtown Dallas. It opened in 2006 and was updated in 2013.
Later, this space became part of the Galleries of the College of Visual Arts and Design at UNT. As of 2018, the space is no longer used as a gallery for the TFC.
