costume-society-of-america-81590

2026 Costume Society of America Grants, Projects, Awards, and Honors Announced

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 14:39:10 GMT

C ostume Society of America (CSA) is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2026 grants, projects, awards, and honors . "We are proud to recognize this year’s outstanding recipients whose work strengthens and advances the field of costume and dress studies. I am grateful to our committee members whose thoughtful, dedicated service makes it possible to honor and celebrate our colleagues,” says Colleen Pokorny, CSA Vice President for Awards and Honors. Nora Carleson, Vice President for Grants and Projects, adds: “I heartily thank the dedicated committee members and chairs who have volunteered their time and effort to give the many submissions for our grants and projects the attention they deserve. Likewise, thank you to all who applied this year. We know that the application process requires effort, time, and care, and we hope that you all continue to engage with CSA in the future.” All awards, grants, and projects are funded through the generosity of donors to the CSA Endowment .

This year, CSA is honored to name Cynthia Cooper as the 2026 Costume Society of America Fellow. Cooper’s decades of leadership in Canadian dress history, her award‑winning exhibitions, and her extensive scholarship have shaped the field in profound ways. As noted in her nomination materials, colleagues praise her “world-class scholarship, and heartfelt dedication to our field and our organization” and her “quiet supportive brilliance which touches all those who are lucky enough to cross her path.” Cooper is also the recipient of the 2026 Millia Davenport Publication Award for Costume Balls: Dressing Up History, 1870–1927 , a richly researched and visually compelling volume accompanying her recent exhibition at the McCord Stewart Museum.

CSA also proudly recognizes JLN Costume Mounting LLC, founded by Jennifer Nieling, with this year’s Entrepreneur Recognition Award. Nieling’s work exemplifies the essential role of costume mounting in exhibition practice, providing museums nationwide with specialized expertise that “brings costumes and accessories to life” while prioritizing conservation and interpretive clarity.

This year’s awards also highlight CSA’s ongoing commitment to service through the 2026 Angels Project, which will take place on Sunday, May 31, at Historic Rosedale in Charlotte, North Carolina. Built in 1815 and one of the city’s oldest surviving homes, Historic Rosedale preserves the intertwined histories of the families who lived there and the enslaved and free African Americans connected to the site. CSA volunteers will assist with collections care and preservation while learning about the house, its holdings, and its historic grounds.

All awardees, honorees, and grant recipients will be recognized on Monday evening, June 1, 2026, during CSA’s 52nd Annual National Meeting and Symposium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Costume Society of America Fellow Honor: Cynthia Cooper, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
CSA Creative Work Honor: to be determined
CSA Costume Design Award: Lorena Lopez, The Busy Bee’s Great Adventure , Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami, Florida
CSA Richard Martin Exhibition Award, Large Exhibition: Superfine: Tailoring Black Style , The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Exhibition Team: Monica L. Miller, Andrew Bolton, Amanda Garfinkel, and William DeGregorio
CSA Richard Martin Exhibition Award, Small Exhibition: The Life of Kid’s Clothes , Missouri Historical Society, Exhibition Team: Adam MacPhàrlain, Abigail Sarver-Verhey, and Magdelene Linck
CSA Richard Martin Exhibition Award, Student-led Exhibition: The Making of Barkcloth: Place, Gender, and Trans-Local Community , Cornell University, Student Curator: Iris Yiqun Luo, Advisors: Catherine Kueffer Blumenkamp, and Denise Nicole Green
Millia Davenport Publication Award: Costume Balls: Dressing Up History, 1870-1927 by Cynthia Cooper (published by the McCord Stewart Museum, Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
CSA Entrepreneur Recognition Award: JLN Costume Mounting LLC, Jennifer Nieling
CSA Howard Vincent Kurtz Emerging Theatre Artist Award: Isabel Toteda, 12 Angry Jurors , University of California, Irvine
Betty Kirke Excellence in Research Award: Anika Kozlowski for Creative Work titled Re-Assembled: The Paper Doll Coat — A Modular No-Sew Coat from Textile Waste
Scholars’ Roundtable: Generational Practices: Approaches to Sustainability Across the Dress Discipline ; Jennifer Harmon, University of Wyoming; Sara Idacavage, Southern Methodist University; Katie Baker Jones, West Virginia University; Katrina Orsini, The GW Museum and The Textile Museum
CSA Travel Research Grant: Mary Alice Casto, Accessible and Exclusive: The Home Seamstress and Vogue Couturier and Paris Originals Patterns, 1932-1965 , and Daniel James Cole, Dayak by Design: Transformations to Tradition in Western Borneo
College and University Collection Care Grant: Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, Kansas
CSA Small Museum Collection Care Grant: Park-McCullough House, North Bennington, Vermont
CSA Dependent Care Grant: Danielle Hodgins
Adele Filene Student Presenter Grants: Olivia Nash, University of Alberta, and Mansoureh (Sophie) Nikookar, University of Minnesota
CSA Angels Project: Historic Rosedale, Charlotte, North Carolina
Presidential Award Winner(s): announcement forthcoming

Pictured above from left to right:

Interior pages from the Millia Davenport Publication Award Winner Costume Balls: Dressing Up History, 1870-1927 by newly honored Fellow Cynthia Cooper (Laura Dumitriu © Musée McCord Stewart Museum); Custom mounts by JLN Costume Mounting LLC for Forces for Change: Mary McLeod Bethune and Black Women’s Activism at the National Museum of African American History and Culture; objects at Angels Project site Historic Rosedale in Charlotte, North Carolina

Dialogues on Dress: Marie-Claire Bozant

Sun, 29 Mar 2026 18:37:18 GMT

This month we spoke with Marie-Claire Bozant, photographer and fashion collector.

The history of dress and the future of fashion act in dialogue, always interfacing to inform our present moment. The Costume Society of America’s diverse members exemplify this reality like no other; through the constant connections across time and disciplines they draw, our membership of costume curators, designers, artists, and so much more embody fashion’s ubiquitous presence—and dress’s daily power to teach us all something new.

We hope you will join us for CSA’s new Dialogues on Dress series, interviews now available monthly in our e-News and here on our website.

Interested in getting in touch? Email enews@costumesocietyamerica.com

Dialogues on Dress: Marie-Claire Bozant

Marie-Claire Bozant sees fashion with fresh eyes. As a photographer, she is gifted in capturing the way energy is held in a space; as a collector, she is trained to look at clothing as characters with full and rich backgrounds to uncover; and as a fashion-lover, she is a fierce advocate for approaching dress as both a subject of consequence and of play. Marie-Claire has charted an adventurous life, and not strictly speaking to the limited confines of ‘career,’ from growing up in a family of artists and moving about the world, to studying fine arts and teaching photography across the US, to becoming a bonafide fashion collector and Tina Leser expert ; Marie-Claire spent years learning the rules of what ‘art’ is—what a profession in this world ‘should’ look like—in order to break them, aptly proving that really, there are no rules at all. Much like the kind of dress she wants to see more of in the world (i.e. a little more brave and thoughtful, a little less simple for the sake of safety), Marie-Claire’s path in photography and fashion feels authentic, modern, and inspiring. Read on to hear her discuss getting into collecting, letting your interests grow naturally, searching for community, and much more.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

___________________________________________________

Paint me a picture of your personal and professional background. From your earliest memories of fashion, to your education and the career you have today.

I got into fashion when I was a kid because of Vogue magazine. I fell in love with the photography first, maybe when I was just seven or eight. A love of fashion grew out of years of reading magazines, and also from a very creative family. My mom sewed a lot–she had a general interest in fashion, we always bought secondhand–and my dad and my sister are both painters, so a love for art felt very ingrained. I started doing a lot of photography as a teenager, then went to school for it [a BFA in studio art from University of New Mexico and MFA from University of Washington in an interdisciplinary fine arts program], then taught photography and art history and design at various places. At UNM I studied with Adrienne Salinger—she did Teenagers in Their Bedrooms . I loved her work, so it was amazing to study with her. My interest in fashion was always kind of a background thing for a long time.

For a while, I primarily worked in fine art photography. I was always interested in empty spaces, architectural interiors, that kind of stuff. I guess I always kind of inserted myself and clothes into the photographs, but I never took that seriously. I was taught to believe the fine art stuff was more “serious.” It’s interesting to come from a very academic background where there are rules telling you “this is what art is and this is what isn’t.” I still have a little weirdness around saying that this is my art now—wearing clothes, photographing clothes, and collecting vintage—but it’s what I love to do, and it’s what I’ve ended up doing.

I don’t know how to describe it as a career or make it sound cohesive. It’s complicated. And I think it looks so different now than it used to—collecting and fashion. It’s more accessible and less intimidating because of social media and the internet.

~It’s interesting to come from a very academic background where there are rules telling you “this is what art is and this is what isn’t.” I still have a little weirdness around saying that this is my art now—wearing clothes, photographing clothes, and collecting vintage—but it’s what I love to do, and it’s what I’ve ended up doing.~

Artistic careers are often hard to define or sum up succinctly. Could you describe some of the different things you’re working on lately?

My long-running fashion-related thing is my Tina Leser collection . I stumbled upon her clothes when I was teaching in Buffalo and thought, “who is this designer I’ve never heard of?” She was a contemporary of Claire McCardell and other big sportswear designers in the ’40s and ’50s, but people talk about her so much less. I’ve been collecting her work for over 10 years and researching her in the hopes of maybe someday writing a book or having an exhibition.

I also have a big passion for American sportswear designers from the ’40s up to the ’90s—Claire McCardell, Tina Leser, then Perry Ellis, Calvin Klein, Marc Jacobs. I see it as a thread that runs through fashion—American designers have this easiness to them. I love French couture too, but what’s always drawn me in is the simplicity and timelessness—things you can wear in any decade.

In terms of my photography work, I work for a company called Hairbrained . We work with hairdressers in the professional beauty industry and with big brands, and I do behind-the-scenes work, commercial shoots, and a lot of education for hairdressers. I got into that because I modeled for Vidal Sassoon for a long time and did backstage photography while I was in school. I got to travel with them and developed a real appreciation for hairdressers and what they do.

It was a nice counterbalance to the academic art scene, which kind of ruined art for me in some ways. Hairdressers were just so freely creative. They take their work seriously, but they have fun with it. It wasn’t about making something for a gallery. I always compare it to hanging out with theater kids in high school. I just loved that energy.

I know your path has been nonlinear, and I think fields in fashion or photography can be intimidating when there is no clear course. Do you have advice for someone interested in pursuing a similar line of work?

It’s a long journey. I feel like I might be a late bloomer. I was lucky to meet people early on in my lane, but it might actually be easier now because of social media. I think it's a friendlier landscape now, and it is incredibly cool how you can just reach out to people directly. Writers or people you admire–you can contact them through social media. That still blows my mind. You never know how someone will respond, but a lot of people are generous with their time. So I think, just find and connect with people whose work you’re interested in.

Is there something you’ve started ‘later’ in life that you’re glad you did? Or that perhaps the barrier to entry wasn’t as big as you feared?

Collecting, definitely. I’ve only seriously collected for about 10 years, and it was something I worried was out of reach for a long time. It still feels a little strange–like, I can just be a collector? I don’t have to be a formal fashion historian? I think there is pressure to always turn your work and projects into ‘something.’ Really, you can let things evolve naturally. My collections have grown out of a genuine love and excitement for these designers and pieces, and led me down different paths in my own research.

~ Growing up in the family I did and moving so much definitely influenced my interest in photography; I was always thinking about the ways I occupied a space or left it, the energy we bring to the spaces we enter and how to capture that. ~

What drew you to collecting Tina Leser?

She was very worldly and led this very adventurous life; she absorbed all these different cultures–their crafts and fabrics and traditions–and took that home with her, and was just so passionate about, so interested, in everybody else around her. It imbues are clothes with such a playful and joyful energy. She thought people should always wear ‘play clothes.’ I grew up moving all over the world, and didn’t move to the mainland US until I was 19, so I really relate to her in a lot of ways. She grew up in a very artistic family with lots of autonomy, and so did I. There is so much freedom in not having a prescribed path; it’s challenging too, the lack of structure and having to figure things out on your own, but the feeling of knowing you’re doing what you’re doing because you chose is incredible.

Growing up in the family I did and moving so much definitely influenced my interest in photography; I was always thinking about the ways I occupied a space or left it, the energy we bring to the spaces we enter and how to capture that. I always saw everything framed. Everything was a picture. I tried painting and drawing, but I always came back to photography. I love how much you can say in just one frame and how much control you have over a space.

What is special about fashion photography as opposed to other subjects?

The pieces feel like characters. When it comes to fashion history, you can find so much written about these pieces, like the fabric, the inspiration, everything. I love that level of detail and context, which is much harder to come by nowadays. Maybe because everybody was involved from start to finish; you would know who made the fabric, the mill it came from, etc. More people would get credit for a piece. When I’m photographing, I think about all these different aspects of a piece, and I think you can capture that feeling in a photo. Photographing somehow solidifies everything that went into the piece.

Clothes are meant to be worn, they’re designed to be on the body, in motion. You can capture so many different aspects of a piece when you move a certain way, or adjust the lighting. And then I can add to the picture through research. Newspapers.com is amazing for research, and I trust it more than AI. You can cross-reference articles to get a fuller picture. I also use the Vogue archive—it’s incredible and I think pretty economical for what you get. And the Gem app is great for sourcing.

How would you describe your personal style? I am curious how much of the clothes you collect wind up being things you wear personally.

For work, I wear things I can move in—often vintage Calvin Klein. I know that is having a moment right now, but Calvin Klein is genuinely timeless and something I’ve always worn to work. It’s simple but incredibly well-made. I also love a bright ’60s maxi dress for going out. I wouldn’t call myself a minimalist—I just appreciate good design. A recent new addition to my collection was this beautiful Isaac Mizrahi dress from the mid-’90s. It’s very simple but perfectly cut—like something from Bell, Book and Candle. It fits perfectly.

What does a typical day of work look like? If no day looks the same, describe a good one.

Well I have my photography days for Hairbrained and my fashion days. For a fashion day, maybe I will work on an editorial shoot, after a while of having gathered inspiration and done research; I’m working on a shoot right now inspired by the December1992 issue of Vogue . So that day shooting, I’ll be working in my apartment, styling pieces, and starting to write about them. That is a fun day, getting to bring ideas that have been percolating in my brain to life. Maybe I am shooting for research purposes, or to post on social media or elsewhere–I sell vintage too. I would say only 10% of the pieces in my collection end up on social media.

It’s not a replacement for IRL community and it can only take you so far, but I do love getting to connect with people on social media, especially through my Tina Leser page . It is really challenging when you work independently, to never really have input from others or a sense of camaraderie. It can feel very isolating, and I am still struggling to find community. The LA fashion scene [Marie-Claire is based in Santa Monica] can be intimidating. But there are so many different ways to be a part of the fashion world and so many different niches. I think there are a lot of people doing interesting things outside traditional roles—collectors, independent researchers. I am hopeful I can find that sense of community I’m looking for somewhere.

~I really love how people are self-educating when it comes to fashion. We can’t make thoughtful choices if we don’t first understand what we’re dealing with.~

What does the future of fashion look like to you?

I think it is so important to understand what you’re wearing, where it came from, why you’re wearing it. To just generally be more thoughtful. People seem to be caring about this more again, and I really love how people are self-educating when it comes to fashion. We can’t make thoughtful choices if we don’t first understand what we’re dealing with. Hopefully people will continue to learn more and more, and therefore think more and more before they buy something.

I also hope we get a little bit more adventurous in our fashion choices. People play it so safe, or conversely dress a certain way just for shock value, not for art. I know there are people out there doing creative and amazing things that I’m just not exposed to; so much of what we see is just the mainstream thing fed to us on the internet. I would love to see more risk, more art, in what people wear.

___________________________________________________

Thank you so much to Marie-Claire for having this conversation with me! You can find her here and become a part of her Tina Leser community here .

~Madison Brito Taylor

Images (clockwise from top left):

In Claire McCardell c.1955 silk blend hostess gown

On Set, Adri 80s jersey dress, @randytaylorfoto

Davines Group House, Marc Jacobs for Perry Ellis 1992 silk plum print dress

Women Dressing Women Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute, left to right: Tina Leser, Vera Maxwell, Bonnie Cashin. On Marie-Claire, 1938 Hattie Carnegie beaded faille bolero and Norma Kamali OMO 90s jersey jumpsuit, photo @randytaylorfoto

Dialogues on Dress: Lillia Whittington

Fri, 27 Feb 2026 14:15:24 GMT

This month we spoke with Lillia Whittington, a maker, researcher, and educator whose sewing-centered practice explores creativity, connection, and the joyful, human energy of the clothes we wear.

The history of dress and the future of fashion act in dialogue, always interfacing to inform our present moment. The Costume Society of America’s diverse members exemplify this reality like no other; through the constant connections across time and disciplines they draw, our membership of costume curators, designers, artists, and so much more embody fashion’s ubiquitous presence - and dress’s daily power to teach us all something new.

We hope you will join us for CSA’s new Dialogues on Dress series, interviews now available monthly in our e-News and here on our website.

Interested in getting in touch? Email enews@costumesocietyamerica.com

Dialogues on Dress: Lillia Whittington

Sewing is in Lillia Whittington’s DNA, and while the nexus around which all her fashion endeavors operate, her story ripples out in all directions from this center of making. Be it growing her own natural dye garden, researching how technology filters into indie crafting spaces, or learning the world of PhD influencing, Lillia is always looking at the world of creation and creativity with fresh and eager eyes. She is both a student and teacher–a PhD student at Iowa State University, adjunct at Texas Women’s University in the Fashion Design department, and sewing teacher through her own business –and never short of inspiration. Her excitement for the field of dress is itself a reminder that “you’re not being graded,” playing with clothes and creating should be an act of joy and expression, not perfection and posturing. Lillia wants us all to feel a genuine connection to our clothes, “the energetic force” the things we wear and make possess, and her story will hopefully inspire you to pick up a sewing needle yourself, or perhaps just embrace a more authentic relationship to the things you wear.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

___________________________________________________

Please paint a brief sketch of your background, personal & professional.

I come from a long line of sewists, professionally speaking, and I’m fourth generation. I've been sewing since I was four. I went through phases, like middle and high school, where I thought sewing was not cool. But I started doing Winterfest competitions here in Texas, and I would make these really elaborate traditional German doll costumes for competitions. I went to state a few times, so that was really fun and got me back into sewing. I got a fashion design degree at Texas Women's University [TWU] and went right into the industry as a tech designer after graduation. I worked for a men's clothing company called Haggar for two and a half years, and then the pandemic happened. That’s when I really took a left turn into entrepreneurship and blogging full time. I began considering how to blend a career in sewing and one in entrepreneurship, and I hadn’t really thought about folding academia into that yet. But TWU reached out after a couple years and asked me to assist in some of their fashion classes. I fell in love with it. I stayed on long term, and then two years later they were looking for adjuncts–which I learned you need a Masters for. So I went to Iowa State for my Masters, and here we are today. I'm an adjunct at Texas Women’s University [in the Fashion Design department], a PhD student at Iowa State University, and I currently run what is essentially a content creator business teaching individuals how to sew online.

As you’re based in Texas but pursuing a PhD at Iowa State, is that program virtual?

It’s hybrid, which was a huge draw for me. And it is a stellar hybrid program at that. They are very adamant that they stay super connected with their hybrid graduate students and achieve that in a lot of different ways. I feel very involved in the program despite not being physically there most of the time.

My PhD topic is still in the works, but my Master’s thesis was on indie pattern makers and technology dissemination from higher corporate companies into the DIY field. So basically how technology moves through and enters into the craft space. It was really fun to learn more about a community that I'm already so involved in but on a completely different level.

Can you tell me more about your work teaching? Between your online teaching business and being an adjunct at TWU, I’m sure your courses are plentiful and varied. Do those worlds overlap much?

It's very rare that they overlap, but when they do, it's really fun. I do a lot of conference teaching; I used to do the S Expo, which is up in Puyallup, Washington, and I'll be at PatternCon in August. Tricia Camacho, another CSA member, is actually the creator of PatternCon and a good friend of mine. It’s fun to do these larger conferences, as I often am teaching in smaller workshop settings and maker’s centers. Teaching through my own business and exposure to so many different kinds of students help inform how I show up in an academic setting, and it’s just generally given me a lot of experience. I guess it has helped me approach an academic classroom with more of an open mind. All of my teaching helps with my research as well, since that’s in the DIY craft space.

I'm currently teaching a digital pattern making course, which is what my research is in: virtual pattern making softwares. I'm also teaching a draping and couture class. That's really fun because I am currently doing some research in various heirloom sewing techniques, so I'm able to bring in that research with teaching the students and letting them get a very well-rounded experience of: this is the historical context of why we're doing this, and this is the historical context of why this technique is used.

I'm also teaching a sustainable mending class. That's a new one for the university, and it’s been amazing. The students are so receptive and engaged. We’re also learning about the history of mending; one of the biggest things I consider when developing curriculum is how to make it relevant and contextual. I didn’t want the class to just be "let’s sew," I wanted to talk about how mending is relevant to the broader fashion industry. Why it is important to learn this. This sustainable mending class has all sorts of students from different departments in it, not strictly fashion students, which creates some really fun discussions and perspectives. We talk a lot about how this relates to so many industries, and how they can take these topics into their own lives and the conversations they’re having in the workplace, at home, with friends…

It’s interesting to hear about how fashion history shows up in a class like this. Does it generally play a large role in your research and teaching?

I would say this semester is definitely very heavy on the history because of this class. Fashion history is an endless source of learning. If you look at patchwork and mended pants, Ötzi is somebody who comes up, and his patchwork pants are on exhibit in Iceland. We’ve looked at that in class, or how the oldest shirt, carbon dates to maybe 5,300 years ago, is still together. How is that possible? Topics like that incite a lot of great discussion.

My current research is all about heirloom sewing, which has me of course delving into history a lot, but honestly fashion history hasn’t been a large part of my work until very recently in graduate school. Academia has really opened my mind to see the importance of learning where things came from and how they came to be. They why behind what we wear. I’m trying my best to bring that into the undergraduate courses I teach. Because it does help you be a better designer. Learning those fundamentals and foundations helps you understand why you are designing what you are, and why you are inspired by certain things. It also helps you grasp trends, and look at why trends repeat themselves and how they do. I like filling gaps in my knowledge with guest speakers. I get to learn new things that way too.

~ I love to wear bright, fun colors because the world is very dark at times. It can feel so isolating. Clothing is a way you can very easily let people know that they can feel comfortable around you, that you're a safe person. ~

I’d love to back track a little to talk about your personal relationship to fashion. Being a fourth generation sewist, it runs in the family, but what keeps you inspired in the field? How does your work affect how you see your own style and what you choose to wear?

Continually learning keeps me inspired; I am always learning about new techniques I want to try, so my work is always on the move. Actually learning about history and my current research in heirloom sewing techniques keeps me inspired too. We don't see that level of time and care and emotion being put into our garments anymore. A lot of us wear and then move on, that’s just how society has evolved. Reflecting on that reality and my own sustainable sewing journey, it makes me want to be even more connected to my clothes. I want to imbue it with that emotion of a handmade object, to have a story to tell with it.

As far as how I approach dress, I think it's such a reflection of who you are. I love to dress in fun colors, and I always do my best to put something on that I either made or a friend has made for me. My students notice this and will ask me about what I’m making. I think it’s great to model that, practicing what you preach. Showing them the value in wearing what you yourself created, even if it's got a little mistake here or there. It’s also a conversation piece for them, and it exposes them to different styles of sewing and lets them know that you don't just have to sew for class. You can sew for yourself.

I love to wear bright, fun colors because the world is very dark at times. It can feel so isolating. Clothing is a way you can very easily let people know that they can feel comfortable around you, that you're a safe person. As I've stepped into more of a professor position, it's become a little bit harder to kind of balance that line of fun and professional. I've been experimenting a little bit more with that idea. I use a wardrobe app called Whering that helps me play with outfits; that's been something that's helped me consume less and get to know my clothes more and have fun in my closet. It’s like the scene from Clueless , it brings me so much joy. We don’t play enough with our clothes, and that element is so important. A lack of fun or play, and a lack of getting to know your closet, I think leads to overconsumption.

Does wearing your own pieces feel different?

Very different. I'm a very big believer that whatever you make, your energy is in it. When I wear my own pieces, I have a little more pep in my step. There's nothing better than walking down the street and hearing somebody say ‘I love your outfit!’ and you get to turn around and say, ‘thanks, I made it!’ It's just a really joyful moment. It brings a smile to both our faces. And if what I’m wearing brings a smile, then I’m happy. My style isn’t for everyone, and I’ve even had some students tell me my outfits are ‘very loud.’ But you know, you remember them. It’s a conversation starter. These pieces you make yourself have an energetic force about them.

I’m doing a TedX talk in February about the resiliency that's formed within creative and craft communities. One of the sewing circles I'm in, we made an indie pattern together of falconer pants. In this TedX Talk, I’m going to talk about how we came together to make these pants and in the process it connected us to each other, ourselves, and our creativity. It also opened the door to so many other conversations within our sewing work and creative problem solving.

I always love hearing about the importance of finding community when it comes to sustainable fashion; several other CSA interviewees have talked about how pivotal this is! Beyond community, or expanding on that, I'm curious what your advice would be to someone who wants to make some of their own clothes or wants to get into mending, but doesn't know where to start?

If you have a local library that has a maker space, or if you're lucky enough to be a student who's at a university with a maker space, you probably have free access to a sewing machine. Local maker’s spaces are full of amazing tools, and often they provide free access. So you can practice and try things out before fully investing. Thankfully, we are in a time of great abundance in terms of workshops and learning opportunities. There are so many, be it virtual or in person. There are also a lot of great sewing communities, with open forums for Q&As or discussions. Ask a question, and I guarantee somebody will answer it. There are ones online, but also check for local quilting circles or sewing circles. If you live in a university town, there's probably a sewing-related club at some university or your local library that you could join. You could also ask your local library to rent a room, and start your own group. If it’s for community connection, it should be free. You can also use them for books. I'm a very big advocate for using your local library. It's your taxpayer dollars, so you already pay for it. Go use it!

You also do work in natural dyeing. I believe you even grow your own dye garden. Can you tell me about that?

Farming is a part of my life; my grandparents have a giant farm out in the country, and that's where I spent a lot of my summers. That's where I learned how to sew and farm, which is a natural thing as a Texan. I got really into dyeing in my Master’s program, and grew my own dye garden. It has had marigolds, butterfly pea flowers, madder, I even took a whack at growing indigo. That did not work out. If you’re interested in getting into natural dyeing, I would start with vegetable scraps, like carrot tops or onion skins. The Dogwood Dyer is a great resource. Here in Texas, I have a bit of a natural dyeing mentor, which has been so helpful. There is a huge science to it that a lot of people don't realize, it involves large amounts of chemicals or mordants. But there are a lot of resources and programs out there, and you can start small.

Describe a typical day of work or studies (& perhaps some leisure ) - or if no day looks the same, describe a good one.

Most weekdays are pretty similar. I'll wake up about 5:30am because I usually have an 8am class to teach. I pull a tarot card for the day, maybe journal, have some coffee, and do 30 minutes of just quiet. It’s important for me to start the day in quiet. I’ll usually teach until about 2pm then go to class for my PhD. Evenings are spent hanging out with my husband, flipping through textbooks and tabbing things, working on my research. I’m very inspired by other forms of art, as well as nature. My husband works in finance, but is an art collector too, so talking to him is always really inspiring for my work. I've really been reflecting recently about how much support I get from my spouse, and how fortunate I am for that. He makes my routine feel so much lighter and manageable.

~Do not try to force something just because it is trendy. If it feels natural, that authenticity will resonate with your audience. That’s the biggest lesson I have learned in entrepreneurship and content creation–your audience always knows. They pick up on things, and they know when you're in it and they know when you're not.~

Can you tell me more about your experience with entrepreneurship, being your own boss, and running your social media account and blog?

Being your own boss has so many pros, but also so many cons–one of which is taxes. Nobody wants to do taxes. I started doing content creation and began my blog actually all the way back in 2016. It was called the D Diaries and was about fashion in Dallas and Denton and local living. In 2021, I closed that, pivoted, and started @just.lilliaa which is all about sewing. That account has really moved me into the best stage of entrepreneurship where I’m authentically being myself. If you're an entrepreneur who is scared to pivot, just do it. Do not try to force something just because it is trendy. If it feels natural, that authenticity will resonate with your audience. That’s the biggest lesson I have learned in entrepreneurship and content creation–your audience always knows. They pick up on things, and they know when you're in it and they know when you're not. When you show up as yourself, that's when your business really shines.

The hardest part is just keeping up with it on top of all your other responsibilities. I was a full-time creator during COVID, and I had nothing but time then. But now, being a student and teacher again, there are a lot more demands on my time and it is much more of a juggling act. That’s a big place where community comes in; they help lighten the load. They encourage you and are a source of support. I don't think I'd be anywhere without the communities I have. The human experience wasn't meant to be lived alone.

There is a whole world of PhD influencers, a very niche field… I find the information out there actually very helpful. But there aren’t a lot of them in the field of design. A lot of people don’t even realize you can get a PhD in something like fashion design or apparel merchandising. I’m interested in sharing more about my students, and exposing people to this area. Undergrad is a finite period of time and you can only cover so much, but you get to explore so much with a PhD.

~People often approach sewing thinking it has to be perfect, but you’re learning a new skill. It’s not for a grade. It is so ingrained in us that we are always being graded, but the goal is just to have fun.~

What does the future of fashion look like to you?

For you to embrace your clothes, and do so in a way that is meaningful to you. In a way that isn’t influenced by trends or what other people want you to wear, but rather embracing what makes you more confident, more creative, and then encourages others to do the same.

Also, I want to say, just have fun with sewing. It’s not that deep. People often approach sewing thinking it has to be perfect, but you’re learning a new skill. It’s not for a grade. It is so ingrained in us that we are always being graded, but the goal is just to have fun.

___________________________________________________

Thank you so much to Lillia Whittington for having this conversation with me! You can find her on social media here or at her website here .

~Madison Brito Taylor

Images (clockwise from top left):

Photo by Scottish Rite [hospital] for adaptive fashion project in 2025

TWU Paris Trip in 2025

Photo by Gina Alex Creative, Charlotte, North Carolina in 2025

Community baby quilt project in 2025

Dialogues on Dress: Cassidy Zachary

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 17:13:21 GMT

This month we spoke with Cassidy Zachary, fashion historian and co-host of the beloved podcast, Dressed: The History of Fashion .

The history of dress and the future of fashion act in dialogue, always interfacing to inform our present moment. The Costume Society of America’s diverse members exemplify this reality like no other; through the constant connections across time and disciplines they draw, our membership of costume curators, designers, artists, and so much more embody fashion’s ubiquitous presence - and dress’s daily power to teach us all something new.

We hope you will join us for CSA’s new Dialogues on Dress series, interviews now available monthly in our e-News and here on our website.

Interested in getting in touch? Email enews@costumesocietyamerica.com

Dialogues on Dress: Cassidy Zachary

If you’re reading this, you are likely interested in fashion. And if you’re interested in fashion, you have likely listened to at least one episode–or perhaps hundreds–of the beloved podcast, Dressed: The History of Fashion . After all, there are 8 seasons, 575 episodes and counting. Dressed , which our guest Cassidy Zachary co-hosts with April Calahan, explores dress’ ubiquity across time, space, and culture; thus there are “truly infinite topics,” the podcast a goldmine of education and enrichment, as its hosts constantly show you just how connected fashion is to quite literally, everything. It is no wonder Dressed’s co-host is herself a wellspring of knowledge and inspiration. If you want to learn more about fashion, you should listen to Dressed , but also follow Cassidy’s work beyond the podcast–whether that is tuning into her account The Art of Dress , signing up for one of her courses, reading one of her many publications, or reading this interview. “Raised to believe in magic,” Cassidy injects vivacity and life into fashion history, her belief in “fashion as not just a noun, but a verb” contagious through conversation. Below, learn more about her journey starting The Art of Dress back in 2011, her favorite fashion history makers, and always expanding our definition of what fashion truly is.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

___________________________________________________

Please paint a brief sketch of your background, personal & professional- from your earliest memories of fashion to current career and beyond!

I always ask guests on Dressed [the podcast] what their earliest fashion memory is, and yet I can never quite pinpoint my own. But I remember making doll clothes for my trolls and stuffed animals, and I think my entry point into fashion was being read fairytales. A lot of these fairytales have historical fashion in them, like one of my favorites, Lady with a Ship on her Head . As I got older, I really responded to fashion magazines with magical elements, like Tim Walker . The intersection of fantasy and fashion is really what initially inspired me. I initially wanted to be a designer and embarked on a career in costume design after college [at University of New Mexico, with a BA in Theater Design]. I realized fairly quickly the only thing I enjoyed about designing was the historical research. I came across Valerie Steele’s book, The Corset: A History , and that totally changed my trajectory–it’s how I discovered you could make a career as a fashion historian. I went to FIT for my Masters, and met April Calahan [Cassidy’s co-host on Dressed ] in the special collections department during an internship. It was love at first fashion plate. I assisted her on that first book, we wrote more together , and the podcast evolved from there. After FIT, I got a job as a Collections Manager and spent two years cataloguing almost 10,000 pieces. But April and I stayed in touch throughout that.

What speaks to you in particular about fantasy and fashion?

I was raised to believe in magic. My childhood was infused with fantastical elements, and that sent me down a really creative path through dress. These children’s books still speak to me today–their evocative art and beauty–and exposed me to art at a young age. It led me to connect fashion with storytelling, and embrace the idea that clothing is an entry point to understanding character. That is still what I love most about fashion, the stories it tells.

I would love to hear how you would characterize your relationship to dress over the years. How has fashion influenced your work as well as personal journey, or what role has fashion played in developing your sense of identity?

I think about this a lot, but the irony is that on a personal level, I don’t feel I engage with contemporary fashion much. I can appreciate the artistry and fantastical aspect of it, and I so admire people who use their body as this very expressive medium, but I’ve never quite gotten there myself. But I have always really connected with jewelry. It’s such a powerful form of dress and like armor for me–I put it on before I leave and take it off when I get home. Some of my earliest memories of fashion are through jewelry, as I inherited a lot of costume jewelry boxes. My wedding ring is a family heirloom from the 20s, and I wear a 19th century locket that belonged to my great great great grandmother a lot.

~ I was raised to believe in magic. My childhood was infused with fantastical elements, and that sent me down a really creative path through dress. [...] It led me to connect fashion with storytelling, and embrace the idea that clothing is an entry point to understanding character. ~

Let’s talk about your podcast, Dressed: The History of Fashion . How did it start, and what do you cover for those unfamiliar with it?

April was living in NYC, I was in New Mexico, and she was offered an opportunity to start her own podcast. She invited me along, so we started Dressed in 2018 on iHeart Radio. Fast forward to today, we are now independent as Dressed Medi a. We just concluded our 8th season today [December 2025] and have 575 episodes. The tagline of Dressed is we are a podcast about the cultural and societal significance of the clothing we wear, with this idea that dress is something that connects us all. The running thread throughout all the episodes is that dress brings us together, spanning time, space, and culture. We always joke that the podcast could go on forever–there are truly infinite topics within the world of dress.

I’m particularly curious about how you source ideas for each episode and decide what to cover.

As long as something has to do with dress, it is fair game. I am constantly inspired by the world around me. Social media is actually a significant source of inspiration. I have connected with so many guests that have subsequently appeared on the podcast through social media. For instance, the costume designer of Wicked, Paul Tazewell , I’ve interviewed him twice now and first connected with him via social media. Likewise for Mona May, the costume designer for Clueless, or fashion historians like Gino Gonzalez . For Gino, I found his beautiful account full of 19th and 20th century Philippines fashion images. You can connect with people all over the world through social media. We take listener emails for ideas, and we do episodes called “What's in your Closet,” where listeners send us an item from their closet which we then research.

~I love how Jonathan Michael Square and other scholars define fashion as not just a noun, but a verb. It is an active practice with the body. When you expand your brain to grasp fashion as an act and a practice, the world is endless. All of history opens itself to you.~

How has hosting the podcast, for now 7 years, affected your relationship to fashion?

My definition of fashion has expanded exponentially thanks to this podcast and everything, or really everyone, it exposes me to. I am exposed to the work of so many scholars and creators who live their own definition. Within the academic world of fashion studies, from when I began in 2010 to now, our field has drastically evolved. A prime example is the Fashion Race Database , run by Kimberly Jenkins, who really educates and challenges people to expand our idea of what fashion is. Historically, fashion has been studied through a narrow lens that defines it exclusively within European and North American terms. I was just arguing with someone on the internet about how there is so much innovation and fashion to be found in other cultures. The idea that fashion has to be rapidly changing and seasonal might be true within a European or North American context, but that is absolutely not to say that the cultures where this looks different don’t have vibrant and incredibly rich fashion narratives. I love how Jonathan Michael Square and other scholars define fashion as not just a noun, but a verb. It is an active practice with the body. When you expand your brain to grasp fashion as an act and a practice, the world is endless. All of history opens itself to you.

~I also have to give a shoutout to Tony Vaccaro, such a seismic force, who joined me on the podcast five or so years ago. He was a WWII combat soldier turned fashion photographer, because he needed so desperately to find beauty after the atrocities he witnessed. [...] Fashion was an entry point and excuse to get to talk to this incredible human and learn more about his career. Those are the episodes I am most proud of throughout my career, where I got to meet these people with such incredible impact.~

Do you have a favorite episode(s) covering an area of dress that isn’t typically as well represented?

Gino’s book that he co-wrote, Fashionable Filipinas, looks at how these women created a hybrid fashion culture during Spanish colonialism, which lasted almost 300 years. They used dress as a mode of resistance and subversion to create such a unique fashion identity that exists to this day. I met Gino’s co-author, who told me about his mother, Salvavion Lim Higgins , an incredibly groundbreaking Filipina fashion designer. She opened her salon the same year as Chrsitian Dior. We all know Dior, but how many of us know Lim Higgins? Her body of work is incredible, and I was so excited to have Mark Lewis Higgins on the podcast to share about her. Gino linked me to Mark, and I connected Mark to a curator friend, and they’ve now collaborated a bunch together. Through Mark, I met the Editors of Vogue Philippines, and they’ve now come on the podcast. You really just find a connecting thread everywhere in the world of dress and meet so many people and places.

One of the most special things about the podcast is connecting with fashion history makers: people who have deeply shaped fashion history thanks to their careers. I’ve been honored to interview several of them, like Mary Wilson , one of the founding members of the Supremes. Little do people know she was also their wardrobe archivist, and she kept everything they wore. Also David Wolfe , a prolific paper doll artist and important trend forecaster in the 70s-90s. I also have to give a shoutout to Tony Vaccaro , such a seismic force, who joined me on the podcast five or so years ago. He was a WWII combat soldier turned fashion photographer, because he needed so desperately to find beauty after the atrocities he witnessed. He was friends with Georgia O’Keefe, photographed Pablo Picasso, and more. Fashion was an entry point and excuse to get to talk to this incredible human and learn more about his career. Those are the episodes I am most proud of throughout my career, where I got to meet these people with such incredible impact.

In addition to hosting Dressed , I know you’re also the founder of the popular social media account @The_Art_of_Dress. Can you tell me a bit about this aspect of your career.

I started The Art of Dress in 2011. I was one of the first accounts to do niche fashion history; they’re everywhere now, but then it really just felt like myself and the_corsetedbeauty . I focused on the 1910s, because it’s fascinating and such an overlooked era, and it just kind of blew up from there. Miley Cyrus and random celebrities followed me at the time, which helped me grow so much. I feel blessed that I got to share my passion and cultivate a community around the art of dress. My account is definitely one of many arms of my fashion history world; it’s a little more personal than Dressed , and I plan on developing the account more into its own entity in the next year.

Juggling many projects at once definitely comes with the territory! How do you stay balanced, or how do you stay inspired?

I take it day by day. It’s very fluid, and very interesting to be your own boss. A lot of lists, a lot of planning, and I try to turn everything off and definitively, actually end my work day when it’s time to pick up my kiddo and be with my family.

Fashion is one of the most intimate items that people own, which makes it an endless source of inspiration. We can all relate to it. There are very few things you can say are truly universal. Because of its intimate relationship to ourselves and our societies, it is an incredibly powerful tool of communication. Whether it is your own self-expression or what is imposed on you from the outside, it is both a private and public item. Dress and its stories are a hugely powerful entry point to understanding the human experience and history. That is what has always inspired me, the threads we can pull from pieces of dress to weave a narrative and the incredible people that work within this medium, telling stories and teaching us something new.

Could share a bit about the classes, trips, etc. hosted through Dressed and how that came to be?

This past year was our seventh or eighth fashion history tour of Paris. It’s a great way to connect with our listeners in person, which I don’t get to do often as I’m not based in NYC. We also get to pull together resources, like all the curators or museums we’ve connected with, through tours. Our classes started as another way to connect; we have vibrant and engaging chats, and we get to dive deeper into these fashion history concepts. I’ve taught on different decades/eras of fashion history, and we are doing the 1770s-1840s beginning in January. I develop my own curriculum for these classes, which is a good deal of work.

To conclude our chat–what does the future of fashion look like to you?

I hope it is a return to people valuing the clothing that they wear. We are such a throw-away culture, and we produce fashion at an abominable speed. It is a path of destruction, and because of this culture, many of us have lost our connection to the true value of clothing. Hopefully we’ll see more and more people appreciating craft and the work that goes into dress, the unseen labor. Everything we wear is made by a human, and we should never lose touch with that human element that exists at all times.

___________________________________________________

Thank you so much to Cassidy Zachary for having this conversation with me! Find her here , and find Dressed: The History of Fashion wherever you listen to podcasts.

~Madison Brito Taylor

Images (clockwise from top left):

Cassidy interviewing costume designer Sandy Powell for the opening of the exhibition Sandy Powell’s Dressing the Part: Costume Design for Film at SCAD FASH in Atlanta in 2025*

Dressed logo

*Cassidy at the above interview

Cassidy and designer Clint Ramos after a conversation conducted at the Metropolitan Opera during Dressed’s recent Day Tours of NYC, December 2025

Dialogues on Dress: Sara Idacavage

Tue, 06 Jan 2026 00:26:50 GMT

Or latest interview is with Sara Idacavage, who is a fashion historian, educator, and sustainable fashion expert.

The history of dress and the future of fashion act in dialogue, always interfacing to inform our present moment. The Costume Society of America’s diverse members exemplify this reality like no other; through the constant connections across time and disciplines they draw, our membership of costume curators, designers, artists, and so much more embody fashion’s ubiquitous presence - and dress’s daily power to teach us all something new.

We hope you will join us for CSA’s new Dialogues on Dress series, interviews now available monthly in our e-News and here on our website.

Interested in getting in touch? Email enews@costumesocietyamerica.com

Dialogues on Dress: Sara Idacavage

Sara Idacavage is an educator to her core, and our conversation is testament; an hour long dialogue–spanning from fashion history to ecoanxiety, Derrida to being an “archive gnome”–left me eager to only plunge further into her ideas even long after our interview ended. Which is precisely Sara’s teaching philosophy: getting to “the heart of a deeper perspective shift,”empowering her students, cracking history and its questions wide open. As a professor, lecturer, archivist, writer, and more, she works at the intersections of material culture and history, exploring how informing ourselves of the past can help us become better people today. Whether espousing the importance of empathy-informed teaching, sharing a passion for home economics education or fashion’s relationship to industrialization, or giving some real actionable advice (wash your clothes less often), Sara’s takes are refreshing, nuanced, and full of possibility.

A common thread across conversations with sustainable fashion experts is perhaps surprising; rather than a sense of doom, they express persistent faith in people to do good, gratitude for the work they pursue, and genuine excitement about what history can provide for the present and future–a sense of connection, motivation, and more. Sara embodies this sentiment to a T, and is a remarkable role model in the field of fashion.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

___________________________________________________

Please paint a brief sketch of your background, personal & professional.

Once upon a time, I really wanted to be a fashion editor. After I finished my undergrad in Fashion Merchandising at the University of Georgia, I moved to New York City, and I did work in journalism for a few years. Eventually I realized it was not for me; I just didn’t have the necessary passion for writing about all the latest trends and most recent store openings. I had a bit of an early existential crisis, which led me to getting my MA at Parsons in Fashion Studies. I had fallen in love with fashion history as an undergrad, but I didn't really understand how that could be a career until then. After Parsons, I was in museums and archives for a few years, including the Ralph Lauren Library, PVH, The Museum of the City of New York, and the New School archives. At that time, I was invited to come back and teach class. I had never thought of myself as a teacher, in fact, that sounded like the worst punishment I could think of. But I immediately caught the bug and really found my true calling in teaching. I was so inspired by sharing all my historical knowledge with the next generation of fashion professionals. I spent years as an adjunct instructor at Parsons, Pratt, and FIT, and then went back to the University of Georgia to get my PhD. Now I'm an Assistant Professor in the Journalism Department at Southern Methodist University [in Dallas, Texas.] So it’s a bit of a full circle moment, now teaching aspiring fashion journalists in the same shoes as myself 15 years ago.

I would love to hear how you would characterize your relationship to dress over the years. How has fashion influenced your work as well as personal journey?

I was just talking to my students about this… I think I've gone from being a consumer of fashion to a collector of fashion. I will be the first to admit that I am a reformed fast fashion addict. As much as most of my career is now based on sustainability and fighting against fast fashion, I also give it credit for helping me develop the identity that I have today. Growing up, I was getting all of my clothes from Kmart and Target. Then when I went to college in Georgia and later moved to New York, I suddenly had access to all these beautiful designs, even from fast fashion stores. I got to figure out who I was by trying so many different looks, but I have to admit that I maybe took that a little too far; I worked right above Zara and H&M, in Soho, and so it became almost a weekly activity to go shopping, pick up new things, and then at the end of the season donate everything to Goodwill. Because I - like so many people - was a believer that everything I donated was needed by somebody else. Even before I really started to learn about the environmental and social impact of the cycle I was stuck in, I began to feel that it wasn’t right. I felt trapped in a hamster wheel of consumption. This was at the same time I was learning a lot more about fashion generally, so I started going from buying mass quantities of cheap things to investing in vintage clothes. Which luckily, New York City of course has plenty of. My career as an archivist and a teacher blends into my life as a consumer. I have to practice what I preach.

~ Learning about these random bits of history actually made [my students] rethink their own consumption habits more than learning about contemporary issues. I think they felt numb to our modern problems; they were so inundated with this information that they almost stopped hearing it at all [...] The key as an educator is to link those history lessons to you, in the present. ~

How did you decide to focus on sustainable fashion in your research and teaching? Does a particular memory or course stand out?

I would love to say I had this great epiphany or took a life changing class, but that’s not really the case. Now, there is a lot more education about sustainability in fashion, but that wasn’t a huge topic when I was a student. I think that my real defining moment from a pedagogy standpoint was when I was teaching textile survey classes at Parsons; I started going down rabbit holes looking at how people valued their clothing differently throughout history. I taught my students about how in the Renaissance, clothing could be treated as an alternate form of currency, things like that. I recall that in my course evaluations at the end of the semester, my students described how learning about these random bits of history actually made them rethink their own consumption habits more than learning about contemporary issues. I think they felt numb to our modern problems; they were so inundated with this information, that they almost stopped hearing it at all. But when they started learning about fashion history and had that one degree removal, it helped them think about their clothing and consumption practices in a way that felt fresh and more manageable. So that's really when I started to think: I actually can make a difference as a fashion history teacher. There is a lot of possibility in this field. All of this led me to get a PhD and down the path I’m on today. It’s not pretty and no one wants to think about themselves as part of the problem. But if we’re talking about history, we can look at things with a bit more judgement perhaps. The key as an educator is then to link those history lessons to you, in the present. To show how, by the way, you’re still very, very intertwined and part of this system.

What spurred your interest in fashion history prior to becoming a teacher?

My PhD was actually in the Textiles Merchandising and Interiors Department at the University of Georgia, and even though I was studying history and sustainability, my PhD is technically in Polymer Fiber and Textile Science; which is very misleading, because I’m not doing any science… When I was getting my PhD, in addition to taking courses in things like consumer behavior and fashion related theory, I also took a lot of classes in the History school, Art Education, even Science Education, basically just different educational theories. So I would say my PhD was basically only 10% fashion. It was 90% all of these other subjects, and that's actually what I learned from the most. My dissertation looked at the historical development of fast fashion, particularly mail order catalogs, like from Sears, Roebuck & Co. Everything I do is always oriented around material culture. I love digging through an archive for days and days and days. That's my happy place for sure. I looked at how these catalogs presented thousands of clothing options to people living in rural areas that had maybe never seen a department store before, and they were all of a sudden given access to all of these things. My dissertation research, and really ongoing research, is kind of a social and cultural history of industrialization. I'm using clothing, but honestly I could be using happy meals or buildings or sofas or anything to kind of tell a similar story. I think clothing is the one that we instantly relate to - it’s like a shortcut to get people to understand.

Do you teach any courses on the social and cultural history of industrialization and fashion?

Yes and no, actually. I teach a fashion history class at SMU framed around sustainability. Every week, I have what I call a sustainability spotlight. If we are talking about the 1700s, we will talk about Marie Antoinette and all the fun stuff, but we are also going to talk about the cotton craze and colonialism. When we are talking about the '80s, we are going to talk about shoulder pads and MTV, but also neoliberalism and Reaganomics and how that kind of led to offshore productions. So I always tie it into industrialization, which I wasn’t capable of effectively doing before my PhD. It was really years of dedicating myself to rethinking how I approach teaching fashion, and now I'm actually putting it into practice. It’s also looking at the history of consumer behavior, which is something that's different from maybe your typical art history classes or what I used to teach at Parsons and FIT. But it’s interesting because I am in the journalism department, so I have to think about that context and what journalists would need to know. In that way, I actually have the freedom to go a lot more into the history of consumer practices, because that is something that they need to write about.

~A lot of my research is about reforming fashion education and taking into account the mental toll on these students becoming more climate aware [...] As an educator, I think it’s important to be aware of the emotional impact you’re making, while also trying to provide a lot of nuance and real actionable things that I hope people find helpful. ~

If you could distill some of your lectures and teachings into just a paragraph, what would you most like to communicate about fashion and how we can cultivate a healthier - for the planet and ourselves - relationship to it?

I think I always try to propagate a very problem-oriented approach to history. Not that there's anything wrong for history, for history's sake. There is a lot of joy to be had in looking at fashion history, but I am always trying to layer in a viewpoint of: how can we use this to look at our own modern consumption habits more critically? Where is that context, how are we connected to all of this now? My friend always tells me that I'm kind of like a Trojan horse when I do public lectures. We are talking about the 20s, people are expecting fun and glamour, but then suddenly we are talking about capitalism and colonialism. I like to see if I can push people to question things a little bit deeper, and walk away looking at their own closets or habits a bit differently.

My research goes into a few tracks. One being how do we use history to look at sustainability more critically and vice versa. Another track is mental health. A lot of my research is about reforming fashion education and taking into account the mental toll on these students becoming more climate aware. I have been thinking about this a lot with the book I am currently working on and exhibitions and journal articles, how there is a huge existential crisis resting in this knowledge. How can educators use that in a way that's going to encourage people to take action, instead of just curling up in a ball and hiding? As an educator, I think it’s important to be aware of the emotional impact you’re making, while also trying to provide a lot of nuance and real actionable things that I hope people find helpful.

What are some tips for people who are just starting to rethink their consumer practices?

My answer changes constantly. As much as I really would love to encourage things like mending, repurposing, etc. - which I do think is great - that takes a lot of time and there is a degree of privilege in having that time. That stuff was historically a part of everybody’s general knowledge and day to day, but it isn’t anymore. But at the very least, you should take the time to pause and reflect on what your needs are. I think I am always trying to get at the heart of a deeper perspective shift, and then hope that the behavior shift comes after that. So ideally, yes, tell everybody to mend their clothes, to research their brands more thoroughly, etc. But at the end of the day, just having an open mind to these things and thinking about them is a start. And then also, of course, remembering that sustainable fashion is not tied to any sort of price point and it isn't unreachable. This shirt that I’m currently wearing, it's from Zara, but I've had it for like 18 years. Take better care of your clothes, and wash them less often. I wear a lot of undershirts. The idea of washing your clothes frequently is such a modern phenomenon, not to mention something that is promoted by Big Laundry. Washing your clothes less, that is a small thing with a big impact. At the end of the day, it is sort of a personal decision as to what you have time for.

What are some favorite courses you’ve taught, and what do you find students today most inspired by or excited about??

I have to admit, I love teaching every single class because I think there is always an opportunity to integrate my nerdy, niche little fashion history topics in it. That's one of the great things about fashion, its interdisciplinary nature. I love surprising students with things they might not expect to get in a fashion class. One of my core classes I teach at SMU is called Understanding Fashion Design, and it's a real treat because I'm teaching journalism students; they're not designers, they don't have that pressure , but the class teaches them how to understand and describe all the things that go into fashion design. Even though there is nothing explicitly about sustainability in the course, every single part of it is just building that perspective shift in understanding and appreciating materials, appreciating the labor that goes into it.

But probably my most rewarding course has been University of Georgia's first ever sustainable fashion elective in 2023 that I got to introduce as a PhD student. The class ended with the students doing a public education exhibit. It was really rewarding for me to essentially teach my students to be teachers themselves, because I can only have an impact on a few dozen students each semester, but they can go out and have an impact on hundreds more . A lot of the exhibits were interactive, and about things like natural dyeing, fabric identification and laundry, and really overcoming ecoanxiety and instead channeling it.

I think in a lot of ways, my job is less about teaching people habits and more how to be better communicators. It is hard to communicate these big, scary concepts. We even have weeks dedicated to having difficult conversations with parents and grandparents. How do you talk to your sister who has a Shein addiction or your mom who can’t stop filling her Amazon cart? I like to make homework assignments that are about that, building scripts and developing communication skills. It will carry over into any professional work they do as well.

~Maybe from a marketing perspective, [the language of sustainability] is problematic because it has this amorphous definition, but I think that there is a benefit from an education perspective to having the lack of solid definition. It makes it easy to open it up for sources of debate. [...] It’s a good word if it makes us think harder, rather than giving us a shortcut to the answer.~

Are there any recent projects - curatorial, writing, or otherwise - you’d like to share about?

I like to think of my job as that of a storyteller. So whether I'm writing a column, teaching in a classroom, or curating, it is always about telling a story. My stories have changed over the years, but I have consistently found objects to be one of the most powerful and impactful ways to get those stories across. There are plenty of studies on how objects are an effective pedagogical tool. But I think it also helps us overcome our biases and our assumptions. Giving students a garment from the past, and adding a layer in a lesson about sustainability or culture appropriation, that object forces them not to immediately make an assumption about what that lesson will be about, because they are much more focused on things like their physical, personal connection to it.

With my appreciation for objects and their use in my teaching, I am always digging around the archives. I love being a little archive gnome. That led me to a recent project, which was an exhibition at the University of Georgia called From Farms to Fast Fashion, Unraveling the Need for Sustainable Style . I had carte blanche to curate an exhibition with the vague theme of sustainability. There were a limited number of mannequins, so I was thinking about, how do I tell the story in a way that is less about the clothing and more about the systems that make clothing consumption possible? I had things like records related to textile mills, child labor photography from Louis Heim, the social reform photographer, stuff pertaining to sharecropping and slavery or factory work. I also had things related to one of my passions, which is home economics education, and the Work Progress Administration and the Georgia Cooperative Extension Service, which were all these institutions that taught women how to better care for their clothing and how to be these more responsible consumers. It wasn't about saving the environment then, and more about how to be a good wife and a good mom. But all of these materials look exactly like what we're striving for today. The exhibition ended up being an exploration of the acceleration of fashion and advent of fast fashion, but doing it through unexpected material. That has really been a passion, telling these stories with objects that maybe people don't even associate with fashion.

I'm also now working on a book with a friend of mine who's a brilliant writer and scholar, Lauren Downing Peters. We are editing a book called Teaching Fashion Sustainably with Bloomsbury publishing. It should come out in 2026, and it has 60 chapters with a lot of amazing contributors discussing how they implement sustainability into their teaching practice. The idea is that you teach costume design or window merchandising or runway production, and there is going to be some sort of activity or chapter that speaks to how you can place sustainability in your class. It is very much in line with the ethos that sustainability should not be its own elective, but instead integrated into every single class.

I am always curious to hear opinions on the language we use surrounding “sustainable” fashion.

[The language aspect] is obviously frustrating… the more that you work in ‘sustainable’ fashion, the more you see the pitfalls of the words we use to talk about it. But at the same time, I believe it's a very helpful tool because at least it can be used as an umbrella term for lots of different things that are essentially working towards the same goal. Maybe from a marketing perspective, it is problematic because it has this amorphous definition, but I think that there is a benefit from an education perspective to having the lack of solid definition. It makes it easy to open it up for sources of debate. I think of it as similar to terms like feminism or even spirituality, where there are a lot of different ways to define it. That is part of the fun and the challenge, having debates around how to define it, and it also makes it in some ways more useful. I love the idea of taking a term and opening it up, deconstructing it. I am a big fan of Derrida. I think that when you are kind of deep into fashion studies, you start to see these Western paradigm types of binaries everywhere. And then it’s fun to get to that level of thinking where you realize, wait a minute, nothing is black and white. It’s a good word if it makes us think harder, rather than giving us a shortcut to the answer.

What else is on your mind these days?

I am trying to finally enjoy where I am today because I think that in academia, you can just work so hard, go get the PhD, get the job, go go go. But now I am having a pinch me moment, because I am so lucky to do what I do. I am still often stressed out… but it is such a special job to get to talk about fashion. It is a job that usually makes people's lives better, and that so many people can connect to. People love to talk about fashion. I get to travel, to meet people all around the world, and I still can’t believe this is my job.

What does the future of fashion look like to you?

I think that, like so many people who work in sustainability, there are ups and downs of going from being really optimistic to really pessimistic. I think it is my job to look for the bright spots. If I am going to try to train and educate future fashion professionals, I cannot just throw my hands up and say everything sucks, peace out, that’s all. I have to figure out how to get back to that bright side. I see what my students are doing today, like clothing saps or meeting for the sustainable club at SMU that I founded, and I think about how they are doing things I never would have dreamed of when I was their age. That gives me hope in the future. I try to take it day by day, step by step. It is easy to feel like you have to solve all the world's issues, to see these things as so systemic that they are beyond our control. I try to remember that the biggest difference you can make is what you can do right here, right now. And after you do that, you'll find what the next thing is tomorrow.

Fashion historians are in a very exciting moment, with all these different platforms that never existed before allowing us the opportunity to connect. The public wants to connect more and more to the past, wants to understand our history and how we can do better now in the present. It truly just brings me a lot of joy.

___________________________________________________

Thank you so much to Sara Idacavage for having this conversation with me! You can find her here , and keep an eye out for the forthcoming publication Teaching Fashion Sustainably in 2026!

~Madison Brito Taylor

Images (clockwise from top left):

Photo by Liisa Jokinen

Sara teaching students

Photo by Peter Frey (also banner image)

Sara speaking on sustainability panel at FIT

Dialogues on Dress: Ben Barry

Sat, 29 Nov 2025 23:39:02 GMT

Check out our latest interview with Ben Barry, Dean of Parsons School of Design.

The history of dress and the future of fashion act in dialogue, always interfacing to inform our present moment. The Costume Society of America’s diverse members exemplify this reality like no other; through the constant connections across time and disciplines they draw, our membership of costume curators, designers, artists, and so much more embody fashion’s ubiquitous presence - and dress’s daily power to teach us all something new.

We hope you will join us for CSA’s new Dialogues on Dress series, interviews now available monthly in our e-News and here on our website.

Interested in getting in touch? Email enews@costumesocietyamerica.com

Dialogues on Dress: Ben Barry

Representation and access within the world of fashion have been top of mind for Ben Barry from some of his earliest memories. As the Dean of Parsons, his mindset operates around continuously creating a just and more “inclusive and imaginative field,” a framework bolstered by years of running his own modeling agency—its beginning dating back to the tender age of fourteen—and at Cambridge University pursuing his PhD, to recent years rewiring Parsons curriculum and climate for deep and lasting institutional change; a kind of progress that honors the impact and possibilities of fashion to both “teach us how to survive in the world as it is, but also how to imagine the world as it could be.” Ben’s voice in the field is simultaneously steady and inspiring, a galvanizing force for thoughtful change, nuanced vision, and genuine joy. Below, he shares reflections on the Parsons Disabled Fashion Student Program, new courses, and expanded faculty that has broadened Parsons’ representation and range of “fashion expertise and lived experiences,” to thoughts on dress as a multisensory medium, the joy of wearing student designs, and where to find the best gluten-free baked goods in the city…

Read the interview below.

___________________________________________________

Please paint a brief sketch of your background, personal & professional. What did your journey prior to arriving at Parsons entail?

I’d describe myself as a white, queer, Disabled fashion educator, designer-researcher, and academic leader who is wholeheartedly committed to advancing justice through and within fashion. I’m the Dean of the School of Fashion at Parsons School of Design in New York City, where I’m also a tenured faculty member and hold the Gromek Endowed Professorship in Fashion Business. I joined Parsons in 2021, arriving from Toronto Metropolitan University. I started my academic career in their Fashion department as an Assistant Professor of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and was the Chair from 2018-2021.

I have taught courses across fashion studies, management, and design that support students in developing critical frameworks and practices to advance a more inclusive and imaginative field. My current research uses a range of methodologies, from surveys and interviews to the co-creation of fashion shows and exhibitions, to explore how Disabled people produce, navigate and reimagine disability and fashion. I am also co-leading a network that is exploring the peer-review process of practice-based fashion research, which will ultimately develop a framework that can be used by galleries, journals, and committees.

~ Fashion and dress studies is serious work. It’s about politics, histories, cultures, power, emotions, and economies. But at its heart, it is about the joy of self-expression, connection, and creation. ~

Does a particular memory stand out to you as being foundational to your interest within fashion today??

As a kid, my fun didn’t come from playing basketball or hockey. It came from playing in my grandmother’s closet and turning her hallway into a runway. As my vision changed, my relationship to fashion has also become about the possibilities of fashion to create access. For example, I often wear bright, bold colors so that if I can’t always see what’s coming, I’ll be seen.

For me, fashion teaches us how to survive in the world as it is, but also how to imagine the world as it could be. That’s the heart of my relationship with fashion. But I also know that for many people, that kind of relationship with fashion isn’t possible because the industry has been so exclusive. Clothes don’t fit all bodies, making clothes can be out of reach, and fashion sends the message that many of us don’t belong.

~ I found that when consumers saw models who reflected them, brand loyalty and purchase intention actually increased. But the bigger insight was that this idea of aspiration wasn’t about a specific body but about the creativity, artistry, and glamour of the clothes, hair, make-up, and art direction. Aspiration could be applied to any body by designers and creatives. It just typically hadn’t been.~

How did you arrive at academia? What drew you to universities?

I have to take you back to when I was fourteen. One of my friends had taken a modeling course and was told she was “too big” to be a model unless she lost weight. That made no sense to me. So I took her photos and sent them to a local magazine in my hometown of Ottawa, Canada. I included a note asking if the fashion editor wanted to hire her and included my name and phone number. A few weeks later, the editor called, said the magazine wanted to hire my friend for a photo shoot, and she assumed I was her agent. That one phone call launched my modelling agency, the Ben Barry Agency. From the start, I focused on representing fashion models who weren’t being represented by other agencies, people of different sizes, races, ages, and disabilities. I ran my agency from fourteen until I finished my PhD.

That work inspired me to go to university. I wanted to understand the business of fashion, its history of representation, and its social impact. I completed my PhD in Management at Cambridge University because a key question kept coming up in my business was why were my models getting hired by commercial fashion brands but not high-fashion labels. Designers and photographers would tell me that my models weren’t “aspirational” enough to sell luxury fashion. So my doctoral research tested that claim. I studied how models of different sizes, races, and ages influenced consumers’ perceptions of high-fashion brands. I found that when consumers saw models who reflected them, brand loyalty and purchase intention actually increased. But the bigger insight was that this idea of aspiration wasn’t about a specific body but about the creativity, artistry, and glamour of the clothes, hair, make-up, and art direction. Aspiration could be applied to any body by designers and creatives. It just typically hadn’t been.

That realization shifted my career focus. To truly create a more inclusive fashion industry, I needed to help influence how the next generation of fashion designers, creatives and professionals understood beauty and represented it through fashion.

~ I’m very conscious of my positionality, and of the privilege that comes with being seen and heard in particular ways in leadership and academic spaces. Wearing creative student designs allows me to challenge some of the expectations about professional dress, gender, and power that come with that. I often wear clothes that push against those norms and hopefully open up spaces for others to do the same. ~

Please describe a typical day of work and perhaps some leisure. If no day looks the same, describe a good one. Do you have any favorite spots around New York?

I’m usually up around six. I’ll make a coffee and try to get in about an hour or two of research and writing. After that, my husband and I will take our dog, Apple, for a walk through Greenwich Village. It’s one of my favorite parts of the day. Once I’m home, I’ll have breakfast, do some deep work, get ready, and walk to campus. If it’s a Wednesday, I’ll often pop by the Union Square Farmer’s Market. There’s an incredible gluten-free bakery stand called Knead Love that makes the best bagels and muffins. As a celiac, it's a dream!

Afternoons are usually packed full with meetings. These include spending time with faculty, staff, students, other deans, committees, or external partners. If I’m teaching that semester, I’ll often have class too. Most days wrap up around six, unless there’s a student showcase, a guest lecture, or an event on campus. Then I head home, walk Apple again with my husband, and we’ll make dinner together. After dinner, I head to the gym, take a bath, write down everything on my mind that’s keeping me up, and watch something on Netflix or scroll on TikTok before bed.

I’ve read a bit about curriculum and programming changes you’ve implemented at Parsons. Can you tell me about this and how you’ve seen the student body respond?

When I applied for the role of Dean of the School of Fashion, part of the process was giving a job talk. Mine was called Justice in Fashion, and it laid out a vision for how I wanted to work with the Parsons Fashion community to center access, inclusion, and justice in everything we do. When I arrived at Parsons, inclusion was happening but in silos. A few faculty were doing incredible work, but it didn’t have institutional backing from the School of Fashion Dean’s Office. My goal was to move from isolated efforts to something truly systemic.

During my first year, I worked with the community to co-create a shared vision and set of values for the school. We defined what access and social justice meant to us and how they would guide our decisions. That became the foundation for our school planning, and we’ve since brought it to life through a range of initiatives. These have included full-time faculty cluster searches in social justice and fashion as well as in Indigenous fashion knowledges and practices. These searches have welcomed 12 new full-time faculty members and expanded the fashion expertise and lived experiences among our faculty. We’ve revised our curriculum by updating learning outcomes and assignment briefs across fashion design and management to reflect our revised School of Fashion mission. And we’ve also added new courses on size inclusion, disability-led fashion practice, and multisensory design, as well as three courses on Indigenous fashion.

One of the initiatives I’m most proud of is the Parsons Disabled Fashion Student Program, which I started with Sinéad Burke. The program is funded by H&M, Capri Holdings, and the Ford Foundation, and it provides Disabled students with scholarships that support tuition, living expenses, materials, and access costs. It also offers the students career mentorship and Disabled peer community, while supporting faculty development around studio-based pedagogy and access.

The students at Parsons were ahead of us when it came to social justice. Our work has been to catch up to them and support them to develop the practices and opportunities to realize a more just fashion system.

~But institutional change is slow, messy, and nonlinear. I constantly have to remind myself that moving too quickly can cause harm, and that sustainable transformation is slow work. Over the next five years, my focus is on deepening the work we’ve already begun and making access, inclusion, and justice truly lived and felt across every part of Parsons.~

I also read that you like to wear student designs. Does their work influence your personal style and approach to fashion?

When I’m out in the world representing Parsons, I love wearing the work of our students! There’s something so meaningful about literally wearing the learning outcomes of our courses. It allows me to show people the incredible imagination that’s happening at Parsons every day. It’s also an enormous honor. These garments carry so much care, time, and intention, they’re extensions of who our students are as artists and designers.

I’m very conscious of my positionality, and of the privilege that comes with being seen and heard in particular ways in leadership and academic spaces. Wearing creative student designs allows me to challenge some of the expectations about professional dress, gender, and power that come with that. I often wear clothes that push against those norms and hopefully open up spaces for others to do the same.

Over the next five years, how do you see your work evolving? Tell me about a dream, project, or vision.

I’m incredibly proud of the changes the Parsons community has made to bring inclusion and justice to the center of school. But institutional change is slow, messy, and nonlinear. I constantly have to remind myself that moving too quickly can cause harm, and that sustainable transformation is slow work. Over the next five years, my focus is on deepening the work we’ve already begun and making access, inclusion, and justice truly lived and felt across every part of Parsons. I want those values to show up not only in our courses, but in the institutional structures and everyday experiences of everyone in our community.

In my own research, once I finish my current project on disability and everyday fashion design, I’m excited to explore the topic of accessible fashion curation. I led a workshop on it at Costume Society of America’s symposium in Los Angeles last year, and it’s something I’d love to expand into a larger project. I’m interested in how to exhibit fashion in ways that are not only more accessible for Disabled audiences, but also expand our curatorial practice by tapping into fashion as a multisensory medium.

What does the future of fashion look like to you?

Joyful. Fashion and dress studies is serious work. It’s about politics, histories, cultures, power, emotions, and economies. But at its heart, it is about the joy of self-expression, connection, and creation. My hope is that one day everyone will experience that joy through fashion. I want to help us get there.

___________________________________________________

Thank you so much to Ben Barry for having this conversation with me! You can find him here , read more about his work at Parsons here , and follow him on social media here .

~Madison Brito Taylor

Images (clockwise from top left):

Ben Barry wearing a beaded red ensemble by Parsons MFA Fashion Design and Society alum Jontay Kahm at the 75th Parsons Benefit. Photo by Roy Rochlin.

Custom-made magenta colored mannequin of collaborator Sean Lee dressed in a top designed by him and Diego Ortega exhibited at “Cripping Masculinity: Designing Fashion Utopias” at Tangled Art + Disability, March 10 - May 12, 2023. Photo by: Michelle Peek.

Ben Barry wearing a green embroidered jacket and pants by Parsons BFA Fashion Design alum Jacques Agbobly at the 74th Parsons Benefit. Photo by: G. Arturo Holmes.

Blazer with modular sleeves designed by collaborator Georgy Dhanjal and Aris Cinti on a custom-made mannequin of Georgy exhibited at “Cripping Masculinity: Designing Fashion Utopias” at Tangled Art + Disability, March 10 - May 12, 2023. Photo by Michelle Peek.

Dialogues on Dress: Kareem Khubchandani

Fri, 24 Oct 2025 14:16:56 GMT

Drag performer and Associate Professor of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies at Tufts University, Kareem Khubchandani shares his thoughts on performance and fashion, the art of drag, and more!

The history of dress and the future of fashion act in dialogue, always interfacing to inform our present moment. The Costume Society of America’s diverse members exemplify this reality like no other; through the constant connections across time and disciplines they draw, our membership of costume curators, designers, artists, and so much more embody fashion’s ubiquitous presence - and dress’s daily power to teach us all something new.

We hope you will join us for CSA’s new Dialogues on Dress series, interviews now available monthly in our e-News and here on our website.

Interested in getting in touch? Email enews@costumesocietyamerica.com

Dialogues on Dress: Kareem Khubchandani

All art forms are complicated, conjuring their own stereotypes and supporters in equal parts. But perhaps few inspire quite as many opinions and confusions as drag; partially due to its elusiveness, since “drag can be so many things, it disrupts our understanding of what the body is,” and partially due to its highly conspicuous nature, designed to “attract attention,” as this month’s Dialogues guest shares. For Kareem Khubchandani, drag is about aesthetics, education, hosting community, and much more. He explores the full scope of drag in his musings, its many iterations and possibilities, while still managing to demystify and illuminate this incredibly complex art form. “People do strange, wonderful, weird things with drag,” he shares; it can be social commentary or purely silly, revelatory or just celebratory. And it is all done with the help of fashion, one of the tools we use to perform ideas daily. As an Associate Professor of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies at Tufts University in Massachusetts, researcher and writer, and performer himself as LaWhore Vagistan, his drag persona, Kareem speaks about the interplay of fashion and performance with nuance, precision, and resonance. Below, we discuss dress as data translator, showing up to teach class as LaWhore, and Fashion with a capital F.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

___________________________________________________

Please paint a brief sketch of your background, personal & professional.

I moved from Ghana to the US in 2000 for undergraduate studies [at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York]. I visited NYC regularly—which is where I came out—and I would go to these queer South Asian parties . I was shocked and fascinated by how there could be such familiar sounds of my home and family, but in this very sexy, fun, and queer space. Eight years later I found myself in grad school for my MA and PhD at Northwestern in Chicago, Illinois in Performance Studies. I came to the US imagining a career in chemical engineering or as a pharmacist… I didn’t even know what performance studies was before moving here. But once I discovered it, it felt like a perfect fit. My dissertation at Northwestern became my first book: Ishstyle: Accenting Gay Indian Nightlife , ishtyle being an accented way of saying style. At the same time as my graduate studies, I started doing drag, so I was thinking a lot about embodied style through movement and the trope of the accent—embodied in the sense of dance, musculature, posture, pose; I was not yet thinking with dress and fashion. In the process of performing myself, I developed this persona of the South Asian auntie, which provided the scaffolding for my second book, Decolonize Drag . I was wearing saris to the nightclub and made this music video called Sari , a riff off Justin Bieber’s song “Sorry.” To talk about aunties, you have to talk about fashion, so I figured out I needed to learn more about dress. I applied to the Mellon Foundation New Directions Program, which allows midcareer scholars to take a little turn and try something new. Through that, I did a fashion studies and design track at Parsons in 2023/24, taking classes across their MA Fashion Studies program and Associate’s Fashion Design program. I also studied with a South Asian artist in New York, which helped me learn more about these textiles I was wearing myself and their context in fashion history.

What drew you to the field of Performance Studies once you discovered it?

At Colgate, I took an anthropology course on a whim. This professor, Yamuna Sangarasivam, blew my mind in so many ways, thinking about everyday practices as politically and historically significant. I ultimately majored in Sociology/Anthropology, and in my first job out of undergrad [at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts], I would host these parties with professors and faculty where I would play music videos. One of them pointed out to me how queer the stuff I was playing was, and I thought… I’m allowed to say that? In those conversations, I learned about the existence of performance studies as a field. I started thinking about studying the relationship between Bollywood and the nightclub, as I had seen as a teenager and in my 20s, and performance studies felt like the right lens through which to study it. What we see in or on the body is a way of translating data. Doing drag, I translate my research for an audience through my performance with lip sync, dance, dress, and more.

~ We often explain drag as one gender performing as the other, creating a binary and insisting that crossing is the idea at hand. For me, it is about aestheticizing gender. Acknowledging that it is an aesthetic and playing with that. ~

I would love to hear how you would characterize your relationship to dress over the years. How has fashion influenced your work as well as personal journey?

My mother was a fashion designer. From home and with private tailors, she did bespoke work for her own clients. After school, I would go fabric shopping and to the tailor with her, and I would be sitting and collecting scraps and watching her sketch. Our house was full of fashion magazines. My mom went to high school in Gibraltar and then got married and moved to Ghana, so she was working with her high school home economics training, but she did have an amazing eye for design. My parents retired in Bangalore, and she continued designing there. She designed and created the outfits for a dance group I worked with. She knew the names for everything and could identify fabric just by touch—all learned just through vernacular practice. I took for granted that you could decide what you wanted to wear, that I could draw something and have it manifested because of her. I would return from trips home with these items I designed myself and from fabrics I had chosen, which is a very unique thing.

My relationship to Fashion, capital F, feels more complicated. Studying it in school always felt out of range for me. I felt I wasn’t always able to process the visual language, why different designers matter or how they overlap with other design practices, until I formally studied it in New York.

But drag forced me to think about fashion on a larger scale and consider it beyond gender. I remember being in a giant thrift store in Chicago during my graduate studies and going down the women’s aisle for the first time, realizing how much more I could play with if I gave myself permission to shop across the aisles. Drag pushed me to make choices not based simply on what I’m supposed to wear, but what I actually want to wear. I’m shopping for LaWhore [my drag persona], but also myself.

Tell me about your performance work as LaWhore Vagistan - how did she come about?

I started drag in Chicago in 2009 and created LaWhore for a performance at Northwestern, it was supposed to be sort of a one-time thing. We hosted a fundraiser and needed a South Asian drag queen to perform, and we couldn’t find one. This was my first time wearing a full face of makeup or doing something like this. But that fundraiser happened again and again, so I just kept performing... I ended up joining a drag class program at a nightclub in Austin, Texas where I was a postdoc for two years. It was structured as a classroom competition; we had homework, I learned how to use a sewing machine for the first time, and how to properly do makeup and style a wig. It also taught me about how to dress for drag. Through themed parties, I got to think about how to adapt my style and make new choices constantly. Drag was so exciting, the way it pushed me to develop a visual language and work with new materials. Like working with wigs—it is hard, sticky stuff. These are 3D designs, on bodies. I had to learn color theory, to make makeup show up the way I wanted on brown skin. I’ll also add, drag is really expensive. You learn to be glamorous with the least money possible. I wore saris, which you can get for very cheap but look great on stage. During that drag class, I made the song parody [ Sari ] and started to think about the figure of the auntie, which is how LaWhore evolved to who she is now.

~ Drag attracts attention, so whether a parade or a protest, it has always been connected to activism [...] It is not just for the stage, but also everyday life. It is an ethic of mutual aid and care.~

Are there any recurring misconceptions you find about drag in general discourse? What is a good introduction to drag for the uninitiated?

Drag is a performance art form that many queer and trans people use to put gender on the body, with the goal of hosting community, bringing people together, and commenting on these themes of the body, stardom, fashion, and more. Or just to be silly. It doesn’t have to be social commentary or only about pop music. People do strange, wonderful, weird things with drag, and it is not just gender they are putting on the body. It is also about animality, race, religion… dress is one of the many ways we change the shape of the body to signify these ideas. With drag, people sing, do comedy, and use it for protest. Drag attracts attention, so whether a parade or a protest, it has always been connected to activism. Marsha P. Johnson , a black trans woman at the center of Stonewall activism in the late 60s/early 70s, also described herself as a drag queen. It is not just for the stage, but also everyday life. It is an ethic of mutual aid and care.

Something to know is that there are more than just drag queens—there are also kings, things, zombies. It’s not always about crossing gender—there are trans women and cis women who are drag queens, and they’re not “crossing” the gender binary. We often explain drag as one gender performing as the other, creating a binary and insisting that crossing is the idea at hand. For me, it is about aestheticizing gender. Acknowledging that it is an aesthetic and playing with that. There is also the assumption often made that drag is sexual (ie, the backlash against drag story hour). And yet you’ve got Sasha Velour performing as an armchair . Some drag is purposefully sexy, but that’s not the drag appearing at children’s events or teaching environments, and there is so much in this art form that has nothing to do with sexuality. There are longstanding prejudices against queer and trans people that are being placed on the drag body. It draws the ire of public officials who need something to criminalize. Drag can be so many things; it disrupts our understanding of what the body is, making it hard to criminalize and showing these laws are nebulous, specious, and transphobic.

Do you use drag in the classroom [as a professor at Tufts University]?.

I absolutely do. When I first started teaching, I discovered a lack of online archives with which I could teach about queer Bollywood. Specifically the material I saw in nightclubs. That stuff was not filmed or documented in the same way other kinds of dance were. So I thought, what if I brought the nightclub to the classroom and had LaWhore teach the class? In this process, I discovered how drag defamiliarizes the classroom and pushes students to see my body, that of the professor, differently. Drag still gave me access to authority, but in a different, and frankly fun, way. I will show up in drag to teach a class that is not even about gender or performance because it completely shifts the mood.

I teach a class at Tufts called Critical Drag, where students create personas and performances. They work over the semester to learn about the technologies and techniques of drag performance, its histories, and how drag moves across mediums, and then they create performances. Some of my former students are now drag artists or nightlife producers, so I am really proud of that class and the ways that it gives students a framework to engage with a very complicated art form.

I wrote Decolonize Drag for my students, in the sense that I found a lot of the texts on drag up until five or so years ago were very focused on a sociological lens. Not a lot was focused on the aesthetics and what performances themselves did and the questions about power they prompted. I wanted a text focused on how drag accomplishes its political ends, through close attention to dress, gesture, makeup, etc. The end of the book attends to each of those things individually, like song choice or drag name, really breaking it down. I want to show that drag is an aesthetic practice. This kind of writing has shaped my newest book, Lessons in Drag , which is structured as a manual and features a series of “How to…” chapters.

~ We often do not have the language to talk about how powerful fashion is in our lives; in Fashion Studies, we are lucky to know all these nuanced ways of speaking about it, but a lot of people do not realize how much their clothing carries stories - their own and those of a larger social phenomenon .~

Can you tell me a bit about your research? I would also be interested to hear how research intersects with and impacts your experience as a teacher.

One of the things I teach is Performance Ethnography. I try to frame the class around a research question I am working on. The first time I taught it, I was working on an essay about fun as a research method, which turned into an essay called “Dance Floor Divas” ; so my first class on this was ethnography of fun. I’ve also taught it on kinship and most recently on dress. These are opportunities to be inside of my research while I’m teaching as well. My students help me build my bibliography; they raise new questions for me through their own research as well. Many of us teaching on the tenure track, trying to keep up with required research outputs during the semester, put texts in our syllabi that we also want to read.

Can you talk to me a bit about how fashion shows up in your teaching?

One of the things I read while studying at Parsons was Sophie Woodward’s method of Wardrobe Interviews , which involves sitting with your interlocutor in your closet and thinking about the stories behind clothes, using material objects as fodder for asking questions. Also thinking about how domestic spaces accommodate clothing, like in dressers, boxes, or drawers. I have wanted to do interviews like this with drag artists, so I got my students to do a project on what dress and fashion can do to help elicit more from your field. They did these amazing closet interviews. Their interview transcripts revealed how these people that thought they had anything to say about their clothing discovered they actually had all these stories within them. People are so unaware of how artistic they truly are with their clothing. We often do not have the language to talk about how powerful fashion is in our lives; in Fashion Studies, we are lucky to know all these nuanced ways of speaking about it, but a lot of people do not realize how much their clothing carries stories—their own and those of a larger social phenomenon.

~ Dress is the way we are always read first. Be it for our class, religion, race, and more. And when dress meets skin, that is where performance and fashion merge. When dress is on the body, what can a body become? ~

Looking towards the future, what is capturing your attention or on your mind these days?

Learning about how the language of fashion does different things in different fields has opened up so many pathways for thinking. I am overwhelmed by the possibilities. But one of the things I’ve started to think about is aging in dress. What happens to a drag closet after an artist passes? How can we imagine rich futures for clothing?

Dress is the way we are always read first. Be it for our class, religion, race, and more. And when dress meets skin, that is where performance and fashion merge. When dress is on the body, what can a body become? Whether on stage or in the classroom, I’m very aware of how I can transform myself and how I am perceived. These are themes I’ve tried to capture in my new film Sari, Not Sorry , a drag film that comes with an educational page about South Asian textiles. I am so grateful to the language of fashion studies, how with a closer attention to history and materiality I can articulate these ideas in a new way.

___________________________________________________

Thank you so much to Kareem Khubchandani for having this conversation with me! You can find him on social media here , and his new book, Lessons in Drag , is available here .

~Madison Brito Taylor

Images (clockwise from top right):

LaWhore Vagistan wearing her mother's wedding reception sari, a geometrically hand-sequined chiffon, to host her annual show DRAGISTAN. Photo by Mettie Ostrowski, 2024

Photo by Junaid Arif

Kareem’s mother, Shoba, wearing a blue satin sari with lace border to host a Diwali Ball in Accra Ghana

LaWhore wearing a checked kanjeevaram sari (des. KalamCreations) in a nivi drape, paired with an organza kalamkari sari (des. Nikita Untitle) flowing around her, and a gold breastplate (des. Misha Japanawala) as part of her Sari, not Sorry video shoot. Photo by Mettie Ostrowski, 2024

Dialogues on Dress: Kate Sekules

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 14:46:59 GMT

This month, we spoke with Kate Selukes, mender, teacher, historian, and more.

The history of dress and the future of fashion act in dialogue, always interfacing to inform our present moment. The Costume Society of America’s diverse members exemplify this reality like no other; through the constant connections across time and disciplines they draw, our membership of costume curators, designers, artists, and so much more embody fashion’s ubiquitous presence - and dress’s daily power to teach us all something new.

We hope you will join us for CSA’s new Dialogues on Dress series, interviews now available monthly in our e-News and here on our website.

Interested in getting in touch? Email enews@costumesocietyamerica.com

Dialogues on Dress: Kate Sekules

Kate Sekules is a master of reinvention. We may know her as the punk pioneer of visible mending , the art of giving worn pieces new life, but her own story is somewhat of a cipher for mending’s enduring lessons. Her “past lives” as the saying goes - as a magazine editor, boxer, musician, and much more - would better be considered as reinventions, new designs, of the same Kate that exudes an aura of play, discovery, and integrity; her jampacked career spanning genres, degrees from drama to costume, and genuine humility and curiosity in conversation are only the half of it. Kate is prolific not just in her literal work, but also in the evolution of her own ideas in the landscape of dress at large. She asks us not to look at mending as a trend, but as a permanent piece in the future of dress, and not to strive for a “circular” system, but one in which we are continually working with what we have, disrupting and innovating, to arrive at a new place altogether. Kate dubs mending “codesign,” reminding the mender that this act is a creative collaboration between you and the garment, one rooted in agency, receptivity, and chiefly, fun. Kate Sekules is an embodiment of the ideas she propagates, speaking with urgency and inspiration while never taking herself too seriously – a necessary quality in maintaining openness and excitement for new ways of being. You can find her teaching across New York City at schools like Parsons, Pratt, and FIT, hosting a monthly mending group at the Textile Arts Center, or playing in her home turf of Brooklyn at secondhand fashion stalwarts like Beacon’s Closet. Wherever it may be, you should probably strive to be there too.

Read our conversation below. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

___________________________________________________

Please paint a brief sketch of your background, personal & professional.

Academia came late in my career; I was a magazine editor, but then magazines were going belly up everywhere. I looked at the writing on the wall and thought “I’ll do what I love most in the world” which is, simply put, old clothes. I started Refashioner , really the first wardrobe trading website. You had to include the story of your item, and then it was curated as well. I discovered how much I love researching old clothes, so I went on to get a Masters from NYU in Costume Studies, [Kate's undergraduate degree was in literature and drama and she is currently pursuing her PhD at Bard Graduate Center], and it has all continued from there. I went into NYU knowing I wanted to concentrate on secondhand circulation or mending. Mending won partly, or really largely, because no one had done it! There is a lot of coverage of contemporary materials, but the history is buried and often unfindable. I teach Fashion History and Mending Fashion, a course of my own invention which involves technical practice; I don’t think you can conceptually understand mending without doing it. I want there to be a discipline called Critical Mending, as I’m hoping this study will grow. I teach all over the place… in corporate and private groups, universities, and as a guest lecturer in classes. There is a new and exciting Masters at Pratt in Sustainable Practices that I’m teaching in as well. For the last 6 or 7 years, I’ve been dropping into university courses to talk about mending cultures, history, etc. My book, Mend! , came out in 2020 – I think it is the only one of the many mending books out there that has history in it.

Why do you think mending is so understudied?

It is very hard to find traces. In order to research mending, you have to go very hybrid and cross many boundaries, which is hard. It is difficult to intrude on these enormous subject areas where I don’t belong, to learn the languages of disciplines like archaeology, anthropology, philosophy, geology… History also, of course, although I am sort of a historian. But I trespass on all sorts of areas of history where I don’t belong. You have to read so much in these other disciplines, and then you end up not using most of it. It is very time consuming, and the seek to find ratio is ridiculous. To discover things about mending you have to swim in all these different pools.

Selfishly, I’m very interested in where mending shows up in literature.

I have actually just been asked to teach a class on mending history in a literature context. Anyone who reads a Victorian novel or really anything pre-20th century and finds a mention of mending, which you often will, will see it is always very instructive. But also, whoever wrote that piece of fiction has the context for mending already, so doesn’t need to overtly explain it. Mending in fiction is very literal and informative only when contextualized. Literature is also actually where you will most often find mentions of something this “quotidian and mundane.”

~ In order to research mending, you have to go very hybrid and cross many boundaries, which is hard. It is difficult to intrude on these enormous subject areas where I don’t belong, to learn the languages of disciplines like archaeology, anthropology, philosophy, geology… ~

What is it about “old clothing” that drew you in?

There is a lifeforce in objects of cloth. Many people have written about this, but I have always felt that way without having any technical knowledge. I grew up next to Portobello Road Market in London, and you could find incredible pieces from these piles of clothing; it was a constant history lesson. I read everything I could as a child in the libraries I had access to.

I would love to hear how you would characterize your relationship to dress over the years. How has fashion influenced your work as well as personal journey?

Growing up in London, it is a little looser and there are fewer unspoken rules, so people dress in very interesting and inspiring ways. I have always thought of fashion as a dress up opportunity, and I let that feeling of fun lead me. Also, the turn of the century in London was a great time for design. It all started to go a bit wrong after that, but at the time, sample sales in London were incredible. I had no idea how lucky I was. I can’t say I love fashion anymore though, because of what contemporary fashion means.

The vocabulary (circular, sustainable, etc.) around these topics is tricky. How do you think, on the individual level, we can go about participating in and creating a more circular fashion economy? And what is some better terminology we can use to talk about it?

It absolutely needs to happen on the individual level. Frankly, it is impossible for companies to be circular. Recycling is a total con. It just eats fossil fuel… there is no way for companies to do it in a way that works. We need to think iteratively, lots of little groups and people, by the millions, instead of within this hegemonic, greedy fashion industrial complex. I recently contributed to a book coming out at a later date called Teaching Fashion Sustainably , and the editors have just asked us for our input on the term “sustainable” - this is evidently a hot topic right now. I do not teach sustainably, I teach disruptively. This word sustainable does not work anymore, if it ever did. It has now been abused and lost all meaning; you can buy a “sustainable” t-shirt from anywhere, it doesn’t mean anything. The word circular is tricky too. I just wrote an article called “Optics of Obvious Mending” in Fashion Theory [the journal]; I considered a spiral as a better symbol than a circle in thinking about fashion. You cannot connect back to the same place, but with a spiral you can reach a different place on the same circuit. Items and systems can be altered and evolve, never the same as they were before, but still themselves. I am always trying to rethink these ideas and evolve my way of approaching the study of dress, and I would love to be out there more discussing these ideas with others. I do a lot of symposia in the US and other countries, which is a good way to mix it up with other types of academics. But academia can also be very insular, and I would like the conversation to extend beyond. We should all be talking about this, rather than have it locked into strictly economic or academic dialogues.

~ I stand behind the term “visible mending” because it conveys the general idea, but it can also sound a bit too trendy. Which is a problem, because trends end. An alternative way to frame it is perhaps “codesign.” There are infinite ways to fix and alter something and add to it, to make it a collaborative process between you and the item. [...] We need to innovate in style and design, and this is a design form. Fashion is fairly moribund and profit-driven, but mending can step in and disrupt that.~

As there are lots of different ways to participate in secondhand fashion, why the focus on mending specifically? What about this practice speaks to you?

I have always mended; it was just something you did growing up. At some point, decades ago, I started doing it in bright or contrasting colors, or just to make it more exciting, and I was interested in the idea of showing the age. Recently, this has become more of a thing. The term visible mending had already been invented, but it was a less popular concept at the time I launched my, somewhat rubbish, original Visible Mending website about 10 years ago. Visiblemending.org [a second website] is part of my dissertation – it is a crowdsourced mending map, and anyone can apply and be on it, but this project is very much still in the works. When I started working on this, I could not believe how little research was out there about mending, and the more I learned the more I discovered I had to learn. I had very supportive professors and tutors at NYU who made me feel like I was onto something. Shoutout Elizabeth Morano!

My mother taught me to sew, but I think mending really teaches itself. My thesis [at BGC] is actually called a “History and Theory of Mending,” to be totally pretentious but try to cover a lot of ground. My idea is that mending is an innate ability, and there is not much really to teach. There was a pedagogy era, but it really has not been formally taught that much if you take all of history. You do mending because you have to. It teaches you. There is mending done throughout history, out of necessity, and mending that we do now, which is performative in a good way. It is a statement we are making about what fashion is. I stand behind the term “visible mending” because it conveys the general idea, but it can also sound a bit too trendy. Which is a problem, because trends end. An alternative way to frame it is perhaps “codesign.” There are infinite ways to fix and alter something and add to it, to make it a collaborative process between you and the item. Mending shouldn’t follow a model or all look the same because people will get tired of that. We need to innovate in style and design, and this is a design form. Fashion is fairly moribund and profit-driven, but mending can step in and disrupt that.

~It is intimidating to put holes in things, you feel like your clothes are somehow not yours to do that to and you are not allowed to approach. But you are. ~

Describe a typical day of work or studies (& perhaps some leisure) - or if no day looks the same, describe a good one.

If I do not immediately start working on my dissertation, I can allow the day to just go off into admin. So, if I can, I write first. My days are also filled with teaching, which right now is in fashion history and also studio technologies & reparative practices at Pratt . On Sundays once a month, I co-host the group Darn It! at Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn with Martina Cox , a brilliant artist, and Hekima Hapa , the founder of Black Girls Sew . We are a fun trio! Typically, about 60 people show up, and about half are people that have never been before. We follow a very loose structure and are each other’s teachers. Anyone is welcome and can just show up (though they should reserve, it sells out); people have made friends for life there, it is really a lovely atmosphere. I mend of course, and in March I mend ALL the time as I run Mendmarch , a mending challenge on Instagram. Otherwise, I have a husband, daughter, and three cats that I spend time with! I live in Brooklyn, and worship at the altar of Beacon’s Closet - a buy sell trade store - so I might spend some time there, and swap out some of my 2,000-piece vintage collection! I strongly believe sharing is the future of clothes. I have always done clothes swaps with my friends, and now twice a year I co-host a swap called Dress-Go-Round .

What advice do you have for someone with no experience, or intimidated by, mending?

You do not need to be formally taught mending, but you should learn how to sew. You can have very basic sewing skills, running stitch will get you wherever you need to go, and there are a lot of resources to learn this, whether online or from all these teachers popping up in person. Check a community board or join a group – I think it is great to join a group. Get some friends together, learn from and encourage each other, and use each other to get through those initial, intimidating stages. Spread the mend – it is contagious! There is no set pattern or way, so surround yourself with people that are going to encourage rather than stifle you. My book actually holds your hand through that. It is intimidating to put holes in things, you feel like your clothes are somehow not yours to do that to and you are not allowed to approach. But you are.

~ I do not believe in whipping people, because it is not working. We need positive incentives, something fun and exciting to participate in, where you feel a sense of agency and creativity in getting dressed . ~

What does the future of fashion look like to you?

I wrote about this at the end of my book, Mend! , and a lot of it is coming true. I would like there to be constant iterations, for everyone to feel like they can alter their own clothes. A wardrobe is not a fixed thing, it is malleable and fluid, coming in and out of your life. We should have secondhand, alteration, and mending workshops and swapping shops, people using old clothes to make new clothes. Billions of clothes are going to waste and filling the earth, but I won’t go on with that topic - I do not believe in whipping people, because it is not working. We need positive incentives, something fun and exciting to participate in, where you feel a sense of agency and creativity in getting dressed. We should feel playful, like we are codesigning with our own clothes.

___________________________________________________

Thank you so much to Kate Sekules for having this conversation with me! You can find her on social media here to stay up to date on her work and teaching . Watch a CSA Conversations on Dress with Kate here . Join her Punk Smocking class at the Tatter Textile Library on November 6th or her monthly group Darn It! at the Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn!

~Madison Brito Taylor

Images (clockwise from top right):

Kate’s punk smocking on a white linen shirt

Photo by Liisa Jokinen

Kate mending at BGC

Photo by Jessica Marquez

Dialogues on Dress: Amber-Dawn Bear Robe

Wed, 30 Jul 2025 13:06:31 GMT

This month, we spoke with Amber-Dawn Bear Robe, Indigenous Fashion Curator and Founder & Creative Director of Native Fashion Week™.

The history of dress and the future of fashion act in dialogue, always interfacing to inform our present moment. The Costume Society of America’s diverse members exemplify this reality like no other; through the constant connections across time and disciplines they draw, our membership of costume curators, designers, artists, and so much more embody fashion’s ubiquitous presence - and dress’s daily power to teach us all something new.

We hope you will join us for CSA’s new Dialogues on Dress series, interviews now available monthly in our e-News and here on our website.

Interested in getting in touch? Email enews@costumesocietyamerica.com

Dialogues on Dress: Amber-Dawn Bear Robe

Indigenous fashion is not a field of mere artifacts. This is, first and foremost, the takeaway from a conversation with Amber-Dawn Bear Robe, a genuine maverick in the world of dress at large; you may have heard her on a recent episode of Dressed: The History of Fashion , read about her in Forbes earlier this summer, or seen her work with Native Fashion Week on Vogue Runway’s Instagram . Amber-Dawn has fervidly lifted Indigenous fashion to a new public level since her first Native Fashion Show back in 2012, and continues to turn the hackneyed narratives and clichés that surround the field on their head. As she puts it, “the American Indian has really been frozen in time, in terms of what they symbolize to the rest of the world.” Too often studied as solely anthropology, not studied at all, or simply not seen with the same expectations of dynamism, diversity, and significance we readily possess elsewhere. But with Amber-Dawn’s passion at work, their frozen position in our cultural consciousness is thawing, and with it their true complexity and relevance comes into view. Native fashion is nothing new, Amber-Dawn citing Native artists as “the original courtiers of America,” but hopefully the consideration we give it can be. With her curation, show directing, producing, teaching, and much more, Amber-Dawn’s work is helping the public peel back the many layers and stories of Indigenous fashion through the present day and into the future, one in which “Indigenous fashion is not a niche, but part of the mainstream conversation of fashion.”

Read our conversation below. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

___________________________________________________

Could you please introduce yourself to our CSA readers, and paint a sketch of your background, personal and professional?

I am from Siksika Nation and my Blackfoot name is Many Butterfly Woman. I am an Indigenous Fashion Curator, focusing on Native fashion artists from across Canada and the US. Out of high school, I went to art college in Canada, the Alberta University of the Arts. I wanted to go to Parsons and be a fashion designer, but for a young Canadian girl like me, that was expensive and far away. I ended up getting a Masters in Native American Studies and a second Masters in Art History, both from the University of Alberta. But some of the greatest educational experiences that I have had have been outside of academia. The Banff Center for Art was a game-changer for me early on in my curatorial career. I just keep following my passion, wherever that leads, and I am lucky to have the flexibility to move from place to place.

And where has that passion led you these days?

I look at my curatorial career as extending from the exhibition space to the runway. It also involves scholarship, publishing, panels, and beyond, on top of teaching and curriculum-creation. I’ve been working in this world of contemporary Indigenous art since graduating from college, and that transitioned into fashion over time. For this last Native Fashion Week [Amber-Dawn launched this in 2025 under Bear Robe LLC. The first one she launched under the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts in 2014], CFDA CEO Steven Kolb came out and was our conversation lead with one of the designers. My work on Native Fashion Week is continually and rapidly growing, and on top of that I have three exhibitions coming up. One is at the Textiles Museum of Canada in Toronto, looking at the controversies and conversations in Native fashion; every garment has a story, and we’re looking at the very-public dialogues surrounding certain pieces, such as appropriation, but also those conversations within our own community, something the general public perhaps hasn’t considered much. The second exhibition is a fashion one at the James Museum in Florida, and the third is at the Brooks Museum in Memphis, Tennessee.

~ I consider curating to be an artistic expression of my love for fashion, and a way to feed it rather than constantly changing or cultivating my own personal style. ~

What prompted your transition from contemporary Indigenous art at large to specifically fashion?

I was very much influenced in graduate school by one of my colleagues and good friends, Jessica Metcalfe - she is one of the first people to ever get a PhD in Native fashion. Our paths kept crossing; the Native community is small, let alone within the arts and then fashion within that, and the people I’ve met throughout my work in the art field have all merged into this really beautiful, vibrant community. The shift also happened when I moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, which is really the hub. There is high demand here for this field of study, plus it has a lot of history. It just made sense. In 2012, I produced my first fashion show there at the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, later bringing this to The Southwestern Association for Indian Arts in 2014. Native Fashion Shows had always happened at Indian Market in Santa Fe, but I created a modern show with official programming and grew it as one of the most anticipated events at the Market. I recently launched Native American Fashion Week on my own under Bear-Robe LLC; this allows me full curatorial freedom, in turn enabling designers to have their complete artistic freedom, not hobbled by any expectations of what Native fashion should look or be like. I want to be clear that Native fashion existed way before myself, of course. I just lifted it to a different public level.

I would love to hear how you would characterize your relationship to dress over the years. How has fashion influenced your work as well as personal journey?

I want to be careful with my words, because I in no way support fast fashion, but there are many creative ways to garner new clothes and swap out old ones. Have a clothing swap party with your friends. Go second-hand shopping. But it can really depend on the luxury of where you live; if you live in NYC, you’ll have a very different experience second-hand shopping then perhaps elsewhere. Santa Fe is also an amazing place for second-hand. But honestly, you can’t underestimate the good quick-fix of going to a T.J. Maxx.

What is typical Santa Fe style?

A lot of turquoise and silver, cowboy influence, frilly white dresses. Definitely not me, not that there is anything wrong with it! The cliché Santa Fe style is heavily borrowed from Native arts and culture, but actual Native style is definitely not that. You will see lots of alternative looks in Santa Fe too - there is simultaneously a lot of anti-Southwest style here mixed in with the clichés.

~ This is really the goal - to bring Indigenous fashion outside of its niche and into the public eye, and to make this an economic driver and force for Indigenous designers to continually pursue their work. ~

You’re a curator, professor, fashion show director, and more (including on the board of CSA’s Dress )! Can you tell me about how you balance all these different facets of your career?

I have a great team behind me, which has become entirely essential. My support network is central to everything I do. This work is constant relationship-building and so community-oriented, but also involves networking with people outside of the community. This is really the goal - to bring Indigenous fashion outside of its niche and into the public eye, and to make this an economic driver and force for Indigenous designers to continually pursue their work. This is my passion; I just live and breathe Indigenous fashion, in all of its vortexes and trajectories, all day, every day.

Describe a typical day of work or studies (& perhaps some leisure) - or if no day looks the same, describe a good one.

If I’m ramping up for a fashion show or week, my day is just work nonstop until I collapse at night. But a typical day right now is actually what a lot of people are probably doing: getting up and being on my laptop all day. It is not necessarily that glamorous. But what I love about my job is the social component. A large part is the mixing and the mingling, keeping my finger on the pulse of what is happening. A lot of the job is social work and just conversations that don’t involve being on a laptop, which is great. My whole environment, professional and personal honestly, is centered around representing Indigenous fashion beyond just the Native bubble.

I would love to hear about your experience launching the first Indigenous fashion show on your own. What inspired you to do that, and what do you hope is the impact?

The inspiration was that I was capped at what I could do once a year at the Santa Fe Indian Market for those fashion shows. I needed to grow and expand the footprint. Hopefully this work will plant some seeds that will grow and flourish for future generations. The greatest part is just to see and feel the energy of the community, the runway room vibrates with excitement, and the high is incredible. My team and I are working on next year right now, which currently involves a lot of the unsexy work like logistics and finances.

Who are some of your favorite indigenous designers, contemporary or otherwise?

Jontay Kahm , he is a former student of mine who has just graduated from Parsons. Another Canadian designer is Jason Baerg . Up and coming designer Alex Vigil . And Shoshoni Hostler .

Are you currently teaching, and what do you enjoy about that part of your job?

I am not teaching right now, but Parsons in NYC just offered me a tenured position, which I am planning on accepting. I teach Native art history and Indigenous fashion history, and I developed a lot of my own curriculum for the latter. In teaching, I love the conversations that happen with up-and-coming generations. Native fashion is a baby in the field of fashion history - its existence is certainly not, but the academic study of it is. Native fashion is not new, but framing it in this academic, scholarly environment is. As a teacher, I have the opportunity to inspire students to change the narrative.

~ So much scholarship and research need to be done to move beyond this purely ‘anthropological’ lens. The American Indian has really been frozen in time, in terms of what they symbolize to the rest of the world, and that is the narrative that needs to be changed. Coming from the perspective of fashion is just one way to do that. ~

Changing the narrative - can you expand on that?

I consider Native artists the original courtiers of America. I use the term haute couture, because that is a language people understand. Historically, Native fashion has been framed through the lens of "anthropological objects," rather than fashion. So much scholarship and research need to be done to move beyond this purely ‘anthropological’ lens. The American Indian has really been frozen in time, in terms of what they symbolize to the rest of the world, and that is the narrative that needs to be changed. Coming from the perspective of fashion is just one way to do that.

Over the next five years, how do you see your work evolving? Tell me about a dream project, a vision, or general directional mood…

The next five years are full of Native Fashion Week, exhibition work, and growing the Indigenous fashion department of Parsons. Also hopefully growing our sponsorships and fundraising, such as ideally finding a major sponsor for Fashion Week, since these things cost money. So, I have both financial and curatorial goals. And I am excited to be in New York, the center of the world, let alone the American fashion world. The opportunity to make a big impact there is a really exciting possibility. I would also love for my team to have a big presence at New York Fashion Week.

What does the future of fashion look like to you?

Indigenous fashion is not a niche, but part of the mainstream conversation of fashion. That also means that a lot of the economic success goes back to these designers to have major fashion houses.

___________________________________________________

Thank you so much to Amber-Dawn Bear Robe for having this conversation with me! Check out her work here , and the current exhibition Future Imaginaries , which Amber-Dawn co-curated, at the Autry Museum of the American West. Follow her work here !

https://www.bearrobe.com/

https://www.nativefashionweeksantafe.com/

https://www.nativefashionweekworld.com/

~Madison Brito Taylor

Photos courtesy of Tira Howard (@tirawan)

Dialogues on Dress: Brennan Lowery

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 11:44:23 GMT

This month, we spoke with Brennan Lowery of Uovo, a fashion, art, and wine storage and services business that houses brands from Vera Wang to Carolina Herrera and client wardrobes from Olivia Palermo to Sarah Jessica Parker.

The history of dress and the future of fashion act in dialogue, always interfacing to inform our present moment. The Costume Society of America’s diverse members exemplify this reality like no other; through the constant connections across time and disciplines they draw, our membership of costume curators, designers, artists, and so much more embody fashion’s ubiquitous presence - and dress’s daily power to teach us all something new.

We hope you will join us for CSA’s new Dialogues on Dress series, interviews now available monthly in our e-News and here on our website.

Interested in getting in touch? Email enews@costumesocietyamerica.com

Dialogues on Dress: Brennan Lowery

Clothes break down. It is a well-established fashion fact, one we all experience on at least a micro scale - a snag in your shirt growing larger with wear, closet moths, fading jeans across washes. But for most of us, a wedding dress or precious archival piece may be the only instance in our own wardrobe where we consciously consider preservation. For any fashion designer, set wardrobe, or museum, this reality is top of mind, and on a mass scale no less. Preservation, documentation, and storage are vital to any fashion endeavor where volume continues to grow, but pieces never diminish in importance. The often unsung, always vital stewards of fashion’s finest pieces are in the business of technology, hospitality, and art all at once. CSA Business Associate Member Uovo Fashion’s Bushwick facility is 150,000 square feet, houses brands from Vera Wang to Oscar de la Renta and client wardrobes from Olivia Palermo to Sarah Jessica Parker and is full of a diverse team, from photographers to conservators. Among them is Brennan Lowery, General Manager of Uovo Fashion. With over 20 years of experience in merchandising and business, Brennan navigates the dynamism of Uovo and its infinite moving parts with a palpable sense of poise, decisiveness, and humility. “Serving the client, hospitality, that is the core of our business,” she says. Brennan herself is perhaps even more dynamic than the company she helms, appearing in awe of the historically significant pieces in their possession, aware of the responsibility that comes with their care, and hyper-capable of managing a grand and continually growing business like Uovo with sangfroid and vision.

Read our conversation below. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

___________________________________________________

Please paint a brief sketch of your background, personal & professional. Does a particular memory stand out as foundational to the work you do today, or how did you decide to pursue your current path?

I have been in the industry for over 20 years, graduated with a degree in Merchandising and Business, and came to New York as quickly as I could! I spent about 11 years with Kate Spade, working in retail operations for the US and internationally, and about 5 years working in East Africa: half of that was for a handbag business based in Rwanda, a partner of Kate Spade, and the other half for a jewelry business in Uganda. [You can read about Kate Spade’s On Purpose program here .] Afterwards, I worked for Bergdorf Goodman and supported client operations there. I joined Uovo in 2022, shortly after they acquired Garde Robe. It felt like a very organic transition for me; I had a lot of experience on the brand side, and also this curiosity about the fashion business Uovo was building. After all those years working with brands and clients, I was well aware that there are so many beautiful pieces out there in the world needing a home. In every role I’ve been in, there’s a building component, a fact-finding element. For example, exporting handbags from another country and figuring out customs and the like [working in Rwanda] required a lot of piecing together new information. All those experiences hone your problem-solving skills. Coming to Uovo shortly after acquiring another business, I had to learn quickly and do it all in the spirit of improving client experiences.

~ When you see something at an awards show Sunday night, and then a few days later it arrives in your facility, that is a pretty remarkable thing. Just to see those pieces up close, the immense detail, the craft, it is a privilege. ~

What drew you to working at Uovo Fashion, and how has the company evolved in your tenure? (And for the lay person, what exactly is Uovo)?

Hospitality is at our core, and we do a lot with technology. We have a love of whatever it is we might be handling - art, fashion, wine [Uovo has branches for each of these] - combined with an attitude of service and utilization of technology to improve the client experience. Uovo is a super diverse and fascinating mix of people who genuinely love fashion & beautiful objects, and who are grateful to work with such gorgeous things. When you see something at an awards show Sunday night, and then a few days later it arrives in your facility, that is a pretty remarkable thing. Just to see those pieces up close, the immense detail, the craft, it is a privilege.

Uovo is a fine art, fashion, and wine storage and services business. We manage client collections - it could be a museum, institution, brand, designer, or private collection- and each client has a dedicated account manager. On the fashion side, every item that comes through our doors we catalogue, photograph, and populate into our proprietary digital platform called MyCloset . Something very unique to us is this app where you can see your entire closet and manage the inventory yourself through it. It allows for a lot of individualization per client. My team operates in three locations, New York, LA, and South Florida, but our clients are all over. Our art business has over 20 Uovo facilities across the country. Wine is our newest venture with locations throughout the country.

Describe a typical day of work (& perhaps some leisure) - or if no day looks the same, describe a good one!

I’m in the office here in Brooklyn, and my day is a huge mix - it could be working with marketing, sales, operations, time in our storage space with our photographers or with our developers working on our tech. I love the Brooklyn Museum (one of our partners), the botanic gardens, and Prospect Park, which are really right in my backyard.

What kind of clients and brands does Uovo work with?

There is truly a huge volume of items here. The list is overall private, but in terms of what I can share: Carolina Herrara and Vera Wang’s brand archives are stored with us, also brands such as Oscar de la Renta and Jason Wu. Sarah Jessica Parker’s wardrobe and the Sex and the City costumes are stored with us. And Just Like That season 3 just came out, and the fashion is its own character in the show. That is an active wardrobe, watching those pieces move in and out for a current show is a really dynamic process. We store for museums, and love our partnerships. Sometimes we can provide specific pieces or items for museums from our collections and get to work with them in that capacity.

~ Sarah Jessica Parker’s wardrobe and the Sex and the City costumes are stored with us. And Just Like That season 3 just came out, and the fashion is truly its own character in the show. That is an active wardrobe, watching those pieces move in and out for a current show is a really dynamic process. ~

As Uovo works with preserving art and wine in addition to fashion, how do these different facets of the business overlap? And who comprises the Uovo Fashion team?

We operate as three distinct verticals, but there are joint teams; for example, we share a business development team between art and fashion. There can be a lot of overlap, as a client could have a large art and fashion collection. But handling these different items does require different skills.

Our operations team, collections managers, account managers, many of them have backgrounds in conservation and textile studies. Even those whose direct role is not necessarily handling physical pieces, they are incredibly skilled and knowledgeable about the garments themselves. There is a great level of confidence we can give our clients because of this. We see all kinds of garments and fabrics; last year we had a cape from 1901 that we worked on the preservation of. Everything breaks down over time, and our job is to slow that down.

Over the next five years, how do you see your work evolving? Tell me about a dream project, a vision, or general directional mood...

Two of our services are gaining interest, the first being luggage-free travel . We have clients who travel a lot, and instead of packing themselves, ask us to send things from our facility. We work with couriers internationally and have a domestic shuttle as well, so the client can get on their planes hands-free and we do the work of delivering their wardrobe, event items, whatever it may be. The other service is wardrobe digitization ; this can be for clients who have their items with them, but want their inventory catalogued through us. I think the evolution of Uovo involves continued refinement and improvement of our technology. Uovo Fashion’s name has actually only been around for 18 months or so. Garde Robe had been around for 20 years. So, we still have a lot of people to reach, brand recognition to build, and connections to make. I really and truly believe in the work that we are doing, and the importance of preserving these iconic collections. I hope every designer will one day store with us.

What does the future of fashion look like to you?

COVID did a number on everything. Coming out of that, I think there is some real and renewed excitement around designers and their movement between brands. I think we are headed for some truly amazing fashion years with these designers. I also think the question of what it looks like for us to participate in circularity is now top of mind, which is wonderful. I think the future of fashion is greater awareness and intentionality behind circularity.

___________________________________________________

Thank you so much to Brennan Lowery for having this conversation with me! Learn more about Uovo by watching their brand video and follow them here and here .

~Madison Brito Taylor

Images Courtesy of Uovo Fashion

Cue the applause— Costume Society of America’s 2025 Symposium was a blockbuster success!

Thu, 12 Jun 2025 15:18:55 GMT

Cue the applause— Costume Society of America’s 2025 Symposium was a blockbuster success!

The 51st Annual Costume Society of America's National Annual Meeting and Symposium in Los Angeles has officially come to a close, leaving us with unforgettable moments and inspiring discussions. Hosted on the beautiful Loyola Marymount University campus, this year’s gathering embraced the theme "Innovation: The Art, Craft, History, Technology, and Diaspora of Dress," offering attendees a dynamic mix of scholarship, creativity, and hands-on experiences.

The symposium kicked off with the Angels Project at the LAX Flight Path Museum on Saturday and a pre-symposium tour on Sunday to two of LA’s most renowned institutions, LACMA and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. That evening, symposium attendees gathered for a reception hosted by Dean of the Library Kristine Brancolini and viewed an exhibition curated by students, featuring objects from two different collections, including garments by Alexander McQueen, Issey Miyake, and Chanel, in the Archives and Special Collections at the William H. Hannon Library at LMU.

On Monday, workshops provided valuable hands-on learning, covering topics such as textile conservation, teaching costume history with VR, and understanding costume unions. The Awards Ceremony was followed by a highlight of the opening day: the keynote address by Academy Award-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter and a special session she conducted exclusively for students. Although she participated virtually, her impact was undeniable. Through her warmth, wisdom, and masterful storytelling, she captivated the audience, creating an experience so engaging that it felt as if she were right there with us in person. Monday evening, a reception was hosted and sponsored by the Dean of LMU’s College of Communication & Fine Arts Bryant Keith Alexander.

A standout event was the fundraiser at Sony Pictures Studio, where guests enjoyed a glamorous evening featuring food by Wolfgang Puck and exclusive tours of the iconic television soundstage for Wheel of Fortune and a mock-up of the Seinfeld set. Attendees visited tables in our Marketplace, and the Cash & Carry and Silent Auction directed by Eileen Trestain and Lila Trestain yielded over $2,000.

On Thursday, two post-symposium tours took attendees to LACMA storage/Skirball Cultural Center Museum and ASU Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising Museum/The Collection of Motion Picture Costume Design, giving participants exclusive behind-the-scenes access to costume collections and textile arts.

Throughout the three days of the symposium, attendees engaged in plenary and concurrent research sessions, exploring the latest scholarship in dress history, design, and conservation. The Creative Works Exhibition showcased innovative projects, and members-to-members/ first-timers meet and greet garnered a record turnout. Symposium attendees shared insights and ideas with CSA leadership at a Town Hall meeting, ensuring that the organization continues to evolve and support the field in meaningful ways.

Abstracts of this 51 ^st Annual Meeting and Symposium can be downloaded on the members-only site . We want to hear from you! Whether you attended this year’s symposium or not, please give us your thoughts by clicking here . Your feedback is valuable to us as we plan for the future.

We extend our sincere appreciation to our sponsors: Loyola Marymount University College of Communication and Fine Arts, the William H. Hannon Library, and Department of Theatre Arts; Sony Pictures; Silver Level Sponsors Bloomsbury Academic and DittoForm LLC Michigan; Bronze Level Sponsor Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum; 2025 Angels Project sponsors University Products, Talas, Gaylord Archival, Archival Methods, Testfabrics, and Terri Balogh; and Reception Sponsors Fess Parker Winery and Vineyard and Wine Country Gift Baskets. Thanks also to our marketplace participants and advertisers: Bloomsbury Academic, DittoForm LLC Michigan, Intellect Books, Meredith Strauss, University Products, The Way We Wore, and Dana Auctions.

Attendees also showed their individual support through sponsorships inspired by Los Angeles Neighborhoods. At the $200 Santa Monica Level: Lalon Alexander, Ann Braaten, and Lesley Heller. At the $100, Bel Air Level: Adam MacPharlain, Margaret Ordoñez, and Sarah Stevens. At the $50, Hollywood Level: Theresa Alexander, Tina Bates, Ann Braatan, Deborah Brothers, Judi Dawainis, Mary Gibson, Elise Yvonne Morin-Rousseau, Betsey Potter, Coleen Scott, Leigh Southward, and Ginger Stanciel. At the $25, The Valley Level: Nadia Abdallah, Courtney Anderson, Hilary Davidson, Melissa Gamble, Michaele Haynes, Alex Hoffman, Danielle Reaves, Arti Sandhu, and Sara Wilcox. At the $10, Venice Beach Level: Colleen Callahan, Margaret (Meg) Geiss-Mooney, Kim Jones, Knox Korte, Mansoureh Nikookar, Barbara Parent, Arlesa Shephard, Ann Wass, and Deborah Weber.

As we reflect on this incredible gathering, we extend our deepest gratitude to CSA’s Western Region for their hard work in organizing such a successful event, especially our fantastic co-chairs Abra Flores and Leon Wiebers. Their team included: Coleen Scott, Brenna Barks, and Sarah Andrews-Collier, Abstracts Administrators for Research Presentations, In-process Research Presentations, and Panel/Discussion Sessions; Naomi Arnst, Abstracts Administrator/Coordinator for Creative Works; Mary Gibson, Abstracts Administrator/Coordinator for Professional Development Workshops; Abstracts Editors: Judi Dawainis, Meghan Hansen, and Ann Wass; Angels Project: Martha Grimm and Margaret Ordoñez; First Timers/Member-to-Member Meet and Greet: Laura Camerlengo, Katie Baker Jones, and Monica Sklar; Student Meet and Greet: Adam MacPhàrlain; Scholars’ Roundtable: Jaleesa Reed and Ginger Stanciel; Tours: Paula Davis; Marketplace: Deborah Miller and Leon Wiebers; Silent Auction and Cash & Carry: Eileen Trestain; Fundraiser Event: Leon Wiebers; Social Media: Faith Cooper and Minjee Kim; Evaluations: Ann Wass; CSA Vice President for Symposia: Heidi Cochran; CSA Vice President for External Relations: Deborah Miller; CSA Executive Director: Kristen Miller Zohn; and CSA Database and Member Services Administrator and Registration Coordinator: Kate Ahn. Special thanks go to the more than 30 abstract reviewers who made our symposium possible.

Next Year’s Plans

Next year, our Southeastern Region will host the 52 ^nd National Annual Meeting and Symposium in Charlotte, North Carolina, May 31 through June 4, 2026. Mark your calendars!

Images top row left to right:

Special marquee signage at the Fundraiser Event at Sony Pictures Studio; attendees watch Ruth E. Carter’s keynote address; Angels participants at the LAX Flight Path Museum; the 2025 Creative Work Honor winner Anne Bissonnette presents her garment

Images bottom row left to right:

Academy Museum Tour attendees; clockwise from bottom left: Monica Sklar, Kristian Hogans, Sha’Mira Deanne Covington, and Clarissa Esguerra; Carol Huls of Dittoform LLC Michigan; the huge crowd at the members-to-members/ first-timers meet and greet

New Membership Dues Rates Effective July 1, 2025

Wed, 11 Jun 2025 18:29:16 GMT

After thorough deliberation by our Membership Dues Taskforce and approval by the Board of Directors, Costume Society of America has established the following updated membership rates:

Standard Membership: $130 (previously $95)
Student Membership: $65 (50% reduction from standard rate)
Emerging/Retired/Emeritus: $105 (approximately 20% reduction)
CSA Patron (covers the discount for one Emerging or Retired/Emeritus membership): $155
CSA Champion (covers one student membership): $195
Museum/Association: $260 (includes 2 memberships)
Business Associate: $380 (includes 2 memberships plus $200 value in promotion to CSA members)

These rates reflect both the actual cost of providing member benefits ($125 per member) and adjustments for inflation since our last dues increase in 2012. The new structure maintains our commitment to accessibility through discounted rates for students, emerging professionals, and retired members.

Implementation Timeline:

The new membership rates will take effect on July 1 ^st
Membership renewal dates will still operate on a rolling basis
Members with renewals due before the July 1 ^st implementation will be processed at the current rates

Your Membership Value: Your CSA membership continues to provide exceptional value, including:

Access to our professional network
Discounted registration for our annual symposium and regional events
Subscriptions to Dress and Fashion Theory
Professional development and grant opportunities
Free access to popular webinars like Dress & Drinks and Conversations on Dress

Looking Forward: The Board has committed to establishing a regular review cycle for membership dues every [3-5] years to avoid substantial increases in the future. This approach will allow for smaller, more predictable adjustments that keep pace with inflation and operational costs.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: Why is such a significant increase necessary? A: Our dues have remained unchanged since 2012, while the cost of operations has steadily increased. Rather than gradually adjusting rates over time, we've had to make a larger correction now to ensure financial sustainability.

Q: What about regional subsidies for membership? A: The taskforce has recommended that regional leadership explore alternative ways to support members through scholarships, free event registrations, travel funds, and other programs rather than membership subsidies, which have been unevenly available across regions.

Q: How was the new rate determined? A: The taskforce considered several factors: the actual cost per member ($125), inflation since 2012 (which would make the equivalent rate approximately $133), and the need to balance organizational financial health with member accessibility.

Q: What if I can't afford the new rate? A: Those for whom the rise in member fees will cause a financial hardship can apply for a subsidy that will allow them to maintain their current fee level for one year. This will involve filling out a short form stating their need for a subsidy; we will not ask for any details about that need. Renewing members must complete the form and receive instructions before the membership is renewed; subsidies will not be provided after a membership has been renewed.

If you have additional questions or concerns, please contact Vice President for Internal Affairs Katie Baker Jones at kathryn.jones@mail.wvu.edu . We value your feedback and are committed to addressing members' needs.

Thank you for your continued support and understanding as we take this necessary step to ensure CSA's financial health and continued service to our community.

Dialogues on Dress: Cara Green

Sat, 31 May 2025 22:48:41 GMT

This edition of Dialogues on Dress features Cara Green. A newly minted graduate, the stylist is entering the NYC sartorial scene with a bang, from assisting Kerry Taylor in their first auction in the United States to striding about the city in search of her client’s next ensemble.

The history of dress and the future of fashion act in dialogue, always interfacing to inform our present moment. The Costume Society of America’s diverse members exemplify this reality like no other; through the constant connections across time and disciplines they draw, our membership of costume curators, designers, artists, and so much more embody fashion’s ubiquitous presence - and dress’ daily power to teach us all something new.

We hope you will join us for CSA’s new Dialogues on Dress series, interviews now available monthly in our e-News and here on our website.

Interested in getting in touch? Email enews@costumesocietyamerica.com

Dialogues on Dress: Cara Green

This may be Cara Green’s first full year out of school, but it is far from her first foray into styling and the world of fashion. With six years under her belt at Bay Area-based The Style Systéme, a BA in Art History from UC Berkeley, and an MA in Fashion & Textile Studies from FIT, Cara is beginning her postgrad time as a Stylist at iconic luxury retailer Bergdorf Goodman with confident footing. She knows her styling tenants and the nuances they necessitate: a strong POV and decisive eye, matched by the ability to put your personal tastes and preferences aside in service of the client. She knows her fashion facts: an undergraduate thesis on Sonia Delaunay (as well as exhibition review in CSA’s Dress ), master's thesis on the Norwegian bunad , and the continual education New York City has to offer and which she eagerly seeks out via museum talks, performances, and more. Simply put, Cara is entering the sartorial scene with a bang, from assisting Kerry Taylor in their first auction in the United States, Fearless Fashion: The Peggy Moffitt Collection , to striding about the city in search of her client’s next ensemble.

Read our conversation below. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

___________________________________________________

I was born and raised in Santa Rosa, California, just an hour north of San Francisco. I always loved going into the city, and have always had this inherent attraction to cosmopolitan places with a strong character and cultural presence. So, I am really embracing life in New York City right now. Growing up, dance was my main love – I competitively tap danced until I was 18. When I think about the root of my interest in fashion, dance and performance is a big part of it. I have always loved the practice and art of dressing up, and I think it just comes naturally to some people. I have consistently followed this innate attraction in my personal and professional life. I was actually an Applied Math-turned-Art History major with a minor in Dance and Performance Studies in college at UC Berkeley. I worked at a vintage store during this time, Muse the Shop, and through that got connected with a Bay Area-based personal stylist, Kelly Sparks. I have worked with her for the past six years with The Style Système , a personal styling business. We work together bicoastally now, ever since I moved to New York City for the Fashion Institute of Technology’s master’s program in Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice, which I graduated from last year.

~ Thinking of personal style as a singular aesthetic can be rather limiting and confining. If you allow yourself to widen your scope and authentically embrace every aspect of your identity, the process of getting dressed and expressing yourself may vary from day to day [...] Personal style is singular, but never static. ~

I would love to hear about your personal relationship to style and how that’s evolved over the years. What role has fashion played in developing your sense of identity?

I really began to pay more attention to my clothes and treat style as a creative outlet in high school. I was very fortunate to go to a school that was supportive of stylistic self-expression. We had a prominent arts magnet program, and I was in the dance company. I began to think a lot about how one’s inward mood and identity is reflected in one’s personal style, and also how one’s individuality through style is expressed outwardly to others as a communication tool. Working as a personal stylist has led me to think more practically and systematically about getting dressed and building a wardrobe, whereas my education in art history and fashion studies has taught me to think more theoretically and critically about fashion and style. I am coming to learn that personal style comes from embracing what you are attracted to, trusting your instincts, and having confidence while doing it.

I think there is a lot of pressure right now to hone a very particular style then stick to a singular aesthetic or look. What are your thoughts on that?

I think seeing other people on the street or on social media with a distinct “look” can be very inspiring. In practice, however, discovering your own unique style does not happen overnight. Additionally, style is ever-changing and evolving according to who you are becoming. So thinking of personal style as a singular aesthetic can be rather limiting and confining. If you allow yourself to widen your scope and authentically embrace every aspect of your identity, the process of getting dressed and expressing yourself may vary from day to day. Some days you may stick to your tried-and-true ensembles, and on other days something particularly inspiring may strike a chord and influence you to build something new around a specific piece. Personal style is singular, but never static.

What does a typical day of work look like for you? And outside of work, where are some of your favorite places in New York City to go for inspiration?

Navigating my career as a fashion historian and stylist post-grad has come with a mix of jobs and projects, which speaks to the interdisciplinary nature of fashion as a cultural phenomenon, industry, and field of study. I currently work full-time at the iconic and singular luxury retailer Bergdorf Goodman, and I continue to do personal styling with Kelly Sparks and The Style Système. With the latter, a day can consist of anything from closet consultations, organizing and editing a client’s wardrobe, to a full day of personal shopping and making an edited selection of clothing for a specific client.

I have also spent time this past year working with Kerry Taylor Auctions cataloguing a private haute couture collection and more recently assisting in their first auction in the United States, Fearless Fashion: The Peggy Moffitt Collection . Peggy Moffitt’s personal collection, spanning six decades and rich with Rudi Gernreich designs, amounted to more than double the auction’s high estimate, and the Japanese schoolboy ensemble by Rudi Gernreich from his Fall 1967 collection achieved a world record price for Rudi Gernreich, selling for $93,750! Cora Harrington (a previous Dialogues on Dress interviewee) and I actually worked together with Kerry Taylor one day this past fall.

Outside of work, I stay inspired by everything New York City has to offer, from the art museums, film screenings, and performances to the libraries, parks and restaurants. I love taking dance classes and going to book and museum talks. I recently attended a lecture at the Guggenheim Museum on the occasion of their Orphism exhibition , which was exciting for me because I wrote my undergraduate Honors thesis on Sonia Delaunay. My recently published master’s thesis surrounds traditional Norwegian festive dress, termed bunad , and has inspired me to take Norwegian language classes at the Scandinavian House. Even though this is my first full year out of school, there is endless opportunity for continued learning in this extraordinary city.

Does vintage or second-hand play a role in sourcing and styling?

Definitely. Vintage is something I’m always looking out for, and I primarily shop second-hand myself these days. You can find some of the most precious and unique pieces to add to your collection on the hunt in vintage stores or second-hand websites. Recently, I scored a 1986 Bill Blass sequined evening jacket with trompe l'oeil buttons for only $40 on Poshmark. I was inspired to acquire this jacket after seeing one in a client’s private collection. It definitely helps to have something specific in mind when shopping for vintage clothing online; you need to have the right search terms unless you're prepared to scroll for hours. For this reason, I often only source second-hand for clients when there is a specific type of piece we are looking for.

What top traits, approaches, or skills make for a successful stylist? Do you have a work philosophy?

I believe stylists need a discerning eye and a strong point of view. They can’t be afraid to be honest, and they must be capable of putting their own personal taste aside in service of amplifying and elevating their client’s own individual style. So there is a balance; the client trusts you and has clearly hired you for your opinion, but you can’t be overly subjective. I have learned so much about personal styling from Kelly. We have developed such a great collaborative partnership and friendship over the years. The Style Système is literally a system designed to empower people to build their wardrobe wisely; it is a personal styling method and mindset built on the iconic elements of contemporary fashion, and it is essentially how we approach any closet.

~ My grandmother passed down a Norwegian bunad to me that was made by her mother in Norway about 120 years ago. I was so inspired by inheriting this ensemble that I wrote my masters thesis on its origins and contemporary uses, which took me on a whole journey. ~

Favorite piece you’ve styled, or own yourself?

A significant amount of pieces in my wardrobe at the moment are pre-loved by my grandmother Dorothy. These are easily some of my favorites. She had, and still has, impeccable taste, and took great care of everything in her closet. One piece that often comes to mind is a long Dior Irish tweed coat with strong shoulders and a fabulous collar—especially when popped—that I wear during the coldest months in New York. Simply put, it is the perfect winter coat.

My grandmother passed down a Norwegian bunad to me that was made by her mother in Norway about 120 years ago. I was so inspired by inheriting this ensemble that I wrote my masters thesis on its origins and contemporary uses, which took me on a whole journey. With the support of a research grant from the Decorative Arts Trust , I traveled to Norway in 2023 to conduct research at several museums and connect with extended relatives, many of whom have and wear their own bunads . Today, there are over 500 distinct styles of bunad in use. While I was translating an article and researching the bunad of the Nordfjord region where my great-grandmother grew up, I learned that my first cousin twice removed served on the committee in the 1940s that researched and catalogued the folk dress of the region in order to develop their symbolic regional dress. So, perhaps the interest in fashion history and personal style runs in the family!

Over the next five years, how do you see your work evolving? Tell me about a dream project, a vision, or general directional mood...

The past, present, and future are always converging in fashion, making it such a diverse field of study and career path. I have been thinking a lot about temporal and stylistic synchronicities within fashion studies, which is something I want to expand upon in the future. I would absolutely love to engage in more museum curatorial work, which was the focus of my master’s degree at FIT. The exhibition my cohort worked on was Elizabeth Hawes: Along Her Own Lines . I was the Curatorial Advisor, and I found organizing the exhibition incredibly fulfilling. Curating a cohesive exhibition is similar to piecing together a complete wardrobe. Both responsibilities overlap by telling stories through dress, which is also not unlike a dance performance where storytelling involves abstract and creative thinking. My interests have always been at the intersection of fashion, art, and performance, and I hope that will always be the case.

What does the future of fashion look like to you?

Fashion can have such varied definitions depending on context, so to simplify this complex question, a definition I like to use for fashion is: changing styles of dress. The word change is key because it means change at any rate, slow or fast. And encompasses all styles of dress adopted by anyone from any time or place are included. Fashion is everywhere. Therefore, I see the future of fashion as being more diverse, inclusive, and individualized. I am a big proponent of individual and instinctual style over following trends of the moment, so I hope the future of fashion leans into more individuality, intention, and creativity.

___________________________________________________

Thank you so much to Cara Green for having this conversation with me! You can find her at @caragreenn , read her exhibition review in CSA’s Dress here , and check out her master’s thesis on Norwegian bunads here !

~Madison Brito Taylor

Images clockwise from upper left:

Cara Green dressed in a sequined evening jacket designed by Bill Blass, 1986. Photograph by Stella Thorsen, May 2025.

Peggy Moffitt dressed in the Japanese schoolboy ensemble designed by Rudi Gernreich, Fall 1967. Photograph by William Claxton.

Cara Green & Kelly Sparks shopping for clients in New York City. Photograph by Marc Levin, March 2023.

Agnes Rugtiv, bringeklut (breast cloth), Sandane, Norway, c. 1905, wool, cotton, glass. Private collection. Photograph by Cara Green.

Image header:

Cara Green dressed in her grandmother’s Dior Irish tweed coat. Photograph by Rowell Perez, February 2025.

CFP: Dress in America

Tue, 20 May 2025 17:14:11 GMT

Call for Papers
Dress in America: 250 years of American Fashion

In 2026, the United States will celebrate the 250 ^th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. As the country commemorates this momentous milestone, it is a great opportunity to examine the role of dress, clothing, textiles, and fashion in shaping ideas about the nation, its people, and its history. We invite submissions to a special issue “Dress in America: 250 Years of American Fashion” that will focus on the topics of what is American about American Fashion? How are American identities, past, present, and future, constructed through dress? How dress was used and imagined in commemorating the American experience? We especially encourage submissions that explore definitions of who or what is American, who belongs to the Nation, and how dress can be used as both an inclusionary and exclusionary tool in those definitions. Graduate students, early-career researchers, and museum practitioners are especially welcome to submit.

Contributors are invited to prepare full manuscripts that address this theme from a variety of perspectives. We accept submissions in the format of Research articles (6000-10000 words), Research reports (3000-5000 words), or Visual Essays (10-20 images, 1500-2000 words).

Selected articles will be subject to a double-anonymous peer review . The deadline for submission of articles and reports is September 30, 2025 . Possible topics may include but not limited to:

Dress and American Identities
Indigenous dress
The Definition and Evolution of “American Style”
Producers and Consumers of American Dress
Dress and Slavery
Dress and Independence
Dress as resistance in the United States and its territories
Commemoration through Dress
Dress and Memory
American Textiles
American Fashion Industry
Immigration and Nationalism
Activist Dress in the United States and its territories
Exhibiting American Fashion
Constructions of Americana and heritage through dress
The presence/influence of American military dress in the US and beyond

Submission Requirements:

Submit full manuscripts, including low-res images, as a Word document (not as pdf).
Include an abstract of 150-200 words with 6 keywords.
Use Chicago Manual of Style citation method (notes only).
Use double-spaced Times New Roman 12-point font and include page numbers.
Images should include full captions (permission not required at submission stage).
Label file name: Lastname_Short Title.
Indicate category of submission as research article, report, or visual essay.

All submissions should be made through ScholarOne submission portal available by clicking here .

Detailed Instructions for Authors are also available on the Taylor & Francis webpage for Dress found here .

Any other questions can be addressed to Dress Principal Editor Dr. Einav Rabinovitch-Fox at dress@costumesocietyamerica.com .

Dialogues on Dress: Heather Ujiie

Wed, 30 Apr 2025 14:04:19 GMT

This edition of Dialogues on Dress features Heather Ujiie. From her upbringing amongst a family of artists, to designing for avant-garde theater, to hours upon hours spent painting and making in her studio, Heather’s story is quite reflective of the magical and mythical works she creates.

The history of dress and the future of fashion act in dialogue, always interfacing to inform our present moment. The Costume Society of America’s diverse members exemplify this reality like no other; through the constant connections across time and disciplines they draw, our membership of costume curators, designers, artists, and so much more embody fashion’s ubiquitous presence - and dress’ daily power to teach us all something new.

We hope you will join us for CSA’s new Dialogues on Dress series, interviews now available monthly in our e-News and here on our website.

Interested in getting in touch? Email enews@costumesocietyamerica.com

Dialogues on Dress: Heather Ujiie

Speaking with Heather Ujiie is a bit like falling into a fantastical fashion rabbit hole. Her own recounting of years spent “weaving webs” between her many modes of creation too aptly paints the picture, bringing to mind an artist that surely has some extra arms stolen away. Call her a designer, dancer, painter, or teacher, and you would be correct, but also omitting about a dozen other monikers. And yet, her work feels deeply grounded, buttressed by the kind of fierce dedication required to create an oeuvre of Heather’s magnitude. Her large-scale textile creations synthesize skills in fashion, art, and design—from sculptures to digitally-printed fabrics to home furnishings. They’re informed by explorations of technology and nature, spirituality and sexuality, fashion history and art iconography. They’re colorful, fanciful, at times macabre, and perhaps above all else, curious. Fittingly, she is the only “Interdisciplinary Associate Professor” at the Moore College of Art & Design in Philadelphia, where she now teaches. From her upbringing amongst a family of artists, to designing for avant-garde theater, to hours upon hours spent painting and making in her studio, Heather’s story is quite reflective of the magical and mythical works she creates.

Read our conversation below. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

___________________________________________________

Please paint a brief sketch of your background, personal & professional. What did your path to becoming the artist you are today look like?

I grew up in a family of artists, in a loft in Greenwich Village. Which I didn’t discover was unusual until much later in life. Both my parents were professional painters; my father an abstract expressionist and art professor at Pratt and Brooklyn College, so my whole childhood was extremely informed by the arts. This was followed by Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts and three subsequent degrees—a little atypical for somebody in fine arts. I received a Bachelors in Design from Suny New Paltz, an Associate Degree in Textile Surface Design FIT, and an Art Education Degree to teach K-12, from Brooklyn College. Which I never ended up doing; instead, I went right to teaching college. I don’t consider myself finished with education. I’m hoping to go back to school again, for more scholarly endeavors, but we’ll see…

I don’t feel as though my education just comes from academics; however, I went back to New York City after my first degree, and did costume design for modern dance companies—I spent many years very involved in experimental and avant-garde theater. I wanted to be a costume designer at the time, and my social circle was very diverse - this was back in the 80s, and I was around drag queens, performers, dancers, I was very involved in the club and gay scene, and I was bartending and waitressing. I am really grateful for this time, since I discovered once I went into academia that many people have a very singular trajectory. I’ve always been swimming within visual arts, performative arts, and decorative arts. I take a very holistic approach, I don’t consider art and design as separate entities, but in this world, it can be very polarized: you’re either a fiber artist, or a craftsperson, or a painter. But I do think this is changing with contemporary artists.

~In theater, you always have to go a little bit over the top because it’s viewed from a distance. Which as a drama queen, I love~

I would love to hear more about your experience designing for dance! What was it like creating for a moving body, rather than something static?

Up until about five years ago, so much of my work was focused on 2-D surface making. In the last few years, I’ve started to create these figurative, fiber art pieces which involve building a kind of costume, because I was missing exactly that: making for something in motion rather than static. I actually trained to be a dancer and attended Merce Cunningham and Alvin Ailey Dance schools. Kind of through those connections, I ended up designing for Kenneth King. He wrote a few books on modern dance and was very interested in combining dance with digital media (this was before the internet). He hired me right out of school, and I designed a whole series of productions for him, among other fringe, experimental companies. It was really engaging, thinking about the technical elements when I had never really formally studied fashion design. I knew how to sew, but I never learned pattern making, so I was working mostly with stretch fabrics and the like. I loved thinking about how fabrics and colors would move, incorporating thematic elements, and how things change with lighting. In theater, you always have to go a little bit over the top because it’s viewed from a distance. Which as a drama queen, I love.

How would you characterize your relationship to dress over the years? How has fashion - textiles, style, craft, and more - influenced your work as well as personal journey?

I’ve always loved fashion, but I never really knew about "textiles" as an area of study until I worked in the Julliard costume shop as a stiticher for more than two years. I learned how to sew and all about costume, fashion, and fabric there. Working with all those different materials, I discovered how you can be the person that designs the print for fabric or the construction of the actual material. That opened up the world of fashion design for me.

When I went back to school at FIT for textile design, I had trouble deciding on a trajectory. I ended up doing home furnishing [instead of apparel], which I do regret just a bit. But my love of fashion is so tied to fabrics and fabrication and creating over-the-top design. My mother made her own clothing; she was very flamboyant and loved jewelry, going to art openings, dressing up. I loved playing dress up with her clothes and was drawn to this idea of changing your persona with what you wear or pushing the boundaries of identity. I wear a lot of men’s suits and ties. My husband is a bit of a flamboyant dresser too—he was wearing polka dot pants when I first met him. Fashion to me is pushing the boundaries, not thinking about gender or what is expected, but thinking about who you really are and affirming that through what you wear.

Describe a typical day of work (& perhaps some leisure) - or if no day looks the same, describe a good one!

The past 10 years, I’ve had a very prolific studio practice. But since going into academia full time, I’ve had to spend a lot more time teaching and writing courses. I wrote the curriculum for three new courses this past year, which has been really time consuming, and pulled me away from my studio time—which is hard! The desire and passion to be in my studio goes very deep, I have never known what it’s like to have something similar to writer’s block. My work just flows. I’ve had two lives—being an artist in New York and teaching here in Philadelphia—and I miss being in my studio a lot. An ideal week would have more balance between teaching and creating. With summers off from teaching, I am totally immersed in my studio. My practice involves working on a lot of projects at once there; it’s quite the workshop. I paint with gouache, I spend time building and sewing, I work digitally and in photoshop. My work goes back and forth from analog to digital. I just bought a state of the art, long-arm giant quilting machine, which I am dying to use! My practice also always integrates research, like looking at historical artifacts or learning about global culture. An ideal day is total, uninterrupted time working on all of these things and also integrates spiritual and physical wellbeing. I go for 3-mile nature-walks where I turn-off my cell phone, or work out. Having time to attend galleries, museums and see friends is all critical for my well-being.

~Even though all of my work comes out of the hand, the analog, I don’t see digital as being polarized from that. It is a tool~

How do you go about blending technology and hand-made work?

I love referencing and re-interpreting historical global art works, and recontextualizing them. I also love to work large scale, but I can’t do that as a painter without huge canvases, so instead I paint little vignettes and scan them digitally. One huge panoramic landscape could have a summer’s worth of paintings—I’ll scan the vignettes all in high-resolution and use a digital process to piece them together into one file, blow that up, and digitally print the composition on fabric. One piece can be up to 30 feet long and 10 feet high. I’ve always loved technology and what it enables me to do. Even though all of my work comes out of the hand, (the analog), I don’t see digital as being polarized from that. It is a tool.

I am interested in hearing about your experience working with textiles in your art. How does this medium differ from others, or what draws you to it? Do you find yourself thinking about a textile’s context in historical dress in your work?

I love the notion of pattern as a metaphor. Basically, the universe is a series of different manifestations and networks. I see it geometrically, in living flora and fauna, patterns are everywhere. And I love the history of different designs and patterns. I just went to see the Beatrize Milhazes show at the Guggenheim, and her work is very decorative, a lot of patterning, which is a common theme amongst textile artists I love. I always tell my students it's one of the only completely ubiquitous design fields, [textiles that is]. It’s in graphic design, fashion, home furnishing, advertising; it’s everywhere. There is pattern inside everything.

It’s also really important to me to always speak to nature in my textile work, the beauty and the pain of life and death; that is part of the process of life. Everything I’ve learned about art history comes out of research and teaching, but I’ve never formally obtained a degree in history. I am dying to do this. I do consider myself an independent scholar. People can be so specialized, they research one thing, and find a focus. When you think about knowledge, it tends to be very insular. But to see the universal scope of the world, how it’s all interconnected, that is what’s fascinating to me.

As you're an educator as well as an artist, give me your top tip for inspiring creativity.

My biggest personal challenge is time. Time is so precious, so use what you have. And as a teacher, the biggest challenge I see students having is fear. You have to be willing to make a mess and fail. If you’re not willing to do that, you’ll never get anywhere. Make multiple iterations of one idea. You might have to do something five or six times, and if you’re not willing to put that rigor in, it won’t happen. Push yourself to find a new voice, break out of the stereotype of yourself. The most successful artists are the ones that don’t keep doing the same thing. They continue to grow and break their own boundaries, out of their own paradigm. It’s not antithetical to finding your authentic voice, it’s part of it. I see all of these art students graduating with MFAs and all of their work looks the same from various colleges. The art school system, like anything else, can breed mediocrity. As a young artist/designer, be willing to take some risks! I used to think I had to have "one style" for my own personal work, but we are complex and multidimensional human beings. Why settle for just one form of visual communication?

~Push yourself to find a new voice, break out of the stereotype of yourself. I used to think I had to have ‘one style’ for my own personal work, but we are complex and multidimensional human beings. Why settle for just one form of visual communication? ~

Over the next five years, how do you see your work evolving? Tell me about a dream project, a vision, or general directional mood…

I was invited to have a solo show at Magic Gardens in Philadelphia. I’m doing a whole series of portraits of women, which is a divergence from my usual huge panoramic landscapes, and I’m starting to embellish the surface of fabrics with mosaics for this. Which speaks to the synchronicity of the universe; the Magic Gardens focus is mosaics, and I had just started this in my own practice at my studio right when they contacted me. I’m also planning to keep formally learning, spending time exploring and discovering. I always want to have humility and be open to what I don’t know.

What does the future of fashion look like to you?

One thing for sure, there is a huge global problem with waste. I hope we become less wasteful in regard to fashion. It’s tragic what’s happened to our world with fast fashion, plastics, and polyester and synthetic materials. I’m really proud that my digital printing practice has zero pollution—there’s no waste in the waterways, there aren’t any fumes. I try to use repurposed materials in my 3D creations, like recycled felt. I’ve never been interested in mass-produced fashion, but I love haute couture. Fashion that is about construction and tailoring and garments that push boundaries of functionality. Things that can be in a museum as an art piece and push things forward. I find e-textiles fascinating. Iris Van Herpen is doing a lot with this. My interest in fashion is about innovation and sustainability. How can we make things out of mushrooms, or pineapple pulp, or fungus?

___________________________________________________

Thank you so much to Heather Ujiie for having this conversation with me! Check out her work here and attend her exhibition in person at Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens in 2027.

~Madison Brito Taylor

Photo credits to Heather’s husband, Hitoshi Ujiie. More of her work can be found here https://www.heatherujiie.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/heatherujiie/?hl=en

2025 Costume Society of America Grants, Projects, Awards, and Honors Announced

Tue, 15 Apr 2025 20:41:07 GMT

Costume Society of America (CSA) is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2025 grants, projects, awards, and honors . "We are excited to celebrate this year’s awardees, honorees, and grant recipients. We could not do this without the dedication and effort of our committees,” says Colleen Pokorny, CSA Vice President for Awards and Honors. Patricia Edmonson, Vice President for Grants and Projects adds, “Our dedicated committee members and chairs have worked hard this year to give each submission the attention it deserves. I also want to thank members who applied for their efforts in the process and hope more continue to engage with us!” All awards, grants, and projects are funded through the generosity of donors to the CSA Endowment .

Two Costume Society of America Fellows have been chosen this year to honor their significant contributions to the field of costume, including their work as editors of the organization’s publications: Christina Bates and Kelly L. Reddy-Best. Bates, costume historian and longtime curator at the Canadian Museum of History, has been the recipient of numerous CSA awards and honors, including the Scholar’s Roundtable Honor (2008), the Betty Kirke Excellence in Research Award (2023) and the Millia Davenport Publication Award (2013). Her most notable service to CSA was as Editor-in-Chief of Dress from 2014 to 2022. Reddy-Best is Morrill Professor in the Fashion Design and Merchandising program at Iowa State University, and starting July 2025, she will be Professor and Chair of Family and Consumer Sciences at Illinois State University. Her service to CSA includes guest editing the first special issue of Dress on LGBTQ+ fashions and developing and leading CSA’s first diversity committee. She has served as the editor for the Costume Society of America book series with Kent State University Press since 2023.

In addition to this esteemed recognition, CSA annually celebrates its members by presenting a variety of awards to honor their accomplishments. For example, this year’s Betty Kirke Excellence in Research Award is given to Hilary Davidson for her research titled Digital Clothing Reconstruction as a Fashion History Methodology. The Millia Davenport Publication Award goes to Beyond Vanity: The History and Power of Hairdressing by Elizabeth L. Block. This year’s Mary D. Doering Guardian Honor goes to Megan Osborne, Collections Manager and Assistant Curator at the Avenir Museum of Design and Merchandising, Colorado State University. The Costume Design Award is given to Dennis Wright for his work on House of Desires at Brigham Young University and The Howard Vincent Kurtz Emerging Theatre Artist Award is given to Henry Cawood for the designs for Once Upon a Mattress at Stage West Theatre, Fort Worth, Texas. This year, three Richard Martin Exhibition Awards were given: Gilding Northeast Ohio: Fashion and Fortune, 1870-1900, curated by Brian Centrone for The Massillon Museum (large exhibition); Fashion After Dark, curated by Patty Edmonson at the Western Reserve Historical Society (small exhibition); and Harlem Noire: Fashion Movement, Moment, & Memory, curated by Dyese L. Matthews for Cornell University (student exhibition). The recipient of the new Creative Work Honor will be chosen at this year’s symposium in Los Angeles, and the Presidential Award Winner(s) will be announced, as well.

As well as presenting honors and awards, CSA provides grant funding to support individuals and organizations within the field. These include theCSA Travel Research Grant , which has been given this year to Rachel Silberstein for her research International Diplomacy and Industrial Collecting: Charting Qing Dynasty Chinese Dress and Textile History in the Collections of National Museums Scotland. The 2025 Angels Project Grant is given to Flight Path Museum in Los Angeles. Two Adele Filene Student Presenter Grants go to LaDyra Lyte and Mfon-Abasi Obong.

A full list of all of CSA’s grants, honors, and awards can be found below. They will be celebrated on Monday, June 2, 2025, during CSA’s 51 ^st Annual National Meeting and Symposium in Los Angeles .

Costume Society of America Fellow Honor: Christina Bates, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Kelly L. Reddy-Best, Ames, Iowa
Mary D. Doering Guardian Honor: Megan Osborne, Collections Manager and Assistant Curator, Avenir Museum of Design and Merchandising, Colorado State University
CSA Creative Work Honor: to be determined
CSA Costume Design Award: Dennis Wright, House of Desires , Brigham Young University
CSA Richard Martin Exhibition Award, Large Exhibition: Gilding Northeast Ohio: Fashion and Fortune, 1870-1900 , Brian Centrone, The Massillon Museum, Ohio
CSA Richard Martin Exhibition Award, Small Exhibition: Fashion After Dark , Patty Edmonson, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
CSA Richard Martin Exhibition Award, Student Exhibition: Harlem Noire: Fashion Movement, Moment, & Memory , Student Curator: Dyese L. Matthews, Faculty Advisors: Denise N. Green and Catherine Blumenkamp, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
Millia Davenport Publication Award: Beyond Vanity: The History and Power of Hairdressing by Elizabeth L. Block (The MIT Press)
Millia Davenport Publication Honorable Mention: Shopping All the Way to the Woods: How the Outdoor Industry Sold Nature to America by Rachel S. Gross (Yale University Press)
CSA Howard Vincent Kurtz Emerging Theatre Artist Award: Henry Cawood, Once Upon a Mattress , Stage West Theatre, Fort Worth, Texas
Betty Kirke Excellence in Research Award: Hilary Davidson for her research titled Digital Clothing Reconstruction as a Fashion History Methodology
Scholars’ Roundtable: From Zoom to Lectra: The Tools, Theories, and Technologies That Move Dress Forward ; Laura Camerlengo, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Daniel Drak, Parsons School of Design; Alyssa Ridder, Metropolitan State University of Denver; and Dina Smith-Glaviana, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
CSA Travel Research Grant: Rachel Silberstein, International Diplomacy and Industrial Collecting: Charting Qing Dynasty Chinese Dress and Textile History in the Collections of National Museums Scotland
College and University Collection Care Grant: Alabama A&M University, Huntsville, Alabama
CSA Small Museum Collection Care Grant: Coastal Mississippi Mardis Gras Museum, Biloxi, Mississippi
CSA Dependent Care Grant: Nadia Abdallah
Adele Filene Student Presenter Grants: LaDyra Lyte, Louisiana State University; Mfon-Abasi Obong, Louisiana State University
CSA Angels Project: Flight Path Museum, Los Angeles, California
Presidential Award Winner(s): announcement forthcoming

Pictured above from left to right:

Detail of ensemble loaned by Lana Turner to the Richard Martin Exhibition Award winning exhibition H arlem Noire: Fashion Movement, Moment, & Memory , curated by Dyese Matthews (Parsons, The New School) at Cornell University (Photo by Ryan Issa for Cornell University, 2024); cover of Beyond Vanity: The History and Power of Hairdressing by Elizabeth L. Block (The MIT Press), recipient of the Millia Davenport Publication Award; “Final Costume 2 – Castano,” a costume for House of Desires at Brigham Young University by Dennis Wright, recipient of the CSA Costume Design Award.

Dialogues on Dress: Emily Stoehrer

Fri, 28 Mar 2025 20:30:43 GMT

This edition of Dialogues on Dress features Emily Stoehrer of MFA Boston. Sartorial story detective and pillar in the dress community, Stoehrer occupies the sole Senior Curator of Jewelry position at US fine arts museums.

The history of dress and the future of fashion act in dialogue, always interfacing to inform our present moment. The Costume Society of America’s diverse members exemplify this reality like no other; through the constant connections across time and disciplines they draw, our membership of costume curators, designers, artists, and so much more embody fashion’s ubiquitous presence - and dress’ daily power to teach us all something new.

We hope you will join us for CSA’s new Dialogues on Dress series, interviews now available monthly in our e-News and here on our website.

Interested in getting in touch? Email enews@costumesocietyamerica.com

Dialogues on Dress: Emily Stoehrer

Jewelry occupies a singular position in the collective fashion conscious. Consider the locket enclosing a loved one’s photo or engraving, the pair of earrings passed down through generations, stones living new lives across decades and settings. A wedding ring may be the sole item in your ensemble worn each and every day. And yet, jewelry for many often operates as a finishing touch, an addendum - but its tiny intricacies have the very large potential to cohere or dismantle an entire style. Jewelry is at once only an “extra” to some, and a totem of familial legacy, or love, or essential ornamentation to nearly all. So perhaps it is simultaneously not and entirely surprising there is just one position in the whole of US fine arts museums with the title of Senior Curator of Jewelry. That position is held by CSA Member Emily Stoehrer at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston . An arbiter of taste, detective of sartorial stories, and pillar in the dress community, Emily’s singular position is reflective of her own sui generis identity. Her knowledge and passion for jewelry breathe life into the histories she shares, reminding us that these “objects are never static, they are living things,” always evolving if you are only curious enough to look.

Read our conversation below. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

___________________________________________________

Please paint a brief sketch of your background, personal & professional. Do you have a specific memory around jewelry that feels foundational to where you are today?

I thought I was going to go to law school. Around 2004, I completely pivoted and applied to FIT’s Fashion & Textile Studies program. I had no background whatsoever in the industry, but I was immediately so enchanted by fashion history and the opportunities for endless research. In the middle of the graduate program, I ended up at an internship with the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston , where I am originally from. I worked my way to Curator of Jewelry - the only Fine Arts museum in the US to have this position - in 2014, which was also not something I had imagined! The first Curator of Jewelry at the museum [appointed in 2006] approached me about working with her, and I suddenly realized how little of my fashion research and experience had to do with jewelry. But she promised me she was a good teacher, so we embarked on a wonderful partnership that really continues to today.

Did something in particular inspire the pivot to fashion? How did your experience at FIT guide your trajectory?

My undergrad degree was in psychology. It might seem really far from what I do now, but I’ve always been interested in the people behind fashion, so [psychology] really underpins what I do even now. FIT was an incredible, door-opening opportunity for me. I had never even taken an Art History course beforehand. I quickly learned I was part of this larger network across the fashion industry, which helped me go back to Boston even going to school in New York. The subject - all the stories, history, and more in scholarship - came to life for me in graduate school. I saw how limitless this area of study really is.

I would love to hear how you would characterize your personal relationship to dress over the years.

I’ve always thought about fashion as being aspirational - you dress for the part that you want. How do I want to be seen, how do I see myself? I just did a show this past spring with my colleague called Dress Up , which dealt with the idea that we dress up every day for whatever role we’re playing. My PhD focused on the history of material culture and of identity, so that’s what I’ve looked at from a scholarly perspective, but it’s also very much a personal approach to look at fashion as part of my identity.

In terms of jewelry, and beyond the personal, [jewelry] is essential to creating the look of any given period - it comes together with the clothing to create style and is an integral part of fashion’s storytelling. It’s really understudied, and I hope it becomes a larger part of the conversation in the years to come.

Can you tell me about your PhD program?

I got my PhD in Humanities from Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island. When I started with Yvonne [the Curator of Jewelry at the time], I was only on a two-year contract; I hoped for an extension, but instead she told me to go get a PhD. It was surprising, (I didn’t think I needed to go back to school), but she was absolutely right. A friend of mine started this program in Humanities at Salve Regina, and the director at the time had come from RISD’s history department and was really open to fashion. I took 10 classes in my PhD that ran the gamut from literature to ethics to religion. Each time, I was confronted with fashion from all these different perspectives, which was really challenging but also exciting. I was also given a lot of freedom with my dissertation; I studied the Hollywood red carpet of the 1990s and 2000s, looking at the way jewelry was positioned during those years. I worked with Neil Lane, a Hollywood jeweler to the stars, and that thread still continues today; I’m currently working on a book and exhibition on his collection. The accompanying book and exhibition, Radiance and Reverie , will open at the Toledo Museum of Art [and release] this fall. It explores jewelry made from the mid-19th and mid-20th century - pieces from international exhibitions, a huge collection from Tiffany & Co, and an amazing collection of early 20th century jewelry, some of which has Hollywood provenance.

In the exhibitions you’ve curated or worked on at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which has been the most memorable and why?

The last couple of years have been so busy. Beyond Brilliance opened last May, which was a renovation of our jewelry gallery that showcased 160 of the MFA’s pieces. I think that’s probably what I’m most proud of. It brought together a huge group of people and so many pieces, and I love the way it connects across generations, offering something for everybody. It’s been great to hear people unexpectedly find surprise and delight in it. Jewelry is so embedded with stories for most people - it makes you think about something you were given or that a family member wore - and my hope is that the gallery brings those stories to life for people. I’m currently working on a book [ Brilliance: Jewelry, Art, Fashion coming out in October] related to that, thinking about jewelry as a decorative art and as a messaging device. My favorite piece from Beyond Brilliance is this starfish brooch from 1937, from the first woman to run a jewelry house in France [pictured above.] Everything is hinged, so it has this incredible movement, and in 1938 it was bought by the actress Claudette Colbert. It shows how many different angles you can approach an object from, be it the technical, the artistry, the provenance, and so on. And it shows the best of 1930s design!

Does your job require knowledge of the technical aspects of jewelry-making? Seems daunting…

Definitely, and it’s also my weakness. The technical piece alludes me the most, but we have an amazing team of conservators at the MFA and colleagues across the field I can bring in. I’m always learning in this.

Describe a typical day of work (& perhaps some leisure) - or if no day looks the same, describe a good one!

There’s definitely no "usual" day. Lots of meetings, lots of travel, and the rare day diving into a book or research. I love a day spent deep in the exhibition process, especially when we are at the stage of doing mock-ups, where we pull out all the jewelry into our textile study room. The team is all there together, arranging and mulling over how best to present it. You get this moment where it all clicks.

In terms of travel, I’m getting ready to go to the Netherlands for The European Fine Art Fair. I’m on the vetting committee for the show, which gathers 200 experts to look at every object for sale. It feels like a crash course in close-looking. I’m also planning a trip to London to speak at a conference in June, and trips to Paris and India for other projects soon.

As you're an educator as well as an artist, can you give me your top tip for inspiring creativity?

Curiosity is how we stay motivated. The history of an object isn’t static, they are living things with layers of meaning. The stories are far from cut and dry, even objects that come to us with a lot of information readily available. I’m constantly learning new things and piecing together stories. You have to stay open to this reality, that there is always more to learn.

Over the next five years, how do you see your work evolving? Tell me about a dream project, a vision, or otherwise.

2024 was the year of exhibitions, and this one is the year of books. I have four different projects I’m working on coming out in 2025. I’ve been encouraged to think more about a long-time dream project, looking at jewelry from the 1930s. Jewelry from the 20s and art deco period has been studied quite a bit, but the 1930s on its own, less so. This is true for fashion too; there has been one fashion exhibition I can think of dedicated to the 30s, but no jewelry exhibitions whatsoever. It is such a complicated decade, and I would love to delve into that messiness. It was a time of great economic and political unrest, and yet resulted in some of the most extraordinary jewelry ever made. So why was that? I’m hoping to open an exhibition with the anniversary of the 1929 stock market crash.

What does the future of fashion look like to you?

There is no one path, just like there never has been, but I hope it continues to be a very vibrant space filled with this vast diversity of styles, concepts, and areas to explore.

___________________________________________________

Thank you so much to Emily Stoehrer for having this conversation with me. Check out her appearance in an episode of CSA’s Conversations on Dress series here , discover more of her work here , see the ongoing exhibition Beyond Brilliance at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and keep an eye out for all of her forthcoming publications!

~Madison Brito Taylor

*Photos clockwise:

Beyond Identity: Jewelry and Identity in Art , photo courtesy of Getty Publications. Emily wrote the conclusion titled, “The Theatre of Everyday Life: Dressing the Part”

Starfish brooch , 1937, Juliette Moutard (French), 18‑karat gold, ruby, amethyst, Museum purchase with funds donated by the Rita J. and Stanley H. Kaplan Family Foundation, Monica S. Sadler, Otis Norcross Fund, Helen and Alice Colburn Fund, the Curators Circle: Fashion Council, Nancy Adams and Scott Schoen, Seth K. Sweetser Fund, Theresa Baybutt, Emi M. and William G. Winterer, and Deborah Glasser, Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Emily Stoehrer, photo courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Double-clip brooch , 1930s, Charlton & Co. (American, established 1909), Platinum, sapphire, pearl, Collection of Neil Lane, Photo © Lendon Flanagan

Dialogues on Dress: Cora Harrington

Fri, 28 Feb 2025 14:10:39 GMT

This edition of Dialogues on Dress features Cora Harrington. From her tenure as The Lingerie Addict to her return to studies at FIT's Fashion and Textiles program, Harrington exemplifies lifelong learning and passion for all the varied facets of fashion.

The history of dress and the future of fashion act in dialogue, always interfacing to inform our present moment. The Costume Society of America’s diverse members exemplify this reality like no other; through the constant connections across time and disciplines they draw, our membership of costume curators, designers, artists, and so much more embody fashion’s ubiquitous presence - and dress’ daily power to teach us all something new.

We hope you will join us for CSA’s new Dialogues on Dress series, interviews now available monthly in our e-News and website .

Interested in getting in touch? Email enews@costumesocietyamerica.com

Images clockwise from upper left: press tour and opening day of the exhibit; Cora’s book, In Intimate Detail; Cora at a lingerie trade show, where she curated a gallery of independent designers and hosted a book signing; a page from the book . Photos courtesy of Cora Harrington.

Dialogues on Dress: Cora Harrington

While currently in her second year at FIT’s Fashion and Textile Studies Master’s Program, Cora Harrington may already be a household name for you. From 2008 - 2022, Cora was otherwise known as The Lingerie Addict , an alias so recognizable that The New York Times reported on its end, and her book, In Intimate Detail , was born of it. While her background in Sociology and Anthropology as an undergraduate no doubt provided solid underpinnings (just like lingerie to an ensemble, as Cora reminded me) for a foundational approach to lingerie in a sociological context, Cora is self-taught. Her beginnings in dress were guided by genuine curiosity, a desire for a community of like-minded learners, and generous industry professionals. Just hearing its origin story will likely make you nostalgic for the time of “free information from passionate people” in the blogosphere's early years, or perhaps its sentiment will herald a new future for fashion. One that returns to thoughtful, long form content, reflecting our collective desire to learn and broaden our knowledge, something that Cora is a particular proponent of. From her early career with crisis clients at a nonprofit, to her tenure as The Lingerie Addict, to just this week writing for FIT Museum & Graduate Program’s All That Glitters… exhibition, Cora exemplifies multidisciplinary, lifelong learning and a passion for all the varied facets of fashion.

Read our conversation below. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Please paint a brief sketch of your background, personal & professional.

I grew up in central Georgia, definitely a southern girl. My first career was in the nonprofit industry. I started my site on a lark, the first iteration called Stockings Addict - I was really into tights and hosiery. It was a way to decompress; my job was so serious, but stockings, not so much. This was when pinup photography had a resurgance and burlesque was taking off, so naturally my interest grew beyond hosiery and I started talking more about intimate apparel in general [in the early 2010s]. I found there were people who wanted a site that discussed lingerie in a way that wasn’t about sex or eroticism. Somewhat unexpectedly, I found my niche here, and became a lot more interested in the technical, cultural, and historical aspects of intimate apparel. Things like what a certain bra shape said about the time we were living in. I ran The Lingerie Addict from 2008-2022, wrote a book, and now I’m going back to school to learn more about fashion in a formal setting for the first time. It’s been a gift to be able to go back to school at this time in my life.

What was the experience of building your blog and public presence like?

I think so much about how information was in a lot of ways easier to find then… if you remember those early iterations of blogging, there was so much free information out there and forums for people passionate about these micro niches. I often wish I had saved more from that time, especially as Google has made it almost impossible to organically discover things like that anymore. There has always been a repository of self-taught scholars and those doing work outside of formal settings, and their work should be just as respected. I think as more people grow tired of social media and algorithms dictating what they see, tired of the general noise, folks are looking to just read cool stuff again! But how do you discover things organically now? [Something like Substack] is great, but it still is siloed. Looking back, so much of [building the Lingerie Addict] was impromptu and without strategy. I wasn’t originally thinking about building a ‘brand.’ But what I tried to do on all of my platforms was provide a space for learning and exploration. I created a space on Facebook that was a body snark-free zone, allowing for people to approach the topic of lingerie without the baggage that can come with it. The blog and brand were really born authentically from that desire to create this kind of space.

I would love to hear how you would characterize your relationship to dress over the years. How has fashion influenced your work as well as personal journey?

For so long, what I wore was so essential to my public face; it’s been interesting these past couple years in graduate school to not have that component when I move through the world. I don’t think of myself as a brand anymore, so my thoughts around dress over the last few years have shifted away from my personal style to dress as a study. It’s funny because [FIT] is a fashion school, but there is zero judgement around what you wear, perhaps because it’s such an intensive program.

How have your graduate studies influenced your trajectory or interests in the field of fashion?

I think I hit the ceiling on what I could learn on my own before I went back to school. You can be self-taught, but at a certain point you need outside professionals to learn from. The educators at FIT think about and treat their students like future colleagues - it is an extremely collaborative environment.

My thesis, centered around fairtyales in fashion using the lens of standpoint theory, explores how things would have been interpreted at different points in history. Stories have different meanings depending on when you are hearing them. How do we get people to understand things that they’ve already heard before differently? That’s something I’m getting to explore a lot in my graduate studies.

I love the dual curation and conservation focus of the program - you have to take intro level classes in both. There’s a science component, you all get basic lab work and training! Everyone knows basic textile repair, how to analyze fibers microscopically, how to dress mannequins, etc. Every graduating class puts on an exhibition - from pitching the concept, to curating, and beyond. This year’s exhibition has both an in-person and online component, and for the first time it’s using garments from the study collection. My role was as a writer; the challenge, but also excitement, around it is how do you take all the stories and history behind one garment and condense it to just 5o words? My favorite description I wrote was for a velvet Oscar de la Renta gown with jeweled cuffs.

[ All that Glitters … is on view at the FIT Museum from February 26 - March 23, 2025]

~ The challenge, but also excitement, around it is how do you take all the stories and history behind one garment and condense it to just 50 words? ~

As those in creative industries will relate to, juggling many projects at once comes with the territory of this work. How do you stay balanced, and how do you stay inspired?

These last few years, I’ve had to re-learn how to learn. Going back to school has a ramp up period. Staying balanced is something I’m absolutely still negotiating. One direction will lead to another, and priorities arae always changing. Things are getting done, because they have to, but I’m still figuring it out!

Favorite fashion fact, or piece of dress - lingerie or otherwise!

I do a lot of research into the history of the bra, understanding underpinnings is essential to understanding outwear. We see examples of bras in sculptures and mosaics from antiquity; there’s the famous one of athletes wearing bandeaus, but there are other examples with a huge variety of this type of garment, even though there’s this idea that bras are a newer invention. And if you knew that, would that change how you see these sculptures or visual touchpoints?

Over the next five years, how do you see your work evolving? Tell me about a dream project, a vision, or general directional mood…

I would love to write more books. A great thing about social media is the democratization of fashion, but unfortunately a downside is less room for in-depth research. A lot of extensive and interesting research, by necessity, can only be found in books. I would like to contribute to that body of knowledge, there are always more books from different perspectives to be written.

I would also love to do more work curating an exhibit. I’m hoping to partner with The Underpinnings Museum in the UK. It’s an exclusively online museum, and the Director is an excellent example of someone who is outside of academia but intensely knowledgeable, bringing something to the world of fashion that hasn’t been done before and fulfilling a niche outside of traditional channels.

What does the future of fashion look like to you?

Such a complicated question… fashion will always be relevant, that’s a given, but I could not have predicted where we are now. But I do hope to see a return to more thoughtful, more long-form content. Right now, there is a constant churn and spectacle, so that by the time you’ve formulated a thought it’s old news. This is really to the detriment of all fashion. I hope we see a slowing down in the way we share and digest in the next few years.

Final thoughts?

It’s never too late to go back to school. And I will always reinforce that there are so many different ways to acquire knowledge. There are people doing really amazing work outside of academic spaces, so don’t discount their knowledge.

~ Right now, there is a constant churn and spectacle, so that by the time you’ve formulated a thought it’s old news. This is really to the detriment of all fashion. I hope we see a slowing down in the way we share and digest in the next few years. ~

Thank you so much to Cora Harrington for having this conversation with me! I hope you will check out her work, and make a visit to see All that Glitters… this month.

~Madison Brito Taylor

Costume Society of America Celebrates its 50th National Annual Meeting and Symposium

Wed, 05 Jun 2024 14:24:13 GMT

It’s a wrap! Our 50th annual symposium in Washington, DC, has now become part of our history. The Grand Hyatt, in the heart of the city, was a fitting venue for this grand occasion. The hotel conference staff was enthusiastic about hosting our golden anniversary and was a pleasure to work with.

The Board of Directors met Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Participant events began Wednesday morning with a trip to Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens. Onsite workshops allowed participants to learn about sewing for museums, teaching zero waste to design students, doing restorative research, examining Chanel suits and copies close-up, and doing hands-on fabric design. The George Washington Museum and The Textile Museum also hosted a workshop, the first of three events at that institution.

Founding members Elizabeth Ann Coleman and Elizabeth Jachimowicz led off the evening celebrations with the keynote beginning with “The Dark Ages” of the founding and how the Society grew. Grants, awards, and honors recipients were recognized (a full list can be found here ), and then the group adjourned to food, beverages, music, and dancing.

Presentations began Thursday morning. Each day led off one of the grants, awards, and honors presentations in plenary session to bring us all together before we split up to visit one of four or five concurrent sessions. Thursday afternoon, attendees left the hotel for organized tours to Arena Stage, the DAR Museum, Ford’s Theatre, the Library of Congress, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Textile Museum, and a special added treat at the National Museum of American History. Our hosts and hostesses extended warm hospitality. Some stayed behind to meet CSA’s editors, while others went on their own to some of the many other museums in the area.

Meanwhile, the silent auction, ably directed by symposium co-chair Debbie Farthing and a crew of volunteers, got the massive donations organized in order for us to start bidding at noon. As usual, there were many treasures. A new feature was the cash and carry dollar table. We are pleased to say that these efforts yielded over $5,500—thanks go to all those who donated and purchased items. Later that day, student members met and then went out to dinner. Registrants were also invited to the Textile Museum for an evening lecture, “Three Centuries of Europe’s ‘Clouded’ Ikat Textiles,” by Martina D’Amato.

Friday featured the Creative Works Exhibition in addition to plenary and concurrent research sessions. In the evening, former First Lady Dolley Madison (aka living history interpreter Katherine Spivey) came to dine with a small group at the fundraising dinner.

Saturday morning, the Town Hall gave attendees a chance to express their concerns with newly installed President Leon Wiebers. As a result of this discussion, a task force is being assembled to review the DEAB language in symposium rubrics before the next call for abstracts is released this summer. If you have an interest in serving or a concern to add to this review, please let the national office know as soon as possible by sending an email to national.office@costumesocietyamerica.com .

The symposium came to a close at 3:00 on Saturday afternoon. However, some attendees remained to get in one last museum visit or enjoy some of the vibrant nightlife.

Abstracts of this 50 ^th Annual Meeting and Symposium can be downloaded on the members-only site . You can see some of the action as participants shared photos on social media with the hashtag, #CSA50th. If you attended and haven’t shared your photos yet, please take a moment to do so. We want to hear from you! Whether you attended this year’s symposium or not, please give us your thoughts by clicking here . Your feedback is valuable to us as we plan for the future.

We extend our sincere appreciation to our sponsors, Bloomsbury Publishing, DittoForm LLC Michigan, and UOVO Fashion all at the Silver Level; Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum and Zephyr Preservation Studio, LLC at the Bronze Level; 2024 Angels Project sponsors University Products, Talas, Gaylord Archival, and Archival Methods; Creative Works Exhibition sponsors Marymount University, Arlington, VA, and Fashion Archives and Museum of Shippensburg University, PA. Thanks also to our marketplace participants and advertisers: Intellect Books, Past Crafts, Yale University Press, and Cora Ginsburg. Attendees also showed their individual support through sponsorships named after First Ladies’ Gowns. At the $500, Dolley Payne Todd Madison Level: Annie Pacious, Anne Sullivan Waskom, and Ann Wass. At the $200, Mary Todd Lincoln Level: Lalon Alexander, Theresa Alexander, Jennifer Tracz, and Polly Willman. At the $100, Lou Henry Hoover Level: June Burns Bové; Debbie Farthing; Margaret Ordoñez; and Sarah Stevens. At the $50, Mamie Doud Eisenhower Level: Elizabeth Ann Coleman, Mary Gibson, Marjorie Jonas, and Leigh Southward. At the $25, Rosalyn Smith Carter Level: Ann Braaten, Deborah Brothers, Jennifer Brown, Judi Dawainis, Michaele Haynes, Erin Howell-Gritsch, Deborah Miller, Nan H. Mutnick, Susan Picinich, Colleen Pokorny, Elizabeth Potter, Danielle Reeves, Claire Shaeffer, Arlesa Shephard, Constance Spotts, and Susan Yanofsky. At the $10, Nancy Davis Reagan Level: Heidi Cochran, Arti Sandhu, Jenise Sileo, and Michelle Tarantina.

We would like to express our immense gratitude for the hard work of our fantastic local arrangements team, led by the dynamic duo Co-Chairs: Ann Wass, Debbie Farthing; Hotel Site Visits: Tanya Wetenhall; Abstracts Co-Administrators: Theresa Alexander, Karin Bohleke; Abstracts Editor: Gail Alterman; Angels Project: Martha Grimm, Margaret Ordoñez; Keynote: Alden O’Brien, Ann Wass; First Timers/Member-to-Member Meet and Greet: Monica Sklar, Petra Slinkard; Student Meet and Greet: Dyese Matthews, Paige Tomfohrde; Reception Dance Leader: Jim Wass; Professional Development Workshops: Brian Centrone, Angel DuBose, Katrina Orsini; Scholars’ Roundtable: Jaleesa Reed, Ginger Stanciel; Creative Works Exhibition: Jean Parsons, Julia Ravindran; Tours: Howard Vincent Kurtz, Katherine Hill McIntyre, Megan Martinelli, Alden O’Brien, Katrina Orsini, Shelly Foote, Laura Johnson; Marketplace: Deborah Miller, Debbie Farthing; Silent Auction: Debbie Farthing, Heidi Cochrane, Charlene Gross, Polly Willman ; Fundraiser Event: Katherine Spivey, Ann Wass; Social Media: Katrina Orsini, Frank Gabriel New; Evaluations: Ann Wass; Volunteers: Mid-Atlantic Members and Friends. Special thanks go to the more than 30 abstract reviewers who made our symposium possible.

Next Year’s Plans

Next year, we will convene across the country in Los Angeles. CSA's Western Region will host the 51 ^st National Annual Meeting and Symposium at Loyola Marymount University. Hope to see you there!

Images top row left to right:

The record number of Fellows who joined us for the festivities; Symposium Co-Chair Ann Wass in character as Ann Brodeau with Katherine Spivey as Dolley Madison at the Friday night fundraiser; Symposium Co-Chair Debbie Farthing, queen of the Silent Auction; Jeremy M. Bernardoni shows his work in the Creative Design Exhibition; attendees view rare books on the Library of Congress Tour

Images bottom row left to right:

Nadege Pierre, her mother, Sarah Hixson, Talia Spielholz, Monica Sklar, and Charlene Gross during their trip to the Library of Congress during the Thursday afternoon tours; Angels Project participants at The Howard County Historical Society in Ellicott City, Maryland; Howard Vincent Kurtz with the winners of the award that bears his name: Yee Lin Elaine Yuen (2022 winner), Mona Jahani (2023 winner), Kessler Jones (2024 winner)

2024 Costume Society of America Grants, Projects, Awards, and Honors Announced

Mon, 15 Apr 2024 12:31:07 GMT

Costume Society of America (CSA) is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2024 grants, projects, awards, and honors . "We have an exceptional group of awards, honors, and grant recipients this year. I want to thank all of our committees for their work and dedication in reviewing the nominees,” says Arlesa Shephard, CSA Vice President for Awards and Honors. Patricia Edmonson, Vice President for Grants and Projects adds, "We truly appreciate the time our applicants spend on each submission. Our committee chairs are always here to help members through the process of applying!” All awards, grants, and projects are funded through the generosity of donors to the CSA Endowment .

One Costume Society of America Fellow has been chosen this year to honor her significant contributions to the field of costume. Linda Baumgarten is a specialist in the early history of textiles and costumes. For 39 years she held the position of curator of textiles and costumes at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in Williamsburg, Virginia. She is the author of three books and co-author of two others. What Clothes Reveal, The Language of Clothing in Colonial and Federal America won CSA’s Millia Davenport Publications Award. In her retirement, Linda continues to lecture, research clothing and quilts, and draw quilt patterns using Computer-Assisted Design technology.

In addition to this most prestigious honor, each year CSA supports its members and recognizes their achievements by conferring numerous awards. For example, this year’s Millia Davenport Publication Award goes to Ann Lowe: American Couturier by Elizabeth Way (Rizzoli Electa, an imprint of Rizzoli New York), and the Betty Kirke Excellence in Research Award is given to Anne Bissonnette and Sherry Schofield for their Creative Design titled Zero Waste Thinking: Portrait Tunic and Palazzo Pants . The two Richard Martin Exhibition Awards go to Lee Alexander McQueen and Ann Ray: Rendez-Vous from Barrett Barrera Projects and Past and Present Lives of Upcycled Fashion by curator Kat Roberts at Cornell University. The Costume Design Award is given to Daniel James Cole for his work on Ariadne auf Naxos at Arizona Opera and The Howard Vincent Kurtz Emerging Theatre Artist Award is given to Kessler Jones for her designs for Clue at Michigan State University. This year’s CSA Entrepreneur Recognition Award goes to Tricia Camacho of The Patterned Seamstress LLC and Creative Costume Academy.

Along with honors and awards, CSA distributes grant money to a variety of individuals and organizations in the field. These include the CSA Stella Blum Student Research Grant, which has been given this year to Dyese L. Matthews for her research Fashioning Memories and Places: Black Women's Style in Harlem 1970-Present . The 2024 Angels Project Grant is given to The Howard County Historical Society in Maryland. Two Adele Filene Student Presenter Grants go to Constance Spotts and Paige Tomfohrde.

A full list of all of CSA’s grants, honors, and awards can be found below. They will be celebrated on Wednesday, May 22, 2024, during CSA’s 50 ^th Annual National Meeting and Symposium in Washington, DC .

Costume Society of America Fellow Honor: Linda Baumgarten, Williamsburg, Virginia
CSA Entrepreneur Recognition Award: Tricia Camacho, The Patterned Seamstress LLC and Creative Costume Academy, Mocksville, North Carolina
CSA Costume Design Award: Daniel James Cole, Ariadne auf Naxos , Arizona Opera
CSA Richard Martin Exhibition Award, Large Organization: Lee Alexander McQueen and Ann Ray: Rendez-Vous , Barrett Barrera Projects, St. Louis, Missouri
CSA Richard Martin Exhibition Award, Small Organization: Past and Present Lives of Upcycled Fashion , Kat Roberts, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
CSA Richard Martin Exhibition Award Commendation: Woven Identities: Ghanaian and Guatemalan Textiles in the Face of Globalization , Anne Bissonnette (PhD), Siming Guo (PhD) Elsie Osei (MFA), and Chiara Power (BA), University of Alberta
Millia Davenport Publication Award: Ann Lowe: American Couturier by Elizabeth Way with contributions by Heather Hodge, Laura Mina, Margaret Powell, Katya Roelse, and Katherine Sahmel (Rizzoli Electa, an imprint of Rizzoli New York)
CSA Howard Vincent Kurtz Emerging Theatre Artist Award: Kessler Jones, Clue , Michigan State University
CSA Stella Blum Student Research Grant: Dyese L. Matthews, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, Fashioning Memories and Places: Black Women's Style in Harlem 1970-Present
Betty Kirke Excellence in Research Award Anne Bissonnette, University of Alberta, and Sherry Schofield, Florida State University, Zero Waste Thinking: Portrait Tunic and Palazzo Pants
Scholars’ Roundtable: 1973 to 2073: The Past, Present, and Future of Dress Studies ; Marilyn DeLong, University of Minnesota; Clarissa Esguerra, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Monica Sklar, University of Georgia; Elizabeth Way, The Museum at FIT
CSA Travel Research Grant: Holly Durbin, Stitched Identities: American Menswear and the Art of Assimilation
College and University Collection Care Grant: California College of the Arts, San Francisco, California
CSA Small Museum Collection Care Grant: Old Trails Museum, Winslow Historical Society, Winslow, Arizona
CSA Dependent Care Grant: Sarah Silvas-Bernstein
Adele Filene Student Presenter Grants: Constance Spotts, Iowa State University, and Paige Tomfohrde, Cornell University
CSA Angels Project: The Howard County Historical Society, Ellicott City, Maryland

Pictured above from left to right:

The Creative Design by Anne Bissonnette and Sherry Schofield titled Zero Waste Thinking: Portrait Tunic and Palazzo Pants , recipient of the Betty Kirke Excellence in Research Award; Mustard, Green, Peacock, White, Plum and Scarlet eavesdrop at the door of Boddy Manor’s grand dining room in Michigan State University’s production of Clu e with costumes designed by Kessler Jones, recipient of the CSA Howard Vincent Kurtz Emerging Theatre Artist Award; cover of Ann Lowe: American Couturier by Elizabeth Way with contributions by Heather Hodge, Laura Mina, Margaret Powell, Katya Roelse, and Katherine Sahmel (Rizzoli Electa, an imprint of Rizzoli New York), recipient of the Millia Davenport Publication Award.

CSA Founded on March 28, 1973

Mon, 25 Mar 2024 13:41:49 GMT

On March 28, 1973, CSA was founded!

Costume Society of America (CSA) was founded on March 28, 1973, when Stella Blum, Herbert Callister, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, Adele Filene, Cora Ginsburg, and Elizabeth Jachimowicz held an organizational meeting at Filene’s apartment in New York, New York. Formal recognition came on September 12, 1973, when the organization was incorporated as a non-profit in the state of New York. Callister was the first President of the organization, and he has been followed by nineteen successors to date. Governance of CSA is overseen in accordance with our by-laws and constitution by the organization’s Board of Directors, made up of fifteen members who are elected by the membership and who serve for three-year terms. An executive committee of thirteen officers are elected by the Board of Directors for two-year terms.

The mission of CSA , as adopted in 2018, is to “foster an understanding of appearance and dress practices of people across the globe through research, education, preservation, and design. Our network of members studies the past, examines the present, and anticipates the future of clothing and fashion.” CSA serves it members and promotes its goals with programs on the national and regional level and with digital and print publications.

Given that CSA’s members are dispersed throughout the United States and Canada, the Board of Directors began to recognize Regional groups in the following order: Region V (1978), Region III (1982), Region II (1983), Region I (1984), and Regions VI and VIII (1985). Regions III and IV were combined in 1994. [ 1] Currently, the Regions are designated as Mid-Atlantic , Midwestern , Northeastern , Southeastern , Southwestern , Western , and International. All CSA members are automatically members of the Regions in which they reside, and a dedicated group of members lead Regional Advisory Councils that provide newsletters, annual meetings, and other programs for members throughout the service areas.

The Annual Meeting and Symposium event has been an important offering of the organization since 1975. In 2024 the 50 ^th such program will be held in Washington, D.C. with the theme, “ Looking Forward, Reflecting Back .” In addition to a meeting of the members, as is required by the articles of incorporation, by-laws, and constitution, the activities include keynote lectures, plenary presentations by award winners, concurrent sessions of papers, tours of local sites, and silent auctions. The proceeds are published, and editions from 2007 forward are available electronically to members .

Additional publications provided by CSA include the organization’s scholarly journal, Dress , first published in 1975. Dress examines the many facets of clothing and appearance through the study of art, social history, anthropology, and material culture. Articles based in diverse theoretical, analytical, and research methods command a great deal of respect in the field. Editors have included Robert Riley, Alez Gildzen, Richard Martin, Patricia Trautman, Patricia Cunningham, Sally Helvenston Gray, Tina Bates, and Ingrid Mida. Originally published with one issue annually, this increased to two issues per year with Volume 39 in 2013. Since 2016 Dress has been produced by Taylor & Francis, who host the entire catalogue digitally on their website .

The field of dress study has been advanced by the CSA Series, which began in 2001 as an avenue to aid CSA members in publishing their scholarship. It was founded under the leadership of CSA Vice President for Publications Rosalyn Lester and in partnership with Texas Tech University Press (TTUP). [2] Phyllis Specht, the founding editor, served for fifteen years, and with TTUP’s editor Judith Keeling, she directed the publication of fourteen books. In 2017, the series was taken on by Kent State University Press, and as editor Jennifer Mower oversaw four additional publications. Kelly Reddy-Best was named editor of the Series in 2023. Books in the series vary from primarily textual to highly illustrated and have included subjects as diverse as eighteenth-century shoemaking to the cultural history of Black hair in broader American society.

Scholarship and service to the field is celebrated by CSA annually with numerous awards, honors, grants, and projects . The most prestigious is the Fellows Honor, which recognizes outstanding dedication, commitment, and leadership to the organization and to the field of costume. The first class of CSA Fellows, recognized in 1991, included founders Blum, Callister, Coleman, Filene, Ginsburg, and Jachimowicz, as well as Jack Handford and Shannon Rodgers. [3] Fifty-three additional Fellows have been named since then. Other honors include the Mary D. Doering Guardian Honor, instituted in 2019, that recognizes the legacy of Doering and others like her who celebrate and protect significant objects of dress and appearance. Since 1997, the Scholars’ Roundtable Honor has charged a group of costume scholars to lead a discussion at the National Symposium that speaks to a current issue in the field.

Awards given annually celebrate excellence and honor our important members through named awards that include the Millia Davenport Publication Award (first given in 1991), Richard Martin Exhibition Award (instituted in 2002), Betty Kirke Excellence in Research Award (established in 2016), and the Howard Vincent Kurtz Emerging Theatre Artist Award (first given in 2022). First given in 2004, the President’s Award recognizes the extraordinary service of member or members during the preceding year. An award for Costume Design was first given in 2008, and the Entrepreneur Recognition Award was established by Wendy Goldstein in 2022.

Grants have allowed scholars and organizations to fund valuable research, materials, and professional help. The Stella Blum Student Research Grant, instituted in 1987, was followed by the Adele Filene Student Presenter and Travel Research Grants (both in 1996), the Small Museum Collection Care Grant (2003), the College and University Collection Care Grant (2006), and most recently the Dependent Care Grant (2020).

The CSA Angels Project , which first took place in 2006, sends volunteers to a small and deserving costume collection located in or near the host city of that year’s National Symposium to provide conservation, storage, and curatorial assistance. The program is skillfully led by Martha Winslow Grimm and Margaret Ordoñez with the support of Patti Borrello and Marie Schlag. In 2007, Patricia Wesp, who was chair of the CSA Grants Committee, and Loreen Finkelstein, who was CSA’s Vice President of External Relations, wrote and received a $60,000 grant to fund the 2008-2010 projects at the Jackson Barracks Military Museum, New Orleans; Phoenix Museum of History, Phoenix, AZ; and Penn Valley Community College, Kansas City, MO. In 2011, the Angels Project received a $1,000 grant from the American Association of Conservation $1,000 grant. The Endowment funded the rest of the project that year, and it has done so in full since 2015.

The funds for the rest of the organization’s grants, awards, and projects are also provided by the CSA Endowment. Inspired by a Rotary Club endowment that she learned about through her husband, President Rosalyn Lester proposed that CSA begin its own in order to fund these programs, as well as to provide a permanent place for contributions from members. Having seen a presentation by CSA Western Region member Judy Mathey and her husband Bob about managing investments, [4] Rosalyn sought Judy’s help, and with the oversight of Executive Director Kaye Boyer Ryan, the CSA Endowment was begun in 2007 . Since then, the Endowment has consistently received over $20,000 in donations annually. The generous contributions of donors are invested, and the interest is used to fund awards, grants and projects developed and administered by the CSA Board of Directors. As of the end of Fiscal Year 2023, there were over $450,000 in the Endowment Fund. In this anniversary year, a special $50 for 50 Years Endowment Campaign has been launched under the leadership of Howard Vincent Kurtz and Sheryl Farnan.

Opportunities to expand CSA’s outreach and programs were brought about in the challenging year of 2020. In response to members’ questions about issues raised by the Black Lives Matter movement, the Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Belonging (DEAB) Committee was established to promote and advocate for DEAB initiatives and philosophies throughout the organization. Due to our inability to gather in person during the COVID-19 pandemic, our Conversations on Dress webinar series was launched by Graham Wetzbarger, Vice President for Technology. To date as of this writing in late August 2023, the series has produced over 75 programs, with over 3,500 attendees and an additional reach of almost 15,000 views of the recordings on CSA’s YouTube channel . The first annual meeting to be held virtually took place in 2020, and our first virtual annual symposium was held in 2021.

From its earliest years, CSA updated the membership with goings-on in the field through printed mailings and quarterly newsletters. More recently, communication has taken a digital turn, with emails, a website, an e-newsletter, and a presence on various social media platforms. [5] The organization’s logo was given its first complete makeover in 2018, and a companion logo was produced for the 50 ^th anniversary in 2023.

To mark our 25 ^th anniversary in 1993, Elizabeth Ann Coleman and Elizabeth Brown wrote an excellent history of our organization. [6] Since then, we have continued programs that have fostered the field as well as adding digital and virtual offerings and a host of awards, honors, grants, and projects. Costume Society of America is an organization run by its members for its members. Our current President, Lalon Alexander, has instituted a new series of Town Hall Forums as a place where members can ask questions of the leadership and learn behind-the-scenes information about how CSA is run.

From the national office in Columbus, Georgia, where I have served the organization since 2015, thanks go to the thousands of volunteers who have contributed to the growth and smooth operation of the organization and to the excellent contributions in the fields of clothing, fashion, and costume. Here’s to another fantastic 50 years as we honor our past, celebrate today, and build the future!

Kristen Miller Zohn

Executive Director

[1] Elizabeth Ann Coleman and Elizabeth Brown (1998), “In the Beginning … A Brief Background of the Costume Society of America,” Dress , 25:1, 88-90, DOI: 10.1179/036121198805297873

[2] No author (2006), “CSA Fellows: Rosalyn Lester,” Dress , 33:1, 121, DOI: 10.1179/036121106805252981

[3] Phyllis Specht (1991), “The Costume Society of America presents The Class of 1991 Fellows,” Dress , 18:1, 92-96, DOI: 10.1179/036121191803657133

[4] Phyllis Specht (2022) “In Memoriam: Judy Mathey (1940–2021),” Dress , 48:2, 219-220, DOI: 10.1080/03612112.2022.2090104

[5] See Facebook , LinkedIn , and Instagram

CSA National Leadership Election Results Announced

Wed, 20 Mar 2024 20:11:34 GMT

Costume Society of America is pleased to announce the results of the recent election for the Class of 2027 National Board of Directors. These five directors will be inducted at the 2024 Annual Meeting during the National Symposium in Washington DC (May 21 through 25, 2024). Don’t forget that early bird registration for the symposium ends on April 5, 2024. You can learn more and find the registration link by clicking here .

The Class of 2027 National Board of Directors includes:

Melissa Gamble is an Assistant Professor in the Fashion Studies Department at Columbia College Chicago. Arti Sandhu is currently an Associate Professor in the Fashion Program in the School of Design, Art Architecture, and Planning, University of Cincinnati. Joshua D. Simon is the Assistant Curator of Exhibits at the Tri-Cities Historical Museum in Grand Haven, Michigan. Juanjuan Wu is the Associate Dean for Academic Programs in the College of Design at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Lynda May Xepoleas is an Assistant Professor of Fashion Design at Kent State University.

Michael Mamp , Director & Curator of the Textile & Costume Museum and Associate Professor of Textiles, Apparel Design, and Merchandising at Louisiana State University, and Michele Riley , associate dean of the School of Multidisciplinary and Professional Studies at Purdue University Global, will serve as alternates. Class of 2025 and 2026 directors are: Karen DePauw, Clarissa Esguerra, Susan Hannel, Michaele Thurgood Haynes, Adam MacPhàrlain, Jaleesa Reed, Clare Sauro, Arlesa Shephard, Ginger D. Stanciel, and Graham Wetzbarger.

CSA’s student members elected Sofia Beraldo, a master of arts candidate in fashion at Toronto Metropolitan University, as Student Liaison to serve from 2024 to 2026. Paige E. Tomfohrde, PhD student, researcher and Dean’s Scholar at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, currently serves as Student Liaison through 2025.

CSA also announces several new or renewed appointments to the Executive Committee, who will begin their terms at the 2024 Annual Meeting and serve until the 2026 Annual Meeting:

President Leon Wiebers is Chair of Theatre Arts Program and Professor of Costume Design at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Past President Lalon Alexander teaches at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas. President Elect Adam MacPhàrlain is the Curator of Clothing and Textiles at the Missouri Historical Society in St. Louis, Missouri. Treasurer Danielle Reaves is an adjunct instructor of apparel design and fashion retailing in the Department of Clothing, Textiles, and Interior Design at The University of Alabama. Secretary Theresa Alexander is an associate professor of fashion management with the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio. Vice President for Awards and Honors Colleen Pokorny is an assistant professor in apparel design at Oregon State University in Corvallis. Vice President for Internal Relations Katie Baker Jones is an associate professor and serves as the program coordinator in the Fashion, Dress and Merchandising department in the School of Design and Community Development at West Virginia University. Vice President for Education and Programs Monica Sklar is an assistant professor & director/coordinator of the Historic Clothing and Textiles Collection at the University of Georgia in Athens. They join current Executive Committee members who are serving until the 2025 Annual Meeting: Deborah Miller, Vice President for External Relations; Patty Edmonson, Vice President for Grants and Projects; Julia Petrov, Vice President for Publications; Graham Wetzbarger, Vice President for Technology; and Heidi Cochran, Vice President for Symposia.

You can learn more about CSA Leadership by visiting this page . Nominations for the Class of 2028 Board of Directors and 2025-2027 Executive Committee positions will open in July of 2024 and will be open through November of 2024.

Pictured from left to right, top row: Melissa Gamble, Arti Sandhu, Joshua D. Simon, Juanjuan Wu, Lynda May Xepoleas, Sofia Beraldo
Pictured from left to right, middle row: Leon Wiebers, Lalon Alexander, Adam MacPhàrlain, Danielle Reaves
Pictured from left to right, bottom row: Theresa Alexander, Colleen Pokorny, Katie Baker Jones, Monica Sklar

50 Years of Costume Society of America

Tue, 12 Sep 2023 12:06:33 GMT

On September 12, 1973, CSA was incorporated as a non-profit in the state of New York

Kristen Miller Zohn

Executive Director

[1] Elizabeth Ann Coleman and Elizabeth Brown (1998), “In the Beginning … A Brief Background of the Costume Society of America,” Dress , 25:1, 88-90, DOI: 10.1179/036121198805297873

[2] No author (2006), “CSA Fellows: Rosalyn Lester,” Dress , 33:1, 121, DOI: 10.1179/036121106805252981

[3] Phyllis Specht (1991), “The Costume Society of America presents The Class of 1991 Fellows,” Dress , 18:1, 92-96, DOI: 10.1179/036121191803657133

[4] Phyllis Specht (2022) “In Memoriam: Judy Mathey (1940–2021),” Dress , 48:2, 219-220, DOI: 10.1080/03612112.2022.2090104

[5] See Facebook , LinkedIn , and Instagram

2024 CSA National Symposium Call for Submissions

Tue, 15 Aug 2023 21:14:42 GMT

The Costume Society of America and the Mid-Atlantic region are pleased to announce a call for submissions for the 50 ^th Annual Meeting and Symposium to be held in the history-rich heart of Washington, DC, May 21 through 25, 2024. As the Society’s 50 ^th anniversary year ends, this symposium will provide members with the opportunity to look forward to the future of fashion and reflect back on the history of dress. The intent of the symposium is to provide a platform to discuss theoretical and practical research, designs, and innovations to foster understanding and stimulate scholarship in the widely varied topic of dress. While reflections on the scholarship of dress history since the founding of the Society in 1973, as well as predictions for the future of fashion, are welcome, all topics related to dress and adornment will be considered. Collaborative and interdisciplinary scholarship are encouraged as are topics which demonstrate diversity in subject matter and research.

The submission form, as well as rubrics and instructions for each type of submission, can be found in the call for submissions by clicking here . The deadline for the call is October 15, 2023.

QUESTIONS?
Our abstracts administrators can be reached at abstractscommittee@costumesocietyamerica.com : Theresa Alexander and Karin Bohleke (research presentations, in-process research presentations, and panel/discussion sessions), Jean Parsons (creative works exhibition), and Brian Centrone and Angel Dubose (Professional Development workshops). Reach out to symposium@costumesocietyamerica.com for general questions.

Conversations on Dress Webinar Series on Ann Lowe

Thu, 06 Jul 2023 04:39:28 GMT

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

7:00 p.m. Eastern / 4:00 p.m. Pacific

FREE webinar, open to all

Wintherthur Museum in Wilmington, Delaware presents Ann Lowe: American Couturier, a retrospective of this forgotten African American fashion designer. The curatorial team (Kim Collison and Alexandra Deutsch) worked with Elizabeth Way of the Museum at FIT to select garments for the exhibition, which were then sent to the conservation team at Winterthur. Katherine Sahmel and Heather Hansen meticulously stabilized and properly mounted each ensemble. Lowe famously designed Jacqueline Bouvier’s wedding dress (and the bridal parties’) to her marriage to JFK. Due to its value and condition, the dress is not allowed to be exhibited, and so the curators asked designer and UD professor Katya Roesle to recreate the wedding gown. She enlisted several students to help in the recreation process, during which they learned many of Lowe’s signature couture techniques and learned valuable insight into her skills as a designer, draftswoman, and seamstress.

From the JFK library in Boston, the archives at FIT, to the sprawling 175 room former estate of Henry Francis Du Pont. Through this three-part series, discover what it took to mount the first retrospective of this significant (though often forgotten) American fashion designer and pioneer, Ann Lowe . Join us to explore the who, how, and why behind the exhibit, from the passionate academics bringing Lowe from the servants entrance to the grand ballroom.

In the third and final installment we will walk the exhibition live with curators Kim Collison and Alexandra Deutsch. Besides showing off gorgeous garments, they will be discussing methodology, highlight struggles, reception and more.

Click here to register for Part Three!

Click here to view the recording of the first webinar in the series. Katya Roesle , Instructor and Director of Design and Creative Marketing Certificate Program, University of Delaware, and Alex Culley, Student at University of Delaware discussed the recreation process of Jackie Kennedy’s dress with the designer and their student participant. See behind the scenes at the design studio at UD and learn what they discovered about Ann Lowe, the research process, and more.

Click here to view the recording of the second webinar in the series. Our host and moderator, Graham Wetzbarger , CSA VP of Technology, speaks with Elizabeth Way , Katherine Sahmel , and Heather Hansen about garment selection, research, mounting of the exhibition, and the conservation process.

2023 Costume Society of America Grants, Projects, Awards, and Honors Announced

duda@neonone.com — Mon, 03 Jul 2023 00:23:24 GMT

Costume Society of America (CSA) is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2023 grants, projects, awards, and honors. “There was a phenomenal level of excellence among our nominees this year,” says Arlesa Shephard, CSA Vice President for Awards and Honors. Elise Rousseau, Vice President for Grants and Projects adds, “Thank you to all of the candidates who prepared such impressive application submissions. We encourage all our members to submit your future projects for consideration.” Shephard and Rousseau want to express their gratitude to all our committee chairs and members for volunteering their time and efforts so that we can recognize all these important achievements.

Abby Lillethun adds her name to those who have been honored as a Costume Society of America Fellow due to her significant contributions to the field of costume. Dr. Lillethun serves as chairperson of the Montclair State University Department of Art and Design where she is Professor of Fashion Cultures and Histories, and as one juror wrote, “her work in academia produces both new scholarship and future scholars. Her volunteer commitment to numerous boards and committees at both the regional and national level as well as her scholarly contributions to conferences and to Dress show commendable dedication to the mission and work of the Costume Society of America.”

This year, two honorees have received the Mary D. Doering Guardian Honor, which pays tribute to Doering and other guardians like her who recognize the values of artistic, historical, and socially significant objects of dress and appearance. Susan J. Jerome is Collections Manager at the University of Rhode Island Historic Textile and Costume Collection, and she also works as the Curator/Registrar of the Historic Costume Collection at the University of Connecticut. A juror remarked, “I’m inspired by her devotion to collections management, holistically embracing a role which includes curatorial, conservation, and registrarial duties, as well as sharing the collection with students and ensuring public access through the digital online database.” Textile conservator Marie T. Schlag is the Principal at the Studio for Textile Conservation in Scituate, Massachusetts. For many years she has been an integral part of the CSA Angels team, and her work in procuring donations of supplies and helping to run the event has immeasurably contributed to the success of the project.

This year’s Millia Davenport Publication Award goes to Frankie Welch’s Americana by Ashley Callahan (The University of Georgia Press), and the Betty Kirke Excellence in Research Award is given to Tina Bates for On the Margins: Convict Dress at the Kingston Penitentiary, 1890-1920 . The Costume Design Award is given to Aly Amidei for her “Totally 80’s Shakespeare: Sitcom Inspired Costumes for The Merry Wives of Windsor” and The Howard Vincent Kurtz Emerging Theatre Artist Award is given to Mona Jahani, a student at Michigan State University, for her design, Monsieur d’Eon is a Woman . The two Richard Martin Exhibition Awards go to Parachute: Subversive Fashion of the ’80s at the McCord Stewart Museum and Uncut Attire: How Weaving Informs Wearables at the Center for Design and Material Culture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In addition to honors and awards, CSA distributes grant money to a variety of individuals and organizations in the field. The CSA Stella Blum Student Research Grant assists the research of a current undergraduate or graduate student who is conducting original research in the field of North American costume. This year’s Blum Grant goes to Leigh Danielle Honeycutt Porche of Louisiana State University for her project Louisiana Cowgirls, Cowboys and Cowthems: Negotiating Gender, Race and Appearance on the Trail . The 2023 Angels Project Grant is given to Heritage Museum of Layton, a small historical museum in Layton, Utah. Two Adele Filene Student Presenter Grants go to Yee Lin Elaine Yuen of Kent State University and Colleen Pokorny of University of Minnesota. A full list of grants, honors, and awards, including honorable mentions and commendations, can be found below.

Grants, Projects, Honors, and Awards were celebrated on Wednesday, May 24, 2023, during CSA’s Annual National Meeting and Symposium in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Costume Society of America Fellow Honor: Abby Lillethun, Teaneck, New Jersey

Mary D. Doering Guardian Honor: Susan J. Jerome, Stonington, Connecticut; Marie T. Schlag, Scituate, Massachusetts

CSA Costume Design Award: Aly Amidei, The Merry Wives of Windsor

CSA Richard Martin Exhibition Award, Large Museum: Parachute: Subversive Fashion of the ’80s , Alexis Walker, McCord Stewart Museum, Montreal, Canada

CSA Richard Martin Exhibition Award, Small Museum: Uncut Attire: How Weaving Informs Wearables , Addison Nace, Center for Design and Material Culture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Commendation: Venus & Diana: Fashioning the Jazz Age, Clare Sauro, Robert and Penny Fox Historic Costume Collection at Drexel University

CSA Howard Vincent Kurtz Emerging Theatre Artist Award: Mona Jahani, Michigan State University, Monsieur d’Eon is a Woman

CSA Stella Blum Student Research Grant: Leigh Danielle Honeycutt Porche, Louisiana State University, Louisiana Cowgirls, Cowboys and Cowthems: Negotiating Gender, Race and Appearance on the Trail

CSA Travel Research Grant: Dr. Ingrid Mida, The Art and Fashion of the Vest

College and University Collection Care Grant: Pennsylvania State University School of Theatre Fashion Archive, University Park, Pennsylvania

CSA Small Museum Collection Care Grant: Gresham Historical Society, Gresham, Oregon

Millia Davenport Publication Award: Frankie Welch’s Americana by Ashley Callahan and LaDonna Harris (The University of Georgia Press); Honorable Mention: Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love by Laura L. Camerlengo and Dilys E. Blum (Yale University Press and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco)

Adele Filene Student Presenter Grants: Yee Lin Elaine Yuen, Kent State University, Senbazuru’s Recall: One Thousand Cranes for Peace ; Colleen Pokorny, University of Minnesota, Transforming Quilts into Garments: Designers’ Experiences with Upcycling

CSA Angels Project: Heritage Museum of Layton, Layton, Utah

Betty Kirke Excellence in Research Award: Tina Bates, On the Margins: Convict Dress at the Kingston Penitentiary, 1890-1920

Scholars’ Roundtable: Crossroads of Dress and Adornment: Creativity, Culture and Collaboration ; Adam MacPhàrlain, Missouri Historical Society; Kelly Reddy-Best, Iowa State University; Petra Slinkard, Peabody Essex Museum; Leon Wiebers, Loyola Marymount University

President’s Awards: Howard Vincent Kurtz and Arlesa Shephard

Pictured above from left to right:

Image from On the Margins: Convict Dress at the Kingston Penitentiary, 1890-1920 , the Betty Kirke Excellence in Research Award winning abstract by Tina Bates; Falstaff and Mistress Quickly, designs by Aly Amidei, The Merry Wives of Windsor , recipient of the CSA Costume Design Award; two Mapuche ponchos (makuñ) from Chile, installation image of Uncut Attire: How Weaving Informs Wearables , Addison Nace, Center for Design and Material Culture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, recipient of a CSA Richard Martin Exhibition Award.

The Costume Society of America Announces 2026 National Board of Directors Election Results and Executive Committee Appointments

Thu, 09 Mar 2023 05:51:52 GMT

Costume Society of America is pleased to announce the results of the recent election for the Class of 2026 National Board of Directors. We would like to thank everyone on the slate of thirteen for their willingness to serve. From that slate, five were chosen to be inducted at this year’s Annual Meeting during the National Symposium in Salt Lake City, Utah, taking place May 23 through 27, 2023.

The Class of 2026 National Board of Directors are as follows. Karen DePauw , who will be serving her second term on the board, is Manager of Local History Services at the Indiana Historical Society. Adam MacPhàrlain , also serving a second term, is Curator of Clothing and Textiles at the Missouri Historical Society. Jaleesa Reed is Assistant Research Professor at Cornell University. Clare Sauro , who will be serving a second term, is Director and Chief Curator of the Fox Historic Costume Collection at Drexel University. Ginger D. Stanciel is the Programming, Engagement, and Exhibition Development Coordinator for Civic Projects Architecture in Chicago. Paige E. Tomfohrde will be appointed to serve as a Graduate Student Liaison to the Board of Directors.

Annette Becker, Director of the Texas Fashion Collection at the University of North Texas College of Visual Arts & Design, and Michael Mamp, Associate Professor at Louisiana State University, will serve as Board of Director alternates. Classes of 2024 and 2025 directors are: Lloyd Cracknell, Clarissa Esguerra, Karan Feder, Susan Hannel, Michaele Thurgood Haynes, Neal Hurst, Jean L. Parsons, Kelly Reddy-Best, Arlesa Shephard, and Graham Wetzbarger. Dyese Matthews serves as a Graduate Student Liaison.

CSA also announces several renewed appointments to the Executive Committee. The following will serve through the 2025 Annual Meeting: Vice President for Publications Julia Petrov , who is Curator of Daily Life and Leisure at the Royal Alberta Museum; Vice President for Grants and Projects Elise Yvonne Rousseau , who is Director & Principal Conservator of ACdR Conservation; Vice President for External Relations Karen DePauw ; and Vice President for Technology Graham Wetzbarger , who is Founder & CEO of Luxury Appraisals & Authentication.

Several other Executive Committee members are serving until the 2024 Annual Meeting: President Lalon Alexander, President Elect Leon Wiebers, Past President Sheryl Farnan Leipzig, Treasurer Danielle Reaves, Secretary Theresa Alexander, Vice President for Awards and Honors Arlesa Shephard, Vice President for Internal Relations Katie Baker Jones, and Vice President for Education and Programs Heidi Cochran.

You can learn more about CSA Leadership by visiting https://costumesocietyamerica.com/mission/leadership-2/. Nominations for the Class of 2027 Board of Directors and 2024-2026 Executive Committee positions will be accepted July through November of 2023.

Pictured from left to right, top row:

Karen DePauw, Adam MacPhàrlain, Jaleesa Reed, Clare Sauro, Ginger D. Stanciel, and Paige E. Tomfohrde

Pictured from left to right, bottom row:

Julia Petrov, Elise Yvonne Rousseau, and Graham Wetzbarger

Call for Papers: Reframing Fashion in the Museum

Thu, 23 Feb 2023 05:59:45 GMT

Call for Papers for Dress Special Issue: Reframing Fashion in the Museum

In recent years, the need to decolonize the museum and reframe collections and exhibitions to be more inclusive and relevant has prompted a re-examination of traditional museum practices. Issues of representation, diversity, inclusion, accessibility, social justice, labour practices and pay equity have become urgent matters that require a rethinking of what is being collected, whose stories are being told, and how objects are displayed. This dynamic period of change presents an opportunity to reframe fashion in the museum away from the hegemony of white, elite heteronormative fashion and celebrate other cultures, marginalized communities, bodies and stories.

This special issue of Dress, planned for publication in 2024 (Volume 50), will focus on research articles and reports that document the successes, challenges, opportunities, and progress made to reframe fashion in the museum to be more inclusive, accessible and relevant to audiences today.

Scholars are invited to prepare full manuscripts that address this theme from a variety of perspectives. Research articles (6000-10000 words) would address this theme from a critical and/or theoretical perspective or as a case study about a museum or a specific exhibition. Research reports (3000-5000 words) would approach this topic in a more limited scope, for example, as a case study related to a specific object.

Selected articles will be subject to a double-blind peer review . The deadline for submission of articles and reports is August 31, 2023 . Possible topics may include:

Reframing dress history in exhibitions
Restitution of objects to Indigenous communities
Documenting clothing in community memory
Critiquing capitalist, authoritarian, or elite clothing discourses
Addressing cultural appropriation
Recontextualizing colonial objects
Redesigning hiring practices
Reframing collecting practices
Making collections and exhibitions more accessible to a range of users

Submission Requirements:

Submit full manuscripts, including low-res images, as a Word document (not as pdf).
Include an abstract of 150-200 words on cover page with 6 keywords.
Use Chicago Manual of Style citation method (notes only).
Use double-spaced Times New Roman 12-point font and include page numbers.
Images should include full captions (permission not required at submission stage).
Label file name: Lastname_Short Title.
Indicate category of submission as research article or report.
On separate cover page, list author(s) name(s), institutional affiliation and short 100-word bio(s).
Include email and phone number of corresponding author.

Detailed Instructions for Authors are also available on the Taylor & Francis webpage for Dress:

https://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?show=instructions&journalCode=ydre20

Submit manuscripts and cover sheets to dress@costumesocietyamerica.com

Final deadline for submissions: August 31, 2023

Costume Society of America Meets in Salt Lake City to Celebrate 50 Years

duda@neonone.com — Mon, 01 Jul 2019 11:38:31 GMT

Costume Society of America kicked off our year-long celebration of our 50th Anniversary at the Annual Meeting and Symposium in Salt Lake City, Utah, from May 23 through 27, 2023. Our theme, “Crossroads of Dress & Adornment: Creativity, Culture, and Collaboration,” created the umbrella for a rich program of special presentations, concurrent sessions, off-site explorations, and workshops. Abstracts of this 49th Annual Meeting and Symposium can be downloaded here .

Before the conference began, CSA’s Angels spent a day at the Heritage Museum of Layton in Layton, Utah, processing over 200 clothing artifacts and partially completing the collections care process on many others. A dozen people took a pre-symposium trip to Park City, Utah, where they participated in a walking tour of the city and viewed the Thrift Style exhibit at the Park City Museum. Professional Development Workshops included a “Meet Your CSA Editor” session led by Ingrid Mida, Dress Editor, and Susan Wadsworth-Booth, Director of Kent State University Press, and featuring a video from e-News editor Madison Brito; a tenure guidelines conversation led by Leon Wiebers, CSA President Elect; and a Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Belonging Committee listening session led by Kelly Reddy-Best and Melissa Gamble, DEAB Committee Co-Chairs.

Our 50th Anniversary celebration kicked off with an opening reception on Wednesday evening, where attendees got down and funky in their favorite 70’s garb, including the 1970s, 1770s, and 2070s! This followed a ceremony at which this year’s winners of Grants, Projects, Awards, and Honors were announced. Abby Lillethun adds her name to those who have been honored as a Costume Society of America Fellow due to her significant contributions to the field of costume, and two honorees received the Mary D. Doering Guardian Honor, which pays tribute to individuals who recognize the values of artistic, historical, and socially significant objects of dress and appearance: Susan J. Jerome and Marie T. Schlag. Also given were the Adele Filene Student Presenter Grants, CSA Travel Research Grant, Stella Blum Student Research Grant, Small Museum Collection Care Grant, and the College and University Collection Care Grant, as well as the CSA Betty Kirke Excellence in Research Award, CSA Costume Design Award, Howard Vincent Kurtz Emerging Theatre Artist Award, Millia Davenport Publication Award, and the Richard Martin Exhibition Awards. A full list of winners can be found here .

On Thursday, attendees heard a fascinating discussion led by Shelly Foote with our Scholars’ Roundtable participants, Kelly Reddy-Best, Leon Wiebers, Adam MacPhàrlain, and Petra Slinkard, and a moving keynote presentation by Fleurette Estes and Joy Farley, two Diné (Navajo) sisters, in conversation with Lost Origins Gallery owner Jason Hamacher about the living legacy of Navajo clothing. In the afternoon, attendees visited the Fort Douglas Military Museum and the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.

Concurrent sessions throughout the symposium covered diverse topics such as science fiction costuming, dandy style, convict dress, Italian Renaissance portraiture, and the process of mounting uniforms. On Friday, Kevin Jones and Christina Johnson gave a fascinating presentation on their 2022 Millia Davenport Publication Award-winning publication, Sporting Fashion: Outdoor Girls 1800 to 1960. Design Exhibition and Poster presenters put together an incredible display, and attendees vied for silent auction purchases encouraged by competition from Howard Vincent Kurtz. On Saturday, Petra Slinkard spoke about the beautiful 2022 Richard Martin Exhibition Award-winning exhibition Made It | The Women Who Revolutionized Fashion at the Peabody Essex Museum, and the conference ended with a fascinating presentation by Marrisa Mitsuing and Kim Verrier, curators of Powwow! Ohcîwin the Origins, Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery, also a 2022 Martin award winner. Presentation recordings by Jones and Johnson, Slinkard, and Mitsuing and Verrier, as well as by 2021 CSA Stella Blum Student Research Grant Winner Lynda May Xepoleas about “Hodinöhsö:ni’ Women & Archival Erasures at the New York State Museum, 1909-1915,” will be available soon on the CSA’s members-only site. Additional 2023 symposium content will be seen on upcoming “As Seen at Symposium” webinars. Stay tuned for more information!

Throughout the symposium, Meet-and-Greets were held for Member-to-Member program participants and first-timers, students, and CSA Fellows, and President Lalon Alexander presided over a town hall meeting at which pre-submitted questions and inquiries from the floor were answered.

We extend our sincere appreciation to our sponsors: Silver Level, Bloomsbury Academic and Margaret’s Couture Cleaners; Bronze Level, DittoForm LLC Michigan; Angels Project, University Products, Talas, Gaylord Archival, and Archival Methods; Keynote, The BYU Charles Redd Center for Western Studies; and Design Exhibition, Mannequin Rental Co. Thanks also to our marketplace participants and advertisers: CSA Series at Kent State University Press, Edinburgh University Press, Fleurette Estes, and Kotah Bear Jewelry. Participants in this year’s fundraiser event were treated to a performance of The Prom and a behind-the-scenes tour of the costume shop at the Pioneer Theatre Company at the University of Utah. We are pleased to announce that this year’s Silent Auction raised over $4,000—thanks go to all those who donated and purchased items in support of this effort, and to our co-coordinators, Edie Sanford and La Beene. Attendees also showed their individual support through sponsorships. Bryce Canyon National Park Sponsors ($100) included Lalon Alexander, Theresa Alexander, June Burns Bove’, Jacqueline Field Roberts, Michaele Haynes, Elizabeth Herridge, Adam MacPhàrlain, Elise Yvonne Morin-Rousseau, Margaret Ordonez, and Susan Yanofsky. Arches National Park Sponsors ($50) included Heidi Cochran, Judi Dawainis, Susan Hannel, Gayle Strege, and Leon Wiebers. Canyonlands National Park Sponsors ($25) included Suzanne LeSar, Arlesa Shephard, and Jennifer Tracz. Capitol Reef National Park Sponsors ($10) included Margaret Geiss-Mooney, Nan Mutnick, Colleen Pokorny, and Sara Wilcox.

We would like to express our immense gratitude for the hard work of our fantastic local arrangements team, who had originally planned to hold the symposium in 2021 but worked through the postponement caused by the pandemic: Symposium Co-Chairs Vicki Berger and Heidi Cochran (who also serves as Vice President for Education & Programs and Southwestern Region Chair); Abstracts Co-Administrators Sheryl Farnan and Theresa Alexander; Abstracts Editor Michaele Haynes; Angels Project Coordinators Martha Grimm and Margaret Ordoñez; CSA Vice President for External Relations Karen DePauw; Design Exhibition Chair Susan Yanofsky; Evaluation Chair Sarah Mosher; First Time Attendees/Member-to-Member Program Chairs Anne Toewe, Sally Queen, and Vicki Berger; Fundraiser Event Co-chairs Dennis Wright and Molly Hartvigsen; Thursday Afternoon Tours Chair Molly Hartvigsen; CSA President and Marketplace Chair Lalon Alexander; Pre-Symposium Tour Co-coordinators La Beene, Heidi Cochran, and Vicki Berger; Silent Auction Co-chairs Edie Sanford and La Beene; and the at-large local arrangement team members Annette Becker, Suzanne LeSar, Melissa Clark, and Gina Love. Special thanks go to the more than 30 abstract reviewers who made our symposium possible.

We want to hear from you! Whether you attended this year’s symposium or not, please give us your thoughts by clicking here . Your feedback is valuable to us as we plan for the future.

Next Year’s Plans

CSA’s Mid-Atlantic Region will host the 50th Annual Meeting and National Symposium in Washington, D.C. from May 21 to 25, 2024. Look for more information coming soon!

Images top row left to right: Kelly Borrello enjoying the behind-the-scenes tour of the costume shop at the Pioneer Theatre Company; the Southwestern Region symposium team; Ingrid Mida takes a photograph of the Scholars’ Roundtable participants

Images bottom row left to right: Keynote presenters Jason Hamacher, Fleurette Estes, and Joy Farley; Margarette Joyner and Sally-Yu Leung; Howard Vincent Kurtz in the final moments of the silent auction; Gail Alterman, June Burns Bove’, and Newbold Richardson

costume-society-of-america-81590

2026 Costume Society of America Grants, Projects, Awards, and Honors Announced

Dialogues on Dress: Marie-Claire Bozant

Dialogues on Dress: Marie-Claire Bozant

~ Growing up in the family I did and moving so much definitely influenced my interest in photography; I was always thinking about the ways I occupied a space or left it, the energy we bring to the spaces we enter and how to capture that. ~

~I really love how people are self-educating when it comes to fashion. We can’t make thoughtful choices if we don’t first understand what we’re dealing with.~

Dialogues on Dress: Lillia Whittington

Dialogues on Dress: Lillia Whittington

~ I love to wear bright, fun colors because the world is very dark at times. It can feel so isolating. Clothing is a way you can very easily let people know that they can feel comfortable around you, that you're a safe person. ~

~People often approach sewing thinking it has to be perfect, but you’re learning a new skill. It’s not for a grade. It is so ingrained in us that we are always being graded, but the goal is just to have fun.~

Dialogues on Dress: Cassidy Zachary

Dialogues on Dress: Cassidy Zachary

~ I was raised to believe in magic. My childhood was infused with fantastical elements, and that sent me down a really creative path through dress. [...] It led me to connect fashion with storytelling, and embrace the idea that clothing is an entry point to understanding character. ~

~I love how Jonathan Michael Square and other scholars define fashion as not just a noun, but a verb. It is an active practice with the body. When you expand your brain to grasp fashion as an act and a practice, the world is endless. All of history opens itself to you.~

Dialogues on Dress: Sara Idacavage

Dialogues on Dress: Sara Idacavage

Dialogues on Dress: Ben Barry

Dialogues on Dress: Ben Barry

~ Fashion and dress studies is serious work. It’s about politics, histories, cultures, power, emotions, and economies. But at its heart, it is about the joy of self-expression, connection, and creation. ~

Dialogues on Dress: Kareem Khubchandani

Dialogues on Dress: Kareem Khubchandani

~ We often explain drag as one gender performing as the other, creating a binary and insisting that crossing is the idea at hand. For me, it is about aestheticizing gender. Acknowledging that it is an aesthetic and playing with that. ~

~ Drag attracts attention, so whether a parade or a protest, it has always been connected to activism [...] It is not just for the stage, but also everyday life. It is an ethic of mutual aid and care.~

~ Dress is the way we are always read first. Be it for our class, religion, race, and more. And when dress meets skin, that is where performance and fashion merge. When dress is on the body, what can a body become? ~

Dialogues on Dress: Kate Sekules

Dialogues on Dress: Kate Sekules

~ In order to research mending, you have to go very hybrid and cross many boundaries, which is hard. It is difficult to intrude on these enormous subject areas where I don’t belong, to learn the languages of disciplines like archaeology, anthropology, philosophy, geology… ~

~It is intimidating to put holes in things, you feel like your clothes are somehow not yours to do that to and you are not allowed to approach. But you are. ~

~ I do not believe in whipping people, because it is not working. We need positive incentives, something fun and exciting to participate in, where you feel a sense of agency and creativity in getting dressed . ~

Dialogues on Dress: Amber-Dawn Bear Robe

Dialogues on Dress: Amber-Dawn Bear Robe

~ I consider curating to be an artistic expression of my love for fashion, and a way to feed it rather than constantly changing or cultivating my own personal style. ~

~ This is really the goal - to bring Indigenous fashion outside of its niche and into the public eye, and to make this an economic driver and force for Indigenous designers to continually pursue their work. ~

Dialogues on Dress: Brennan Lowery

Dialogues on Dress: Brennan Lowery

~ When you see something at an awards show Sunday night, and then a few days later it arrives in your facility, that is a pretty remarkable thing. Just to see those pieces up close, the immense detail, the craft, it is a privilege. ~

Cue the applause— Costume Society of America’s 2025 Symposium was a blockbuster success!

Cue the applause— Costume Society of America’s 2025 Symposium was a blockbuster success!

New Membership Dues Rates Effective July 1, 2025

Dialogues on Dress: Cara Green

Dialogues on Dress: Cara Green

~ My grandmother passed down a Norwegian bunad to me that was made by her mother in Norway about 120 years ago. I was so inspired by inheriting this ensemble that I wrote my masters thesis on its origins and contemporary uses, which took me on a whole journey. ~

CFP: Dress in America

Call for Papers Dress in America: 250 years of American Fashion

Dialogues on Dress: Heather Ujiie

Dialogues on Dress: Heather Ujiie

~In theater, you always have to go a little bit over the top because it’s viewed from a distance. Which as a drama queen, I love~

~Even though all of my work comes out of the hand, the analog, I don’t see digital as being polarized from that. It is a tool~

~Push yourself to find a new voice, break out of the stereotype of yourself. I used to think I had to have ‘one style’ for my own personal work, but we are complex and multidimensional human beings. Why settle for just one form of visual communication? ~

2025 Costume Society of America Grants, Projects, Awards, and Honors Announced

Dialogues on Dress: Emily Stoehrer

Dialogues on Dress: Emily Stoehrer

Dialogues on Dress: Cora Harrington

Dialogues on Dress: Cora Harrington

~ The challenge, but also excitement, around it is how do you take all the stories and history behind one garment and condense it to just 50 words? ~

~ Right now, there is a constant churn and spectacle, so that by the time you’ve formulated a thought it’s old news. This is really to the detriment of all fashion. I hope we see a slowing down in the way we share and digest in the next few years. ~

Costume Society of America Celebrates its 50th National Annual Meeting and Symposium

2024 Costume Society of America Grants, Projects, Awards, and Honors Announced

CSA Founded on March 28, 1973

On March 28, 1973, CSA was founded!

CSA National Leadership Election Results Announced

50 Years of Costume Society of America

On September 12, 1973, CSA was incorporated as a non-profit in the state of New York

2024 CSA National Symposium Call for Submissions

Conversations on Dress Webinar Series on Ann Lowe

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

7:00 p.m. Eastern / 4:00 p.m. Pacific

FREE webinar, open to all

2023 Costume Society of America Grants, Projects, Awards, and Honors Announced

The Costume Society of America Announces 2026 National Board of Directors Election Results and Executive Committee Appointments

Call for Papers: Reframing Fashion in the Museum

Costume Society of America Meets in Salt Lake City to Celebrate 50 Years

Call for Papers
Dress in America: 250 years of American Fashion