Support my Fashion Historians!

Funded Aug 2, 2018

We just completed our Keeping History Alive: Fashion Edition exhibit, and it was a great success thanks to your donations!!!

When the course began in September, many of the students had some background in US History, and some had some experience with making their own fashions, but they had not thought much about how history and fashion really went hand in hand. We used many of the books you donated and research available on a variety of web sites to take a deeper look at how political, economic and social trends in history had major influences on what Americans were wearing. Each student wrote one essay on a specific decade and one on a theme or fashion trend that developed over time. Their essays were fascinating!

We were also able to pay for a class trip to the Fashion Institute of Technology for a class on fashion in different decades and a visit to the exhibit "Pink: The History of a Punk, Pretty, Powerful Color" The trip was more affordable because we didn't have to pay for the materials we used in class that were funded by YOU our donors!

Once we had a good sense of fashion history, the students focused on several themes for the exhibit: Music & Fashion, War & Fashion, the Fashion of Women's Activism, the Fashion of Black Activism, Fashion Restricting or Expanding Gender Roles, and Fashion Design Stars. We used the donated display boards, the books for inspiration, the drawing pencils, and the sewing machine to make photo exhibits, hand-drawn illustrations, and custom made fashion pieces to go with each topic. Please check out the pictures to see our WWII Red Cross nurses apron, an '80s MTV inspired dress, and more!

We invited family and the school community to come see the exhibit and the students were proud to show off and discuss their great work. We realized that while fashion is sometimes thought of as a frivolous subject, what people wore in history really was the jumping off point for many bigger social movements, so fashion had a big impact ON history!

Thanks again so much for funding our in depth study!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Strassler