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Adopt a Dress

Black satin sleeveless dress embroidered with narrow gold cord and pink beads, ca. 1920s. Designed by Jenny Paris. FRC2014.07.343.

The Fashion Research Collection is the home to many beautiful and diverse garments that would greatly benefit from special conservation treatment to help ensure their longevity. As we currently do not have an in-house conservator on staff, we rely on any funding when available to contract such work that requires expertise.

Adopting a garment from the collection provides a great opportunity to be apart of the process of extending its life and preserving its history and story for future researchers to enjoy.

One garment that was recently adopted in order to receive conservative treatment is a rare evening gown by Pierre Balmain named “Marie Antoinette”. The funds for this conservation effort were generously provided by Nina Budman.

Other garments that need conservation include:

1. a rare red velvet Dior New York jacket lined in red silk with inner Petersham belt fall/winter 1949; this jacket is frayed near the collar and as a result cannot be easily handled without causing further damage.

2. a rare orange Courreges pantsuit from the 1960s with stains on the pant legs.

3. a rare 1920s beaded flapper dress by the Paris label Jenny.

If you have an interest in helping fund the conservation of any of these artifacts, please fill out the contact form located on the Contact page.