The Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Irene Lewisohn Costume Reference Library Opens Three Special Collections for Research
January 31, 2019
The Irene Lewisohn Costume Reference Library announces the opening for research of three collections of records that complement Metropolitan Museum of Art Museum holdings
of the Costume Institute.
Tom Brigance collection, 1930s-1960s (bulk, 1940s-1950s)
The collection includes predominantly sketches by Tom Brigance for women’s casual clothing designed for Lord and Taylor in the 1930s-1950s, as well as fabric
swatches and print designs, promotional photographs, clippings, and written documentation.
Finding aid:
https://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16028coll1/id/36198
Fashion photographs collection, 1895-1980s
An artificial collection of photographic prints and
a few transparencies, predominantly in black and white, collected by the Costume Institute to document 19th and 20th
century vernacular and high fashion. These include 1930s-1940s press prints from
Harper's Bazaar; representative images of regional clothing from the early 20th century; vernacular American and French clothing; and press images of celebrities, royalty, and performers.
Finding aid:
https://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16028coll1/id/36200
Washer Textile collection, 1930s-1960s, 1994
The collection includes mounted samples of corduroy, velvet, velveteen, and silks from a variety of mostly European mills, as well as samples, hang tags,
and labels from corduroy, velvet, and velveteen produced by Vanetta Mills and other commercial manufacturers, as well as printed research materials, publicity photographs, clippings, and publications. It was amassed by Vanetta Mills’ president Ross Washer,
who was sent by the United States government after World War II to survey conditions in the European textile industry.
Finding aid:
https://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16028coll1/id/36199
The collections are available, by appointment only, to qualified researchers onsite at the Costume Institute’s Irene Lewisohn Costume Reference Library. For information about
scheduling an appointment, please email [log in to unmask] or visit our
website.
These collections are the second group to be opened for research as part of a two year project to make available more than 25 sets of special collections housed in the Costume
Institute’s Irene Lewisohn Costume Reference Library.