Past Exhibitions (2007-May 2012)

​March 2012-May 2012

Curated by Dilia López-Gydosh (Curator of the Collection)​

This exhibition explored cultural and social influences in the work of American and international designers from the 1940s to the early 2000s.  A wide variety of women's garments from the Collection  demonstrated the influences of East Asian and Spanish ethnic dress in clothing design. In addition, designer perspectives on social and cultural influences, including art movements, were demonstrated by examples of evening, day, and footwear.​

​May-December 2011

Curated by Dilia López-Gydosh (Curator of the Collection)​​ in Collaboration with Kelly Cobb (Assistant Professor, Fashion and Apparel Studies)

This exhibition was inspired by a Fashion Art Studio's class trip to the University of Delaware's Mineralogical Museum. Through their embellishment and color, garments from the collection were interpretations of the various rocks, minerals and gemstones (precious and semi-precious stones) seen at the museum. 

​October 2010-May 2011

Curated by Dilia López-Gydosh (Curator of the Collection)​​

The exhibition looks at the influence of the Aesthetic Movement and its spin-off, the Reform Movement, on late 19th and early 20th century fashion. It featured tea gowns and wrappers as elements of aesthetic dress and reform wear. It also included a corset, a boned bodice, and a metal coil bustle, all elements of dress considered unnatural and unhealthy and therefore linked to Reform Movement.  The exhibition also explored William Morris textile prints and how they affected fashion.

​May-October 2010

Curated by Dilia López-Gydosh (Curator of the Collection)​​

​This exhibition explored wedding dress styles within their sociocultural, historical, and fashion contexts between 1845 and 1922.

​November 2009-May 2010

Curated by Dilia López-Gydosh (Curator of the Collection)​​

This exhibition examined the relationship between fashion, television and retail as inspired by the critically-acclaimed AMC series Mad Men, which was set in the early 1960s. Garments were selected to int.erpret the show's characters and their personalities.  The show's influence on today's fashion retail and design trends was also examined.

​October 2009 (2nd Floor, Alison Hall West)

Curated by Dilia López-Gydosh (Curator of the Collection)​​

This exhibition featured the Guayabera shirt, exploring its design elements, iconic role in Latino culture, and transformation into a fashion garment.

"The Guayabera shirt is a symbol of masculine elegance in the Latin American culture… to me, it's a cultural icon and is one of the only pieces of men's clothing that carries such meaning. No one shirt is the same and each one has a lot of personality as seen through all of the embroidery and handwork." – Designer John Bartlett ("Totally Shirtatious," Cigar Aficionado, May/June 1999)

​Octob​er 2009 (3rd Floor, Alison Hall West)

Curated by Dilia López-Gydosh (Curator of the Collection)

This exhibition was a tribute to Sally Rinard, a native of Wilmington, Delaware who became an award-winning fashion journalist and published poet and novelist. She began her career writing for the women's department of The News Journal, and later wrote for Good Housekeeping and Women's Wear Daily. During her career, she interviewed people as varied as Henry Kissinger, Barbara Walters, Norman Mailer, and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. The exhibition featured some of the designer garments that she donated to the Collection, including dresses designed by Diane von Furstenberg, Elie Tahari, and BCBG.

​May 2007

Curated by Dilia López-Gydosh (Curator of the Collection)

Garments from the Collection were displayed as creative interpretations of styles from societies throughout history. These included the Sumerians of Mesopotamia, the Egyptians, the Minoans from Crete, the ancient Greeks, the ancient Romans, and the Byzantines, as well as the periods of the Early (12th and 13th centuries) and Late (14th and 15th centuries) Middle Ages, Italian Renaissance (15th and 16th c.) and Northern Renaissance (16th c.).​​