Historic Clothing and Textile Collection

Our Historic Clothing and Textile Collection (HCTC) consists of around 3,000 objects, including garments, accessories, and textiles dating from the 1800s to present day. Our mission is to be a valuable platform for outreach, experiential learning, teaching, research, inclusivity, and inspiration at the University of Georgia.

colorful garment

Education

The HCTC is an educational resource that provides unique learning experiences for students at UGA. It is regularly used for classroom demonstrations to discuss changes in silhouette, textile technology, merchandising, art, and social issues. The collection is also used to teach student workers about museum practices, equipping them with valuable professional skills.

Research

Our collection serves as a diverse research tool that can be explored through our physical objects, digitized images, and comprehensive metadata, providing vast amounts of rich information related to dress history.  

Visit our Research page to learn more about viewing an object at the UGA Special Collections Library

What's in the Collection?

  • Objects that represent various eras in history and in the evolution of dress, with particular emphasis on artifacts formerly owned or worn by Georgians.
  • A wide variety of garments and textiles from countries.
  • The works of many prominent American designers.

Donations

Our ability to accept new donations is limited by storage space. However, we are always interested in finding ways to enhance our collection through the addition of select items that are aligned with our mission and demonstrate significant potential as educational resources.  Please visit our Make a Donation page to learn more about our collecting goals and donation protocol. 

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