Vassar College Costume Collection: Hidden Treasures That Shed Light on Our History
More than 1200 virtually hidden treasures are stored in the basement of the Vogelstein Center for Drama and Film—everyday women’s wear, party dresses, formal gowns, hats, shoes, fans, and even a variety of wedding dresses—some of which are nearly 200 years old.
Many of the garments were discovered in 1981 in the basement of the Old Avery Building, which is now the Vogelstein Center for Drama and Film, by then Senior Lecturer of Drama Holly Hummel. “I was looking for some costumes for a show one night,” Hummel recalled, “and at the bottom of a closet, strewn helter-skelter on the floor, were clothes I had never discovered before. I soon determined it was a treasure trove of actual garments from the 19th century just thrown into boxes. I realized their importance and if I were to carefully preserve them and do some research, it would be a great resource for a class.”
More recently, students who have taken courses with Professor of French and Francophone Studies Susan Hiner and Senior Lecturer in Drama Kenisha Kelly have learned to appreciate how these garments reflect the history and culture of their times, and other students have studied them to create clothing for Vassar Drama Department productions and say the collection enables them to accurately reflect the period of certain plays. But Hiner and Kelly say they’re on a mission to make this historic costume collection more widely known. Most of the garments were donated to the College by alums and other friends of Vassar.
“Many of these garments are true gems,” said Kelly, who co-taught a course with Hiner highlighting the collection, “and we’re hoping to find a donor or donors who can support the work of cataloguing and preserving them.”
“Additionally, as part of our efforts to support the longevity of the collection, with the facilitation of our department's Costume Shop Coordinator, Leigh Davis, we’re working with our costume shop student employees to assist in the rehousing of the garments to a larger space to provide these objects with the proper boxing and storage that is needed,” Kelly said.
Hiner teaches a course that focuses on French novels of the 19th century, and she uses the garments in the collection to help her students understand the culture of an era. “Fashion is one of the central themes of Madame Bovary, and we have a French dress from the 1830s when the novel was set,” she said. “Having this collection available to my students helps them gain a better understanding of life in the 19th century.”
Not much is known about the origin of some of the garments, but one of the stars of the collection is a formal gown made by renowned 19th-century fashion designer Emile Pingat, who dressed some of the wealthiest and most sophisticated clients in the world from his shop in Paris. “The beadwork in that dress is truly amazing,” Kelly said. “Recently, we were given funding in order to do necessary preservation work to our Pingat garment, however, we have so many other priceless objects that are still in need of preservation and we are also working with our students in order to continue our initiative of searching for the makers for a list of garments in the collection.”
Gus Pointer Mace ’26, who has worked in the Vassar Costume Shop as a costume technician for the past three years, said that the garments in the collection have been vital for productions set in the 19th and early 20th centuries. “Having them to look at is really helpful when I’m working on period pieces,” Mace said. “I know some history and French literature classes sometimes visit to look at them, but the collection is basically unknown, and it is such a valuable resource.”
Another student employee in the Vassar Costume Shop, Athena Randall ’25, said she chose to enroll at Vassar in part because of the collection. “When I was looking at colleges as a high school senior, I discovered these costumes on the website vccc.vassarspaces.net and when I got to campus, I immediately went to the Drama Department, found the costume shop and got a job there,” Randall said. “When the Drama Department did a production of ‘Sunday in the Park with George, which is set in the 1880s, I was able to find garments in the collection from that period which helped me create some of the costumes for that production.”
The website was designed by alum Arden Kirkland ’93.
A recent alum Lucy Postal ’22, said her longtime passion for history had prompted her to take Kelly’s class that focuses on the historical collection, and she has pursued graduate work in Fashion and Textile History, Theater and Museum Practices at the Fashion Institute and Technology of the State University of New York (FIT SUNY) in New York City. “My time learning about this collection was a pivotal experience,” Postal said. “I realized I could make a career out of studying and teaching fashion history and museum education.”
Another alum, Alexandra Figler ’16, said her post-Vassar career path also stemmed directly from her experience of learning about the historic collection of garments. “I became aware of the collection my first year in 2012, and I worked in the costume shop for the rest of my time at Vassar,” Figler said. Her love of this historical research, nurtured in the costume shop, had led to her current job as an art librarian at Northport (Long Island) Public Library. “My time in the costume shop taught me that fashion is a lens through which we can view many aspects of history,” she said.