
Online Collection
Now available online, the Historic Textile and Costume Collection supports teaching in the Department of Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design, as well as other departments on campus. Browse hundreds of objects in the collections and watch for updates as new objects are added.
The Textile Gallery is now open in Quinn Hall, first floor. The exhibit, “What’s In A [Designer] Name? – An Investigation of Twentieth-Century Fashion Labels” , will be open through December 2022. The exhibit was both curated and installed by graduate students in the Department of Textiles, Fashion Merchandising & Design. Additional information about the exhibit can be found on the Historic Textile & Costume Collection web site uritextilecollection.omeka.net. Current Exhibit
Previous Exhibits
About the Collection
Historic Textile and Costume Collection
The URI Historic Textile and Costume Collection, located in Quinn Hall, contains approximately 20,000 objects. The mission of the Collection is threefold:
- Teaching textile, fashion design, historic costume, and historic textiles classes in the TMD department as well as other departments on campus
- Research by students, faculty, and visiting scholars
- Exhibition in the Textile Gallery and loans for exhibitions in other museums
Objects in the Collection include both costumes and textiles from all over the world. Besides a few pre-Columbian Peruvian textiles and early Egyptian cloths, the earliest holdings date to the late eighteenth century. Several collections of handwoven textiles and clothing from Rhode Island families date from this period. Early everyday wear is one of the strengths of the Collection.
Nineteenth-century clothing and accessories for American women, men, and children are well represented in the Collection. The Accessions Committee is judiciously adding twentieth-century objects, particularly designer garments. The ethnographic textiles and costumes come from many cultures that have a strong textile heritage. Recent additions to the Latin American and African collections have begun an effort to increase the holdings from those areas.
Researchers, quilters, private collectors, and others interested in historic costumes and textiles are encouraged to use the Collection. Appointments can be arranged by calling the Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design office at 401-874-4574.
The special collections department of URI’s Library houses the related Commercial Pattern Archive of more than 40,000 paper patterns from the mid 19th century to the present time, and 50,000 images.
Textile Gallery
The Gallery was opened in 1999 after several years of fundraising and renovation of the space. It serves as a showcase for items from the Department’s Historic Textile and Costume Collection.
Developing the exhibits (currently 1-2 per year) is an invaluable experience for the Department’s graduate students as they work towards careers in museums, historical societies, and conservation labs.