{"id":45194,"date":"2026-01-07T10:26:02","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T15:26:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/business\/?page_id=45194"},"modified":"2026-01-30T15:20:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T20:20:08","slug":"tmd-collection","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/business\/tmd-collection\/","title":{"rendered":"Historic Textile and Costume Collection and Gallery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading fullwidth\">Department of Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Historic Textile and Costume Collection and Gallery<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"fullwidth\">The&nbsp;Historic Textile and Costume Collection and Gallery&nbsp;at URI\u2019s Department of Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design is a unique collection of approximately 20,000 objects supports teaching, research, and public exhibition, showcasing textiles and costumes from around the world and across time. Explore the online archive, and view our current exhibit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns equal-height is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"cl-wrapper cl-card-wrapper\"><a class=\"cl-card  \" href=\"https:\/\/uritextilecollection.omeka.net\/\" title=\"\"><div class=\"cl-card-container media\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/business\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2295\/CARD-2.jpg\" srcset=\"\" alt=\"leafy patterned fabric from a silk dress\"><\/div><div class=\"cl-card-container text\"><div class=\"cl-card-text\"><h2>Online Collection<\/h2><p>Browse hundreds of objects in the collections and watch for updates as new objects are added.<\/p><\/div><\/div><div class=\"cl-card-container button\">VIEW THE ONLINE COLLECTION<\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"cl-wrapper cl-card-wrapper\"><a class=\"cl-card  \" href=\"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2025\/06\/textiles-exhibit-to-reveal-the-stories-behind-historic-quilts\/\" title=\"\"><div class=\"cl-card-container media\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/business\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2295\/quilts-exhibit-card.jpg\" srcset=\"\" alt=\"an array of historic quilts on display\"><\/div><div class=\"cl-card-container text\"><div class=\"cl-card-text\"><h2>Current Exhibit<\/h2><p>&#8220;Every Quilt Tells a Story&#8221; textiles exhibit reveals the stories behind historic quilts.<\/p><\/div><\/div><div class=\"cl-card-container button\">read about the current exhibit<\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About the Collection<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Historic Textile and Costume Collection<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The URI Historic Textile and Costume Collection, located in Quinn Hall, contains approximately 20,000 objects. The mission of the Collection is threefold:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Teaching<\/strong>&nbsp;textile, fashion design, historic costume, and historic textiles classes in the TMD department as well as other departments on campus<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Research<\/strong>&nbsp;by students, faculty, and visiting scholars<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Exhibition<\/strong>&nbsp;in the&nbsp;Textile Gallery&nbsp;and loans for exhibitions in other museums<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Objects in the Collection include both costumes and textiles from all over the world. That is one of the storylines in a new exhibit, \u201cDressed for Business: A Retrospective Look at the Suit and Beyond (1923-2023),\u201d that takes over the University of Rhode Island\u2019s Textile Gallery in Quinn Hall starting Thursday, March 23. Presented by the Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design Department, the exhibit fits like a well-tailored suit with the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/business\/\">College of Business<\/a>\u2019 100<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;anniversary, providing a celebratory display of clothing from the University\u2019s Historic Textiles and Costume Collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The special collections department of URI\u2019s Library houses the related&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/library\/special_collections\/COPA.htm\">Commercial Pattern Archive<\/a>&nbsp;of more than 40,000 paper patterns from the mid 19th century to the present time, and 50,000 images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Textile Gallery<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>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\u2019s&nbsp;Historic Textile and Costume Collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Developing the exhibits (currently 1-2 per year) is an invaluable experience for the Department\u2019s graduate students as they work towards careers in museums, historical societies, and conservation labs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n<section class=\"cl-wrapper cl-boxout-wrapper\"><div class=\"cl-boxout  \">\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Previous Exhibits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Dressed for Business\u2019 celebrates the College of Business\u2019 centennial<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Kaleidoscope of Textiles: Dress as Multidimensional Cultural Documents<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cOne American Family: A Tale of North and South\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Feminism and Fashion of the Twentieth Century<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Celebrating 125 Years at the University of Rhode Island: Featuring Fashions Typical of Campus Wear from the Historic Textiles and Costume Collection<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Rise of the Readymade Apparel Industry<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Other White Dress<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>From Kitchen to Kitsch: Aprons from the Seventeenth Century to the Present<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>China: the Power of Design<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>From Exotica into Americana<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What We Wore: Clothing from 1976-79<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lace: the Elegant Fabric<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>At the Crossing: Midwestern Amish Crib Quilts and the Intersection of Cultures<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>American Woven \u201cCoverlids\u201d: Coverlets from the Historic Textile and Costume Collection<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cHistory in Stitches\u201d: Six Centuries of Embroidery<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Nature\u2019s Dyes: Textiles From Around the Globe<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Purple: Celebrating 150 Years of Synthetic Dyes<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cThese are a few of my favorite things\u201d: Faculty and Staff Choices<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<\/div><\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Department of Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design Historic Textile and Costume Collection and Gallery The&nbsp;Historic Textile and Costume Collection and Gallery&nbsp;at URI\u2019s Department of Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design is a unique collection of approximately 20,000 objects supports teaching, research, and public exhibition, showcasing textiles and costumes from around the world and across time. Explore [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5286,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-45194","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/45194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5286"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45194"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/45194\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45896,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/45194\/revisions\/45896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}