Cornell Costume and Textile Collection

Investigator: 

Judith Byfield, Department of History; Denise Nicole Green, Fiber Science & Apparel Design; Jolene Rickard, Department of the History of Art and Visual Studies & Director, American Indian Program

Collection Type: 

Arts & Sciences

Year: 

2015

Cornell Fashion + Textile Collection : Online Collections

Blue dress from 1800s

The Cornell Costume and Textile Collection (CCTC) includes over 10,000 items of apparel, flat textiles, and accessories dating from the late 18th century. The goal is to make the CCTC discoverable and broadly accessible by faculty, students, and researchers and encourage the use of this extensive collection in teaching and research. Currently, the collection attracts visiting scholars and is considered a hidden Cornell gem. Textiles are studied from many different disciplinary perspectives: materials science, chemistry, social sciences, cultural studies, art and design, to name a few. We expect the richness and depth of collections and its broad online availability will provide ample opportunities for collaborations among social scientists, humanities scholars, and physical scientists.